Pierre Chymkowitch

     The study of molecular mechanisms that govern cellular differentiation and fate is key to the understanding of development, metabolism but also to the understanding of carcinogenesis. This research axis seeks to address the role of sumoylation-mediated gene control during cellular differentiation with a primary focus on adipose stem cells. Indeed, the global rise of the obesity epidemic and associated diseases such as diabetes and cancer has rendered indispensable the study of adipose tissue formation and biology. We use state of the art high-throughput methods (ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, MS, Confocal microscopy, etc.) and classical biochemistry to identify the dynamics of chromatin-bound factors’ sumoylation during adipocyte differentiation in human adipose stem cells, mouse 3T3L1 cells and mouse models.