Description:

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Departmental Seminar Series presents:

Ernesto Guccione, PhD
Senior Principal Investigator and Program Coordinator, Epigenetics and Diseases
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB)
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

Altered expression, mutations or translocations of epigenetic modifiers belonging to the protein Methyltransferase family, underlie the etiology of various human diseases, including cancer, and this expanding and diverse group of proteins represent excellent and yet largely unexplored drug targets. The biggest hurdle is to systematically characterize the function of these enzymes in order to prove their direct involvement in driving or sustaining the pathology. To do so, we are combining our skills in biochemistry, molecular- and computational- biology, with expertise in working with mouse models, in order to obtain a detailed understanding of their mechanisms of action, both in normal (development) and disease state.

During my talk I’ll give some examples of our recent findings, including the characterization of PRMT5, the major cellular Type II Arginine Methyltransferase, and its involvement in regulating alternative splicing during tumorigenesis.