Ontogenesis and molecular interactions
Dronpa-Ubx in the haltere disc
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Embryonic development relies primarily on highly complex and dynamic molecular interactions. Our team is interested in the understanding of the molecular networks established by a well-conserved family of transcription factors, the Hox proteins. We are tackling the question of Hox interactomes during normal developmental processes (in the Drosophila embryo) but also in a pathological context reproducing aberrant Hox activities in human myeloid leukaemia.
Our experimental approach relies on BiFC (Bimolecular fluorescence Complementation), which allows analysing protein-protein interactions in live conditions. In particular, we are using BiFC to decipher Hox interaction networks in different cell contexts. This approach is coupled to the identification of target cis-regulatory sequences in the genome. In the future we hope acquiring a global picture of Hox interactomes at the level of individual target genes in vivo.
Experimentally, our team is using highly diverse tools, from specific lentiviruses from immortalization of human hematopoietic stem cells, to particular transposons for recombineering in Drosophila. Finally, besides classical biochemical and molecular biology technics, we are extensively using microscopy confocal imaging.
We welcome students for stages, don’t hesitate to contact the principal investigator (samir.merabet@ens-lyon.fr) if you are interested!
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