Functional genomics & cancer
Expression and maintenance of the genetic information
The fundamental mechanisms regulating gene expression have been one of the major research areas of the IGBMC for more than 30 years. Since the initial purification and characterization of RNA polymerase II by Pierre Chambon and colleagues, a consistent theme has been the identification and the study of the machinery required for basal and regulated transcription. The isolation of major transcription factors such as TFIIH or TFIID as well as the study of nuclear receptors, transcription factors whose activity is regulated by a diverse set of hormones and metabolites, proved a major advance in understanding the close link between transcription, genome stability and human disease such as cancer. Currently, the Department « Functional Genomics and Cancer » has incorporated the study of epigenetics and chromatin dynamics, RNA metabolism as well as high through put genomic and last generation proteomics technologies as it pursues its quest to understand the regulation of gene expression in normal and pathological situations.
