Welcome to the Poirier Lab

We are working to understand how our genomes are expressed and repaired while being tightly compacted into chromatin. We currently are focused on two research programs. The first program is to determine how histone post-translational modifications in structured regions of the nucleosome alter chromatin structure and dynamics. The second program is to determine how DNA mismatches are recognized and repaired in chromatin.

We use an interdisciplinary approach that combines biochemical and biophysical techniques, which includes: restriction enzyme studies, nucleosome mapping, steady state Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer measurements (FRET), stopped flow FRET, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, single molecule force and twist measurements with magnetic tweezers and single molecule FRET measurements.

Because of our interdisciplinary nature, collaborations are essential for our success. We have developed close collaborations with the Ottesen Lab, the Fishel Lab and the Bundschuh Lab.

News

• May 2008: Congratulations to Jonathan Picking, who was awarded a Biochemistry SURP award to support his 2008 summer research!

• May 2008: Congratulations to Justin North, who was awarded a two year pre-doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association!

• February 2008: We received funding for five years from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health .

Funded by: