The formation of silent chromatin

We are interested in proteins that interact with the heterochromatin protein HP1ß in the formation of silent chromatin. A yeast two hybrid screen performed in our lab has resulted in a lot of up to date unknown interacting proteins. Some of them have already been verified as true interaction partners of HP1ß. However, their function are still unknown as well as the importance of their binding to HP1ß. We are currently establishing novel protein/protein interaction systems for identification of interacting proteins under physiological conditions. These systems will be of great power generally for identification of protein interactions in vivo. Moreover, using reporter gene systems we are investigating those proteins and their influence on transcriptional repression.



HP1ß in testicular cells