Exploring chromatin biology and developing treatments for pediatric tumors.

The Piunti Lab studies chromatin biology and how its deregulation contributes to cancer onset and progression. The lab focuses on the Polycomb group (PcGs) of proteins, which are major chromatin regulators. PcG proteins are master regulators of mammalian development and cellular proliferation. They mainly exert their function through transcriptional repression achieved through their activity on chromatin. Several PcG proteins and their activities are deregulated in cancer, and they play particularly important roles in the oncogenic processes underlying rare pediatric brain tumors such as diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) and posterior fossa group A (PFA) ependymomas.

Our lab works to understand how deregulation of PcG proteins in these tumors contributes to the insurgence and spreading of these and other rare malignancies.