Research
Research in the lab focuses on the structure and function of chromosome ends, or telomeres, which are maintained by the enzyme telomerase and protected and regulated by a complex of proteins known collectively as shelterin. We use a variety of tools, creating molecular reagents to dissect structure-function relationships in telomere-associated proteins, investigate the mechanisms of telomerase inhibition, and study the distinguishing features of Xenopus telomerase catalytic component TERT, which is not down-regulated like human telomerase. In vitro and cell-culture (both human and Xenopus) approaches have been used, including reporter gene experiments to dissect novel elements in the promoter of Xenopus TERT, co-immunoprecipitation to study protein-protein interactions, and characterization of the very terminus and adjacent regions via nanopore sequencing.