Despina Alexandraki
IMBB Group Leader (Professor, Univ. of Crete)
We are interested on the mechanisms governing gene expression regulated by DNA-binding transcription factors and chromatin regulators in response to environmental changes. Our reference system is metalloregulated transcription in yeast, a major aspect of metal homeostasis. Specific DNA binding transcriptional regulators are functionally modulated by metal availability, Mac1 by copper and Aft1 by iron, by post-translational modifications and specific protein interactions.
We are investigating binary and multiprotein interactions with these factors revealing new protein roles and facts concerning the mechanisms of chromatin organization and transcription per se and new functional connections between transcription (metal-dependent or independent) and other cellular signalling pathways (DNA damage, oxidative stress, etc). S. cerevisiae provides the power of genetics, a complete genome sequence, a variety of tools and procedures for genome/proteome-wide analyses and many genes and processes conserved even in mammals.