DNA methylation in stem cells
One of our research axes is focused on understanding how DNA methylation patterns are established, maintained, and interpreted during embryonic development. To address these questions we use mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells as our model, and we apply a wide array of tools: cell biology, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics… This has led us, for example, to decipher important mechanisms of epigenetic memory (Ferry et al, Mol Cell 2017, review in Petryk et al NAR 2020). More recently, we carried out genome-wide CRISPR screens to identify factors linking epigenetics and cellular state (Gupta, Yakhou et al., NSMB 2023).
A CRISPR screen identifies new repressors of the totipotent state in mouse embryonic stem cells
In mammals, only the zygote and blastomeres of the early embryo are fully totipotent. This totipotency is reflected in vitro by the expression of markers such as Zscan4. We performed a genome-wide CRISPR KO screen in mouse embryonic stem cells, looking for mutants that reactivate the expression of totipotency markers, like for example the knock-out of Spop.
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Sophie Polo elected EMBO member
Honored to be part of this prestigious scientific community. Sophie Polo in her laboratory © Romain Redler / Art in research for the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller À lire aussi
New research article on the role of SETDB1 in regulating inflammation and fibrosis in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
In this paper, we show that SETDB1 regulates the TGFβ-induced secretome and identify EMILIN1, an extracellular matrix protein, as a novel player in this process. EMILIN1 is overexpressed in muscle biopsies from DMD patients and influences both myogenic differentiation...
Seminar Benoît MOINDROT –July 8, 2026
Dr. Benoît MOINDROT The Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), University Paris-Saclay Invited by Dr. Dounia DJEGHLOUL "One Genome, Two Voices: Decoding allelic chromatin-regulatory layers, and their perturbations, at imprinted domains." The seminar...
Seminar Adam SATERIALE –June 17, 2026
Dr. Adam Sateriale The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK Invited by Jonathan Weitzman and Marisol Giacomini "Intestinal parasites and metabolic mysteries." The seminar will take place in the Institut Jacques Monod seminar room (RB-18B). Bâtiment Buffon, 15...