Rebecca Malcore

Mentor: Kalantry
Genetics and Genomics

Areas of Interest

X-chromosome inactivation is a paradigm of epigenetic silencing that occurs in XX therian females. One X is epigenetically transcriptionally inactivated whereas the other X remains transcriptionally active. In mice, two phases of X-inactivation take place: imprinted X-inactivation where the paternal X is always inactive, and random X-inactivation where either the maternal or paternal X can be inactivated. The Kalantry lab has identified a role of the histone demethylase KDM5C as a regulator of random X-inactivation. KDM5C functions in a dose-dependent manner to induce Xist expression from the inactive-X, leading to gene silencing. I am interested in exploring how KDM5C dose is regulated in females and males. My goal is to explore potential positive regulators of KDM5C in females and negative regulators of KDM5C in males with the hypothesis that these regulators control the dose of KDM5C, which in turn controls if KDM5C influences Xist induction.