Role of the nuclear membrane protein Lem2 in retrotransposon silencing and RNA surveillance (A25*)

• Subject Area: General Genetics and Functional Genome Biology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 213249687

We recently demonstrated that the conserved integral membrane protein Lem2 controls the localization and silencing of heterochromatin at the nuclear periphery (Barrales et al., Genes Dev 2016). Intriguingly, this repressive function of Lem2 is not restricted to constitutive heterochromatin domains. Our unpublished data indicate that Lem2 also affects the repression of retrotransposons as well as ncRNAs targeted by the nuclear exosome. Using genomic and biochemical approaches, we aim to dissect the underlying pathways and to unveil the molecular mechanisms by which Lem2 mediates repression of these different substrates.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1064: Chromatin Dynamics
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Sigurd Braun