Nucleosome-mediated epigenome stability 

It becomes increasingly clear that specific types of cells have distinct nucleosomal organization (position, histone composition and modifications, so on) through out the genome, which encodes epigenetic information important for maintaining cell identity. How to modulate the stability of epigenetic inheritance through cell generations remains largely unclear. Taking advantage of rich resources in the model organism fission yeast S.pombe and a newly developed method to quantify epigenetic stability, we are exploring the genetic pathways and physiological processes responsible for epigenome stability.

Kinetochore assembly and centromeric chromatin organization

The kinetochore is a mega-protein complex assembled on each chromosome, which mediates the interaction between the chromosome and spindle microtubules. A long-standing interest in the lab is to understand the structure of the kinetochore and the mechanisms of its functions. We are currently interested in exploring the properties of the specific chromatin region – centromere, and to understand how the unique features of centromeric chromatin organization may help serving the purpose as the physical foundation of kinetochore