Membres de l’équipe
Daniele Fachinetti
Download Biosketch Daniele Fachinetti 2019
"I performed my PhD work with Marco Foiani (IFOM, Italy) where I identified for the first time the sites where DNA replicationtermination occurs, and the molecular mechanisms behind this process (Fachinetti et al., 2010). The study of replication fragile zones sparked my interest in centromeres, which led to my move in 2010 to the laboratory of Don W. Cleveland at the Ludwig Institute in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). As post-doc, I have characterized a system for rapid protein degradation in human cells, the Auxin-mediated degradation (Holland, Fachinetti et al., 2012). I then combined genome-editing techniques to answer to two long-standing questions in genetics: the nature of the epigenetic mark of centromeres (Fachinetti et al., 2013; Fachinetti et al., 2017) and the role of centromeric DNA sequence in centromere function (Fachinetti et al., 2015). These findings open new routes of investigation necessary for our understanding of centromere establishment and function and overall the maintenance of genome stability. I then started as a group leader at the “Department of cell biology and cancer” at the Institut Curie supported by the ATIP-AVENIR program in 2016.
My team is now studying what we think are the most pressing questions in chromosome biology: 1) Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that control faithful transmission of our genetic material; 2) DNA architecture of certain chromosomal regions such as centromeres; 3) Identification of the key enzymes protecting the integrity of our genome. We use molecular and cell biology approaches combined with genetics, physics and biochemistry."
