The Côté Lab

Our experimental systems

Our work uses human cells as well as the yeast model system to define the structure, function and regulation of histone modifying complexes implicated in genome expression and maintenance. Research in the laboratory led to important discoveries on the regulatory mechanisms involved in gene transcription and the cellular response to DNA damage, using expertise in molecular biology and genetics, biochemistry, epigenetics, functional genomics, proteomics and genome editing.

Chromatin marks and Epigenetics

The Côté lab research aim is to understand chromatin dynamics associated with gene regulation, DNA repair and replication. We study protein complexes that control acetylation and methylation of histones, and the composition of chromatin. We dissect the molecular mechanisms of epigenetics, in which signals to chromatin mark different genomic loci and are read by effectors to translate a biological response. Our work has characterized the structure and function of several protein complexes, identifying their intrinsic recognition modules for the epigenetic histone signatures.

Chromatin modifying protein complexes

Our laboratory identified and extensively characterized the highly conserved NuA4/TIP60 acetyltransferase complex and demonstrated for the first time the essential role of chromatin modifying activities in the process of DNA repair and replication in eukaryotes. Accurate writing and reading of these epigenetic marks lead to changes in chromatin dynamics, in a targeted manner within the genome, and this process is subverted in cancer. In fact, the clear majority of the activities studied in the Côté lab are tumor suppressors and Tip60 itself is down-regulated in a very large spectrum of cancers.