Our team studies how eukaryotic cells accurately replicate their chromosomes and preserve genome integrity during each cell division. Chromosome replication is a complex process that goes beyond copying DNA—it also involves assembling chromatin, maintaining epigenetic marks, and restoring full genomic function after replication. These steps are essential for preserving cellular identity and tissue health. Our research focuses on how replication forks manage these interconnected tasks across diverse chromatin environments and physiological conditions. Current projects investigate the role of the nuclear lamina in replication and genome stability, the link between DNA replication and DNA methylation maintenance, and how oxidative DNA damage affects chromatin and differentiation in BRAF-mutated thyroid cancers, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic strategies.
We are currently focusing our research on two main areas in the laboratory:
We study the role of nuclear proteins in the regulation of chromosome replication, with a particular emphasis on the interaction between genome replication and the association of chromatin with the nuclear lamina. Our research aims to discover how alterations in the nuclear lamina affect genome replication dynamics, the maintenance of heterochromatin, and the response to DNA damage.
We explore the connection between DNA replication and DNA methylation. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that link DNA replication with the process of maintaining DNA methylation, and how the dynamics of replication forks regulate the epigenome and influence cell fate.
Used to map replication forks and quantify initiation and termination events genome-wide across various models. This helps us study discontinuous strand synthesis in mammalian cells.
This method allows us to map proteins associated with replication forks to understand epigenome maintenance and genome integrity.
