The regulation of gene expression is the critical link between the genome and cellular morphology. Gene expression involves multiple steps: making DNA accessible to the transcription machinery, transcribing it into RNA, processing it to a mature form, and regulating its cellular localization and turnover. CMM Researchers are studying the roles of gene expression control in both normal development and disease, from the level of single genes to entire genomes.
Bruce Hamilton's lab studies developmentally regulated transcription factors and RNA processing in brain development and models of disease. Stephen Hedrick studies the role of Forkhead transcription factors in immune cell development and homeostasis. Xiang-Dong Fu's lab studies gene regulation from the perspective of mRNA processing and splicing. Gene Yeo is interested in RNA metabolism on a genome-wide scale, mapping the interactions between RNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) to understand their roles in gene regulation in both human and mouse models. The Sander lab studies how environmental cues regulate gene expression and cell state, with particular focus on the development and function of pancreatic beta cells. Bing Ren studies the organization of eukaryotic genomes as a whole, with a particular emphasis on DNA elements such as enhancers, that combinatorially control development and disease states in all cell types. Many other CMM labs study gene expression in the contexts of diverse cellular pathways.