Sari Pennings

Senior Lecturer, SFHEA

Centre for Cardiovascular Science

Tel: 0131 242 6145
Email: sari.pennings@ed.ac.uk

Street: Queen's Medical Research Institute
Edinburgh Bioquarter
47 Little France Crescent
City: Edinburgh
Post code: EH16 4TJ

Teaching & PhD supervision

Postgraduate teaching

Postgraduate Research Director, Centre for Cardiovascular Science

MScR in Biomedical Sciences (Life Sciences) - Course Organiser

Postgraduate Committee, Centre for Cardiovascular Science - Member

PhD Supervisor

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA, 2021)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

We investigate the dynamics of epigenetic DNA methylation and histone modifications essential for early development, differentiation and cell fate reprogramming. These marks create an epigenetic ‘landscape’ that supports cell type specific gene regulatory networks but can also provide an epigenetic readout of disease, environmental exposure and ageing. We study these epigenetic mechanisms in tissue specification, including cardiovascular development, the developmental origins of disease, and the effects of metabolism and environmental pollution. Our research interests centre on chromatin-mediated gene repression mechanisms and chromatin remodelling in gene activation in the cell nucleus in mammalian and vertebrate embryos, stem cells, reprogrammed cells and yeast-based models. We have discovered that heterochromatin matures late in development but is induced early in mouse embryonic stem cells; and that epigenetic marks can rapidly adapt to cell culture.

Sari Pennings Research Group

Current research interests

Keywords: Epigenetics, Chromatin, Development, Cardiovascular, Stem Cells, Cell Reprogramming, Histone Modification, DNA Methylation

Knowledge exchange

Carnegie Trust for the Universities Scotland – Assessor

BBSRC Committee C Core Member; Committees D and TDRF Pool of Experts – Grant Awarding Panel member (2009-2016; 2023 - )

BSc MSci Biomedical Sciences programmes at Newcastle University – External Examiner (2016-2020)

Global Undergraduate Awards, Dublin – Life Sciences Judging Panel member

Research activities

Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 14 Jun 2023
Supervisor Briefing: College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine 11 May 2023
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 1 Mar 2023
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 28 Sep 2022
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 19 Feb 2020
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Dec 2020
External Examiner BSc/MSci programmes - Newcastle University 1 Jan 2020 to 30 Sep 2020
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (External organisation) 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Dec 2020
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Journal) 1 Jan 2020 to 31 Dec 2020
The Global Undergraduate Awards (External organisation) 1 Jan 2020 to 1 Oct 2020
EASTBIO BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (External organisation) 1 Jan 2020 to 29 Feb 2020
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 23 Oct 2019
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 5 Jun 2019
Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics and Transcriptional Regulation Network 27 Feb 2019
International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Journal) 1 Jan 2019 to 31 Dec 2019

View all 67 activities on Research Explorer

Publications

Activation of transcription factor circuity in 2i-induced ground state pluripotency is independent of repressive global epigenetic landscapes 20 Aug 2020 In: Nucleic Acids Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa529
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
DNA Methylation Directs Polycomb-Dependent 3D Genome Re-organization in Naive Pluripotency (18 pages) 12 Nov 2019 In: Cell Reports, vol. 29, pp. 1974-1985.e6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.10.031
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Dynamics and Mechanisms of DNA Methylation Reprogramming 31 May 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814879-2.00002-9
Research output: › Chapter (Published)
The Stem Cell Niche: Interactions between Stem Cells and Their Environment 14 Oct 2018 In: Stem Cells International
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4879379
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (E-pub ahead of print)
DNA methylation as a genomic marker of exposure to chemical and environmental agents (9 pages) Aug 2018 In: Current opinion in chemical biology, vol. 45, pp. 48-56
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.02.006
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published)
Cardiac stem cells in the postnatal heart: lessons from development 24 Jun 2018 In: Stem Cells International
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1247857
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published)
Antibody-based detection of global nuclear dna methylation in cells, tissue sections, and mammalian embryos (22 pages) 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7481-8_4
Research output: › Chapter (Published)
Antibody based detection of global nuclear DNA methylation in cells, tissue sections and mammalian embryos 10 Dec 2017
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (E-pub ahead of print)
Shoring up DNA methylation and H3K27me3 domain demarcation at developmental genes (2 pages) 1 Dec 2017 In: EMBO Journal, vol. 36, pp. 3407-3408
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.201798498
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (Published)
Sas3 and Ada2(Gcn5)-dependent histone H3 acetylation is required for transcription elongation at the de-repressed FLO1 gene 23 Jan 2017 In: Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 45
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkx028
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Lsh is essential for maintaining global DNA methylation levels in amphibia and fish and interacts directly with Dnmt1 3 Sep 2015 In: BioMed Research International
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/740637
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Epigenetic reprogramming in mammalian cell differentiation, transdifferentiation and dedifferentiation. 1 May 2015 In: CABI Reviews, vol. 10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1079/PAVSNNR201510012
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Rapid reprogramming of epigenetic and transcriptional profiles in mammalian culture systems (17 pages) 4 Feb 2015 In: Genome Biology, vol. 16
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-014-0576-y
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
The yeast Cyc8-Tup1 complex cooperates with Hda1p and Rpd3p histone deacetylases to robustly repress transcription of the subtelomeric FLO1 gene (14 pages) Nov 2014 In: BBA - Bioenergetics, vol. 1839, pp. 1242-55
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagrm.2014.07.022
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Sequential effects of spadetail, one-eyed pinhead and no tail on midline convergence of nephric primordia during zebrafish embryogenesis 15 Dec 2013 In: Developmental Biology, vol. 384
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.07.002
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
The CXXC-TET bridge--mind the methylation gap! (2 pages) Aug 2013 In: Cell Research (CR), vol. 23, pp. 973-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/cr.2013.71
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (Published)
Non-canonical functions of the DNA methylome in gene regulation (11 pages) 1 Apr 2013 In: Biochemical Journal, vol. 451, pp. 13-23
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20121585
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
DNA methylation in mammalian and non-mammalian organisms 16 Mar 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5772/38181
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published)
Histone H4K20me3 and HP1 alpha are late heterochromatin markers in development, but present in undifferentiated embryonic stem cells (13 pages) 1 Jun 2011 In: Journal of Cell Science, vol. 124, pp. 1878-1890
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.080721
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Apoptosis and DNA methylation (23 pages) 2011 In: Cancers, vol. 3, pp. 1798-820
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers3021798
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)

View all 52 publications on Research Explorer

Conferences

Organiser

Edinburgh Chromatin, Epigenetics & Transcriptional Regulation Network, co-Organiser

https://twitter.com/EdinEpigenetics

Editorial Activities

Special Issue on 'The Stem Cell Niche: Interactions between Stem Cells and Their Environment' for 'Stem Cells International' - Lead Guest Editor

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/si/210687/

Special Issue on 'Epigenetic Connections between the Gene Regulatory Network and Chromatin Dynamics' for 'International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS)' - Guest Editor

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/chromatin_epigenetics_transcription

Public Engagement with Research

I have championed Public Engagement with Research at the University of Edinburgh since 2010, and I continue to work towards developing higher impact strategies and more effective integration of public engagement within research projects.

My Public Engagement extracurricular activities include:

Public Engagement Committee, Centre for Cardiovascular Science - Academic Lead and Co-Chair

Public Engagement Forum of the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine - Co-Chair (2017-2019)

Public Engagement Strategy Group of the University of Edinburgh - Member (2018-2019)

Public Engagement Family Events organised jointly by Centres of the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine - Coordinator (2017-2019)

Public Engagement 'Healthy Heart!' by the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at Edinburgh Science Festival - Organiser (2010-2016)

CVS Staff and Students demonstrate hands-on science at Edinburgh Science Festival

This article was published on 6 Jun, 2023