Research Laboratory «‎Regulatory Genomics»

Name of the project: Regulatory genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of the development and the functioning of skeletal muscles and the heart muscle of humans and primates in the norm and pathology

The main objective of this research is the determination of the activity landscape of regulatory elements of the genome in the adult and developing heart muscles of humans and primates in the norm and pathology. To achieve this goal, it will be necessary to collect samples of various types of skeletal and heart muscles of humans and mammals (macaques). The organisation of a biological bank of muscle samples will be one of the important tasks. Using modern methods of the assessment of the activity of genes at the level of the whole genome (CAGE-seq RNA-seq) and their regulatory elements (ATAC-seq), as well as their variations at the level of single cells, we will be solving the problem of the collection of an array of sequencing data. The obtained data will be processed by a group of bioinformaticians possessing the experience of completion of major international projects, as well as using the FANTOM project series (2000-2018) that was based on the same technological platform (CAGE-seq), for the comparison of the results.

As a result, we are planning to create an atlas of expression activity, a reconstruction of gene networks that regulate molecular processes in muscle cells and tissues in the norm and pathology.