intro
The Polycomb group (PcG) of genes, an evolutionary conserved set of chromatin modifiers, is characteristically associated with the maintenance of transcriptionally repressed states relevant to cell identity. The products of the PcG genes form multiprotein complexes whose activity in transcriptional control is mediated, at least in part, by the histone modifier activities of some of their subunits. In addition to their function during embryogenesis, Polycomb complexes play roles in adult stem cells relevant to normal tissue regeneration and cancer. The lab focuses on the function of Polycomb complexes containig Ring1A and Ring1B, the E3 ligases involved in monoubiquitylation of histone H2A, recently identified as players in events of transcriptional activation.