The role of the MYST family transcriptional co-activator, Mof, in embryonic development

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A major task in biology is to understand how the human genome directs the development of a single cell to form an entire individual. Clearly, a large part of this task is to understand how the expression of genes is regulated during embryonic development. Gene expression requires co-activator complexes. Co-activator complexes typically contain proteins which regulate the structure of chromatin (a complex of DNA and histones). However, the physiological function of most co-activators is entirely unclear. The aim of this project is to study the function of Mof during embryonic development. Mof is a co-activator that directly regulates chromatin structure by modifying histones. Mof is a member of the MYST family of co activators, which includes Moz and Qkf. We have recently shown that Moz and Qkf are essential for the haematopoietic stem cell population and the neural stem cell population, respectively. The purpose of this project is to produce a detailed analysis of the function of Mof in vivo and determine it's importance in regulating gene expression. All biological processes relay on accurate regulation of gene transcription and all diseases, whether they involve pathogens or cell intrinsic pathological changes, such as cancer, lead to changes in gene expression. Regulation of chromatin structure has been identified as a major mechanism of transcriptional regulation in health and disease. However, our understanding of the precise molecular mechanisms regulating chromatin structure in vivo are very limited. This work will fully investigate the role of an important co-activator in vivo including a mechanistic analysis. This will increase understanding of how gene expression is regulated and, ultimately, this knowledge will find wide application in the development of new treatment paradigms.