XIST@HARVARD (LEE LAB)
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Recent NEWS


Jan 4, 2021
Michael and Roy publish their breakthrough understanding of RNA's interaction with Polycomb! -- resolving the mystery of why RNA-PRC2 complexes occur within active genes, and how specificity is achieved. 

Rosenberg M†, Blum R†, Kesner B, Aeby E, Garant J-M, Szanto A, and Lee JT. 2021. Motif-driven interactions between RNA and PRC2 are rheostats that regulate transcription elongation. Nature Struct Mol Biol. 10.1038/s41594-020-00535-9. Read

News coverage:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/mgh-srl010421.php

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Jan 4, 2021
Happy New Year!
​We welcome Niklas Grimm to the lab!

Dec 18, 2020
Congratulations to our PEW Latin American Fellow, Rodrigo, on becoming Assistant Professor at Andres Bello University, Chile! He is starting with funding both the Pew Foundation and the Chilean government. 

Dec 15, 2020
Nico Simonet joins our lab!  Welcome.

Aug 30, 2020
Farewell to Tom Dial !!

Aug 17, 2020
X chromosomes play TAG --> YOU'RE IT !! See how sex chromosomes decide who will stay 'ON' through PAIRING, an RNA decapping enzyme, and CTCF:

Aeby E, Lee H-G †, Lee Y-W †, Kriz A, del Rosario BC, Oh HJ, Boukhali M, Haas W, and Lee JT. 2020. Decapping enzyme 1A breaks X-chromosome symmetry by controlling Tsix elongation and RNA turnover. Nature Cell Biology, doi.org/10.1038/s41556-020-0558-0. Read for free

Congrats to Eric Aeby et al. !!

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June 11, 2020
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Congrats to David and Hongjae on another outstanding collaboration!  Be confused no more about the relationship between Xist, Polycomb recruitment, and gene silencing:

Colognori D, Sunwoo H, Wang D, Wang CY, Lee JT. 2020. Xist Repeats A and B Account for Two Distinct Phases of X Inactivation Establishment.  Dev Cell. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2020.05.021. Read


April 14, 2020
Tom Dial successfully Zoom-defends his thesis!  Congratulations, Dr. Dial!
And thanks to Professors Nancy Kleckner, Craig Hunter, and Brian Liau for serving on the thesis committee.

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Feb. 10, 2020
Excited to share an important finding for the X reactivation community:  Surprising tolerance to increased X chromosome dosage in multiple tissues. ​​Read.
Yang L, Yildirm E, Kirby JE, Press W, and Lee JT. 2020. Widespread organ tolerance of Xist loss and X reactivation except under chronic stress in the gut.  PNAS 117: 4262-4272. 

Jan. 5, 2020
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Welcome to the Lab, Antonino!

Dec. 26, 2019
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We publish our surprising conclusion:  SINE retrotransposons, B2 and ALU, are SELF-CLEAVING RIBOZYMES!

Hernandez AJ, Zovoilis A, Cifuentes-Rojas C, Han L, Bujisic B, Lee JT. 2019. B2 and ALU retrotransposons are self-cleaving ribozymes whose activity is enhanced by EZH2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 23. pii: 201917190. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917190117.  Read.



Oct. 1, 2019
Welcome, Anna!
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Sept. 14, 2019
FRAXA Biotech Games a success! Our lab had a great time meeting families and fellow competitors. 

​Photo: William Press, Hungoo Lee, Tom Dial, and Elizabeth Kraeutler.
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Sept. 13, 2019
Really excited about our collaboration with Roy Perlis, Steve Sheridan et al.  First publication now online:  
​Jagtap S, Thanos JM, Fu T, Wang J, Lalonde J, Dial TO, Feiglin A, Chen J, Kohane I, Lee JT, Sheridan SD, Perlis RH.  (2019) Aberrant mitochondrial function in patient-derived neural cells from CDKL5 deficiency disorder and Rett Syndrome. Hum Mol Genet. 2019 Sep 13. pii: ddz208. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddz208. ​Read

Aug 30, 2019
We say farewell and good luck to our PhD students -- Chen-Yu Wang who will become postdoc in Gord Fishell's Lab, and David Colognori who will become postdoc in Jennifer Doudna's Lab!
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Aug 16, 2019
Chen-Yu is unstoppable.  Publication #3!  ​Wang CY, Brand H, Shaw ND, Talkowski ME, and Lee JT.  (2019) Role of the Chromosome Architectural Factor SMCHD1 in X Chromosome Inactivation, Gene Regulation, and Disease in Humans. Genetics ePub doi: 10.1534/genetics.119.302600.

July 11, 2019
Congratulations to Andrea on an NIH predoctoral award!  She is now anointed by both NSF and NIH.  Great start to a scientific career!

July 3, 2019
Another of Chen-Yu's masterpieces!  A chromosome-folding pathway that enables Xist RNA to spread:  (1) Xist recruits Polycomb PRC1, (2) PRC1 fuses A/B compartments, (3) SMCHD1 merges the resulting S1/S2 structures, (4) and then Xist spreads across the X without getting "stuck".
Read here:
https://rdcu.be/bIriO

Wang CY, Colognori D†, Sunwoo H†, Wang D, and Lee JT. (2019) PRC1 collaborates with SMCHD1 to fold the X-chromosome and spread Xist RNA between chromosome compartments. Nat Communications  10:2950. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10755
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July 1, 2019
Katya Nizovtseva, Hao Yin, and Elizabeth Kraeutler join our lab.  Welcome!
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May 30, 2019
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A bumper crop of PhD students:  Chen-Yu Wang, John Froberg, and David Colognori at the Graduation Hooding Ceremony.  Congratulations to our outstanding students!!

May 14, 2019
Hongjae Sunwoo "graduates" from the lab
-- off to Intellia he goes! 
He will be missed.
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May 1, 2019
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We are thrilled that David Colognori successfully defended his PhD thesis today!

April 24, 2019
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Our iBiology Lectures on X-chromosome inactivation are now online! 
3 Lectures for the general public and interested students.
​Watch here.

April 22, 2019
A warm welcome to Vered Levy, who just joined us as Lab Manager!
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April 11, 2019
Congratulations to Hungoo on his FRAXA postdoc award!
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April 3, 2019
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Congrats to Chen Yu who successfully defends his PhD today!
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March 31, 2019
We say farewell to Attila Szanto and Teddy Jegu!
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Feb. 28, 2019
Congratulations to David and Hongjae on a great finding:  Although Xist recruits Polycomb complexes, Xist also depends on Polycomb complexes to continue to spread along the Xi.

Colognori D †, Sunwoo H †, Kriz A, Wang C-Y, and Lee JT. (2019) Xist deletional analysis reveals an interdependency between Xist RNA and Polycomb complexes for spreading along the inactive X. Molecular Cell   10.1016/j.molcel.2019.01.015.    Read


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Jan. 24, 2019
Brian and Andrea have just published a novel CTCF modification!
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Del Rosario BC 
†, Kriz AJ †, Del Rosario AM, Anselmo A, Fry CJ, White FM, Sadreyev RI, Lee JT. (2019) Exploration of CTCF post-translation modifications uncovers Serine-224 phosphorylation by PLK1 at pericentric regions during the G2/M transition. Elife. 2019 Jan 24;8. pii: e42341. doi: 10.7554/eLife.42341.  Pre-proof PDF here.

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Jan. 21, 2019
The 2 faces of Xist RNA: (1) Attractant for silencers, and (2) Repellant for activators. Our new paper shows how it repels SWI/SNF-BRG1 from the inactive X. Congratulations to Teddy and Roy!!   To read for free, click here.

 Jegu, T. †, Blum R. †, Cochraine, J.C., Yang, L., Wang, C.Y., Gilles, M.-E., Colognori, D., Szanto, A., Marr, S.K., Kingston, R.E., and Lee, J.T. (2019) Xist RNA antagonizes the   SWI/SNF chromatin remodeler, BRG1, on the inactive X chromosome. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 10.1038/s41594-018-0176-8.


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Jan. 11, 2019
Our Rett Syndrome work has been featured in the Atlas of Science.  Click here to read it!

Dec 21, 2018
Montse Michelman, our lab manager of 14 years, has retired!
And we wish Eric Aeby a safe return to Switzerland and a new beginning!
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Dec. 1, 2018
We welcome Uri Weissbein (postdoc) to the lab.

Nov. 27, 2018
Our BioRxiv paper is now published!  Froberg JE, Pinter SF, Kriz AJ, Jegu T, and Lee JT. (2018) Megadomains and superloops form dynamically but are dispensable for X chromosome inactivation and gene escape. Nature Communications 9, 5004.

Oct. 1, 2018
We welcome Lu Han (postdoc) and Carlos Rivera (student) to the lab.

Sept. 30, 2018
Our Rett Syndrome expert, Lieselot Carrette, becomes a Visiting Scientist at Scripps, La Jolla.

Sept. 17,
2018
John Froberg successfully defended his PhD today -- Congratulations!
Wishing you all the best as postdoc in the Macklis Lab (Harvard).
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Sept. 14, 2018
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Lab alumnus, Ruslan Sadreyev (center), is promoted to Assistant Professor of Pathology, MGH. Well done!
Lab reunion at CSH Epigenetics - with Stefan Pinter, Montserrat Anguera, Kavitha Sarma, and Jeannie Lee.

Sept. 5, 2018
Our worm paper is published - Congrats to Arneet!  Multiple Histone Methyl-Lysine Readers Ensure Robust Development and Germline Immortality in Caenorhabditis elegans.  Saltzman AL, Soo MW, Aram R, Lee JT.  Genetics. 2018 Sep 5. 
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August 28, 2018
Congrats to Rodrigo for receiving the MGH ECOR Fellowship!

July 23, 2018
Congrats to postdoctoral fellow, Lieselot Carrette, on a new publication!
Tsix–Mecp2 female mouse model for Rett syndrome reveals that low-level MECP2 expression extends life and improves neuromotor function.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/17/1800931115 …

July 22, 2018
We have a new website!

July 9, 2018
Check out John Froberg's work:
X-Chromosome without Borders:  Firre(d) up about Dxz4! .
.. and our lab's 1st pre-print in BioRxiv!
www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/07/08/364893
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June 7, 2018
Chen Yu Wang's paper is now published!
Folded like Origami - is the Inactive X chromosome by SMCHD1:

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)30584-1​
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Location

Laboratory of Jeannie T Lee

Department of Molecular Biology
Massachusetts General Hospital &
Department of Genetics
The Blavatnik Institute
Harvard Medical School
​

185 Cambridge St., Boston MA 02114  USA
Contact us:
Christine Caruso (Administrative Assistant)
617-726-5944 .   Email
​

Copyright 2018 LEE LAB
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