Epigenetic Cd8 gene regulation and MAZR function

The functional integrity of the immune system is based on the process of lymphocyte differentiation. T cell differentiation into either the helper (TH) or the cytotoxic (TC) cell lineage is critical for the outcome of an immune response. TH and TC cell lineages are distinguished by the expression of CD4 versus CD8, cell-surface glycoproteins that participate in molecular complexes involved in both T cell development and antigen recognition by T cells. It is to be conceived that the regulation of CD4 and CD8 gene expression is associated with the molecular decisions that promote either the TH or the TC lineage. During the past decade, the dynamic regulatory network responsible for these decisions has been under intense investigation. CD8 expression was shown to be conditional on the activity of at least five cis-regulatory elements which may serve as recruitment sites for chromatin remodeling factors. Recently, the MAZR protein was identified as a regulator of CD8 expression, which interacts with the protein N-CoR and probably other factors that define the epigenetic layer of CD8 expression control. The identification of these epigenetic regulatory factors via a novel tandem affinity purification method and their biochemical analysis are aimed in my study.

This position is financed by the EU FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network on "Chromatin Plasticity". For more information about the network, please visit: www.chromatin-plasticity.org