SET-ting the scene with SMYD enzymes in cancer

• We showed that the SMYD3 methyltransferase is involved in tumor cell metastasis
• We found that SMYD3 controls cell fate decision and muscle differentiation
• We found that SMYD3 responds to mechanical cues arising from changes in cell geometry
• We discovered that SMYD2 controls the timing of cytokinesis, the final step of cell division, through the methylation of ESCRT-III components.

Our research aims to identify novel methylation substrates to uncover how lysine methylation drives cancer progression and cell fate.

We have recently identified new non-histone targets of SMYD2 and SMYD3 that play critical roles in cancer cell division, providing new insights into the pro-oncogenic functions of SMYD proteins. In parallel, we are developing translational applications, including biomarkers for diagnosis.

Our experimental approaches:

We use comparative proteomic approaches combined with experimental cell biology and functional live-cell imaging (videomicroscopy), together with biochemical approaches to study the role of lysine methylation at the molecular and cellular levels. We use human cancer cell models in 2D and 3D (spheroids) to study how methylation impacts cancer cell phenotypes.