NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – A Jackson Laboratory-led research team has been awarded a three-year grant worth nearly $1.1 million to investigate how the dynamics of genome topology contribute to changes in gene expression underlying memory, epilepsy, and other forms of neuroplasticity, the institute announced yesterday.
The project — entitled 3D genome organization and transcription regulation in hippocampal circuits — will "help us to expand the concept and technologies we developed ... in 3D genome organization ... into neural science to uncover potential topological codes in memory and learning," Yijun Ruan, a Jackson Lab professor and the study's principal investigator, said in a statement. "It will also specifically support us to investigate the topological mechanisms in epilepsy, a devastating neurological disorder."
The funding is being provided by the Human Frontier Science Program, which promotes international research collaborations. The program is based in France but is funded by various countries including Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, India, South Korea, Singapore, the UK, and the US.
In addition to researchers at the Jackson Lab, Ruan's project will include scientists from Spain's Institute of Neurosciences at Miguel Hernández University, and from the Laboratory of Molecular and Systemic Neuromorphology at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Poland.