This week we profile a recent publication in Nucleic Acids Research from the lab of Dr. Sheila Teves (pictured) at UBC.
Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus?
Our main research interest is centered on how genes are expressed and regulated in multiple scales. The set of genes that are expressed in any given cell specifies that cell’s function and identity. Therefore, we are interested in understanding the mechanisms that govern how cells remember their gene expression patterns to maintain their function, and how they change those patterns to adapt to new environments or change identity and function altogether.
What is the significance of the findings in this publication?
We focus on the role of transcription factors in maintaining gene expression patterns as cells grow, divide, and multiply. As cells divide, gene expression is globally halted, and transcription factors help promote reactivation of gene expression in the new daughter cells. In this publication, we show a new way that specific transcription factors, called Heat Shock Factors 1 and 2 (HSF1 and HSF2), interact with DNA during cell division using a combination of genomics and live-cell imaging technologies.
What are the next steps for this research?
Moving forward, we are excited to learn how these transcription factors switch gears from maintaining gene expression patterns to changing them as cells differentiate into a new cell type.
If you’d like to mention your funding sources, please list them.
This research is funded by CIHR and the Stem Cell Network.
