Dimitrios Papadopoulos Research Group
Molecular interactions of transcription factors with chromatin

Section: Disease Mechanisms
Research in a Nutshell
Transcription factors are important developmental regulators and their abnormal function frequently leads to developmental disorders and disease. Certain abnormalities and disease phenotypes associated with improper function of transcription factors involve mutations in their protein sequences, aberrant (low, high or variable) expression levels and enhancer mutations that result in gain or loss of their expression in specific tissues or aberrant regulation of their downstream effectors.
We use a multidisciplinary approach to understand transcription factor function at single-molecule resolution, combining genetics, fluorescence imaging and methods with single-molecule sensitivity such as Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS). Through the study of transcription factor absolute concentrations, their dynamic association/dissociation kinetics with chromatin and their spatiotemporal cell-to-cell concentration variability we aim at dissecting their molecular behaviour and link it to disease phenotypes.

People |
|
---|---|
Dr Dimitrios Papadopoulos | Group Leader |
Jack Stoddart | Research Assistant |
Ioannis Christodoulou |
PhD student |
Julia Auer | PhD student |
Oscar Maltby |
Honours student |
Contact
Dimitrios.Papadopoulos@igmm.ed.ac.uk
Collaborations
- Dr Pavel Tomancak, Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Professor Anthony Hyman, Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Professor Simon Alberti, Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Professor Richard Carthew, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA
- Professor Vladana Vukojevic, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Professor Rudolf Rigler, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Professor Andrew Jackson, University of Edinburgh, UK
Partners and Funders
The University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Fellowship
Scientific Themes
Concentration, molecular movement and variability of transcription factors; dynamic interactions with chromatin; gene regulation; enhancers.
Technology Expertise
Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy; Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation; genome editing; recombineering; molecular biology.