PhD Student in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience
My research interests involve the role of methylation-dependent gene silencing in olfactory neurogenesis. Enzymatic methylation of cytosine residues is a common covalent modification of higher eukaryote genomic DNA. It is associated with chromatin condensation, the inaccessibility of DNA to transcription promoting factors, and the silencing of gene expression. A dynamic process leading from DNA methylation to transcriptional repression is thought to be important for proper gene regulation during development, cellular differentiation, and X-chromosome inactivation and is also the probable mechanism underlying parental imprinting. This pattern of DNA methylation is established and maintained by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), and it can be interpreted by methyl-CpG-binding domain proteins (MBDs). Members of this family of proteins can bind to the methylated cytosine residues and recruit protein complexes, including proteins involved in chromatin remodeling and gene silencing. The stages of olfactory neurogenesis for which the MBD proteins are expressed and required, the protein complexes they form, and the target genes they regulate are questions currently under investigation.
Supported by studentships from NSERC and UGF (Paetzold family)

Contact Jessica at: jessmacd@zoology.ubc.ca