Overview

A single cell is the ultimate unit of a multicellular organism. The human body is composed of an estimated 37.2 trillion cells that live harmoniously with one another. An equilibrium between differentiated cells, progenitor cells and stem cells has to be achieved at any point of development to enable homeostasis and proper tissue organization. However, in cancer, the disruption of such equilibrium can lead to the generation of single cells that can metastasize and invade different organs. Since chromatin is the physiological form of the genome, the highly dynamic chromatin landscape plays an important role in shaping cell identity, dictating cellular responses to diverse signals and ultimately creating cellular heterogeneity.

The Functional Epigenomics Lab's research team focuses on cis-regulatory elements called enhancers. Enhancer elements have been described for more than 40 years, serving as binding sites for transcription factors to modulate gene expression. In cancer, the role of enhancers in malignant transformation has been highlighted by the discovery of locus-specific gains (tumor-specific enhancers) and losses in enhancer activity across the epigenome that correlate with metastatic potential and drug resistance.

In Dr. Maia's lab, the goal is to understand and modulate chromatin regulation during enhancer activation to identify novel biomarkers of metastatic disease and drug resistance. To achieve this goal, the researchers use a broad range of the most advanced techniques in epigenomic profiling, genome editing-based screens, circulating tumor cell isolation, 3D organoid cultures and patient-derived xenograft models.