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DNA damage response
The long-term goal of our research is to understand cancer at the molecular level and then use this knowledge to develop novel cancer therapies. Because it is shared by many laboratories world-wide, there is considerable progress and hope for new effective therapies in the coming decades.
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Biophysics and cell biology of signaling
We want to understand in physical and molecular terms how cells talk to each other during development. This means our research is highly interdisciplinary: physics, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics...
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Chloroplast biogenesis and photosynthesis
A unique feature of plant and algal cells is that they contain three distinct genetic systems located in the nucleus, chloroplast and mitochondria. These systems comprise their own genome and protein synthesizing machineries.
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Gene expression and circadian rythms
In mammals, most vital processes are subject to circadian variations. Thus sleep-wake cycles, locomotor activity, heartbeat, blood pressure, renal plasma flow, body temperature, sensorial perception, and the secretion of many hormones fluctuate during the day in an orderly fashion.
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Gene regulation, Telomere structure and function
Our general area of interest is the relationship between chromosome structure and the processes of gene regulation, DNA replication, repair and recombination, and chromosome segregation.
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Growth control by TOR signaling pathways
Division, accumulation of mass (growth) and death are all fundamental aspects of cell behaviour. All three processes are highly regulated and the loss of this regulation can have direct medical consequences.
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Recognition and plasticity in macromolecular complexes
The goal we want to achieve is to identify the key features allowing the cross-talk between Ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs), their regulatory factors and their targets. Indeed, most of the cellular functions are carried out via RNPs.
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Chromatin structure and mechanisms of genome organization
Gaining insight into the structure of chromatin and the associated macromolecular machinery will significantly enrich our understanding of the mechanisms occurring in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell.
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Chromosome structure and function
The structural organization of the cell nucleus and chromosomes is a great challenge of biological research. Various genetic phenomena have underscored the importance of long-range chromatin architecture in gene expression and chromosomestability.
Cell-cell junctions are of crucial importance in the development of multicellular organisms and in the function of adult organs. Cell adhesion molecules play key roles in cell-cell recognition and adhesion, and mediate essential functions...[ read more... ]
We investigate how the photosynthetic machinery is assembled through the coordinated expression of genes in the nucleus and in the chloroplast, and how it acclimates to a rapidly changing light environment.[ read more... ]