Marianne G Rots, Professor of Molecular Epigenetics

Address

Keywords

gene targeting, epigenetic writers, epigenetic erasers, Artificial Transcription Factors, gene therapy

Models

cancer cell lines, primary cell lines (fibroblast, ovarian epithelial), patient samples

Techniques

state-of-the-art Zinc Finger engineering/CRISPR, Gene-targeted Epigenetic Overwriting, FACS facility (Mo-Flow sorting), pyrosequencing, DNA hydroxymethylation, ChIP(seq), (retro)viral transductions, (cell targeted) protein delivery

Collaborations outside COST

My lab collaborates with medical doctors (Oncology, Nephrology) for animal models and patient material (tissue slice technology), with biologists on fundamental functional chromatin biology and on various other pathophysiological pathways (asthma, obesity), with chemists (epidrugs, oxidative stress) and with a SME on (targeted) delivery of chemicals, DNA, (si)RNA, proteins (Synvolux Therapeutics Inc, Groningen)

Short description of ongoing research projects

Sustained tumor suppressor gene re-expression, sustained oncogene silencing, permanent modulation of pro- and anti-fibrosis gene expression (regenerative medicine, kidney transplantation) by targeting DNA (de)methylating enzymes and histone writers/erasers to genomic loci using Zinc Finger engineering and CRISPRdCAs targeting; Mitochondrial epigenetics

Publications

1. Chen H, Kazemier HG, de Groote ML, Xu GL, Rots MG. Induced DNA demethylation by targeting Ten-Eleven Translocation 2 to the human ICAM-1 promoter. Nucl Acids Res, 2014
2. Falahi F, Huisman C, Kazemier HG, Kok K, Hospers GAP, Rots MG. Towards Sustained Silencing of Her2/neu in Cancer by Epigenetic Editing. Mol Cancer Res 11(9):1029-39, 2013
3. Huisman C, Wisman GBA, Kazemier HG, van Vugt ATM, van der Zee AGJ, Schuuring EMD, Rots MG. Functional validation of putative tumor suppressor gene C13ORF18 in cervical cancer by artificial transcription factors. Mol Oncology 7(3):669-79, 2013
4. Van der Gun BT, Huisman C, Stolzenburg S, Kazemier HG, Ruiters MH, Blancafort P, Rots MG. Bidirectional modulation of endogenous EpCAM expression to unravel its function in ovarian cancer. Br J Cancer 108(4):881-6, 2013
5. De Groote ML, Verschure PJ, Rots MG. Epigenetic Editing: Targeted Rewriting of Epigenetic Marks to Modulate Expression of Selected Target Genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 40(21):10596-613, 2012

Other activities of potential interest to others

Associate editor Clinical Epigenetics, Research coordinator ITN EpiPredict (www.EpiPredict.eu) (recruiting students April 2015)