Srinjan Lab

Non-canonical enhancers control gene expression and cell fate in human pluripotent stem cells Enhancers are key gene regulatory elements that ensure the precise spatiotemporal execution of developmental gene expression programmes. However recent findings indicate that approaches to identify en...

Delighted & excited to share our latest preprint on non-canonical enhancers in human pluripotent stem cells, the result of a fantastic and fun collaboration with @guenesdoganlab.bsky.social‬:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧵 below

Pathway to Independence – an interview with Anzy Miller Anzy Miller, former Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow supported by Nancy Papalopulu (The University of Manchester, UK), is interested in the mechanisms involved in the generation of human pancrea...

My interview as part of @dev-journal.bsky.social Development's Pathway to Independence is live! I had a great time chatting to Saanjbati Adhikari - thank you.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

We wrote this introductory review on how concepts from dynamical systems can help us understand developmental biology, hope it’s useful to somebody! It was a lot of fun to put together, and great to collaborate with brilliant colleagues across theory and experiments

Our new preprint 🧬🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
BRD4-NUT forms liquid-like condensates that locally constrain nucleosomes via BRD4-mediated crosslinking— physical control of #chromatin by #LLPS transcription condensates. @semeigazin.bsky.social @katsuminami.bsky.social @masaashimazoe.bsky.social

Location: Flowers building G47A

15:30: Annabelle Wurmser: “Capturing chromatin dynamics during neuromesodermal progenitor specification”

16:00: Daniela Dietrich (University of Bristol) – “Hydrotrotropism – how roots search for water"

17:00 Social Happy Hour (SEC, 7th floor).

This Friday 27th June, we have another exciting set of talks at our monthly Cell and Developmental Biology Networking Event @imperiallifesci.bsky.social with Daniela Dietrich joining us from Bristol and our very own Annabelle Wurmser from my lab. Please do join us!

📣 We are advertising for a postdoc to join our team at the University of Edinburgh! Our lab studies gene regulatory mechanisms in development, and how genetic changes may impact these processes to alter development and shape human craniofacial form and function 🧬🧪

📢 Don’t miss the first Cancer Biology and Medicine talk of 2025 tomorrow!

Cancer stem cells, evolution and heterogeneity
Prof Brian Huntley @scicambridge.bsky.social
Thurs 9 Jan, 9:30-10:30
TC lecture theatre, School of Clinical Medicine @cambridge-scm.bsky.social
All welcome!

Happy holi, the festival of UMAPs

Welcome to Bluesky!

Why do we need to sleep? Humans spend one-third of their life sleeping, yet the purpose and function behind this regular state of unconsciousness remains a biological mystery. Sleep researcher Giorgio Gilestro is trying to un...

Wanna learn what we know about why we need to sleep? Here's a fun podcast I recorded for the excellent @npr.org "Seeking a scientist" show, conducted by Kate the Chemist. Enjoy!

@imperiallifesci.bsky.social @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social

www.kcur.org/podcast/seek...

Don't forget to come to Prof Doryen Bubeck's inaugural lecture, "Big Questions, Tiny Machines"! Open to all!!

📅 Wed, 12 March 2025

Understanding how pathogen proteins interact with human defence systems means we can develop new ways to prevent disease.

@doryenbubeck.bsky.social

#OurImperial

a cartoon of homer simpson and bart simpson sitting on a couch with the words join us above them . ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson and bart simpson sitting on a couch with the words join us above them .

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated postdoc with cell or molecular biology expertise. Excellent #epigenetics, #chromatin training & networking opportunities @qmulepigenetics.bsky.social
DM me for inquiries
pl apply/share tinyurl.com/m6jnksk5

Exciting!

New paper from our lab is out! We investigated the function of the NuRD subunit CHD3 in cranial neural crest specification. CHD3 variants are the cause of Snijder-Block-Campeau Syndrome, which manifests with craniofacial anomalies and intellectual disability 1/n

Look forward to hearing feedback from our colleagues in the field!

Thanks also to our collaborator labs for all their help on this: @shamith.bsky.social, Huntly, Klenerman, Holcman @bertiegottgens.bsky.social @pradeepmadapura.bsky.social Mohorianu

Huge congrats to first authors Maike Steindel & Oliver Davis! This has also been quite the team effort from the whole lab: Liviu, Shuyue, @gokceagsu.bsky.social @deep-adhya.bsky.social Jorg Annabelle @stanleystrawbridge.bsky.social @scicambridge.bsky.social @imperiallifesci.bsky.social

Using single-molecule imaging, we find that MLL2 acts like a tether, restricting chromatin mobility genome-wide and at the Mll2-dependent gene Sox2. This suggests a model where MLL2 tethering increases enhancer-promoter mixing at key neuroectoderm genes to drive differentiation.

Micro-C reveals that MLL2’s effect on chromatin architecture is more substantial, stabilising enhancer-promoter loops associated with bivalent genes in primed pluripotent cells. Interestingly, MLL2’s catalytic activity is not required for loop formation or differentiation.

However, single-cell transcriptomics and quantitative immunofluorescence of the priming transition reveal that MLL2 has only a subtle change on transcription, increasing the expression of a few important neuroectodermal transcription factors such as SOX2.

We build on previous studies that show a requirement for MLL2 in neuroectoderm differentiation. Using conditional knockouts, we reveal that this requirement occurs during pluripotent cell priming, days before differentiation is impaired.

New #preprint from the Basu & Stewart labs! We discover a non-catalytic role for H3K4me3 methyltransferase MLL2 in modulating 3D chromatin organisation and mobility as pluripotent cells are primed for differentiation.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Please get in touch if you want to be added to the e-mail list for our future events!

Next friday February 7th, we have another exciting set of talks at our monthly Cell and Developmental Biology Networking Event @imperiallifesci.bsky.social with Ben Steventon joining us from Cambridge @bensteventon.bsky.social and our very own Floriane Tissot from the Lo Celso lab.

Genetic coupling of enhancer activity and connectivity in gene expression control - Nature Communications Here, the authors study the effects of expression quantitative trait loci on enhancer activity and promoter contacts in primary monocytes isolated from male individuals, suggesting an inherent genetic...

Our new paper is finally out, showing that the same enhancer sequences - and likely the same transcription factors recruited to them - affect the activity of distal enhancers and their looping over to target gene promoters.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats!!

Exciting stuff, congrats to all involved!

We are hiring! 3-year BBSRC-funded postdoc position available. TEs, epigenetics, pregnancy: if you love one or more of these keywords, apply through the link below.
Please spread the word.

Basu lab hosted their first department social today @imperiallifesci.bsky.social My lab put together this amazing cell of food alongside fun games like cell fate charades. So proud of our masters students who coordinated everything from start to finish!!