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Posts by Daniel MK Lee

Big congrats to Julia!
Besides doing amazing science, she has always been a super kind, supportive colleague.
I can not wait to hear more about her cool work and so so happy for her for her new journey!

5 days ago 5 0 0 0

Congrats Adri!

1 week ago 0 0 1 0
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Polycomb repressive-deubiquitinase complex safeguards oocyte epigenome and female fertility by restraining Polycomb activity www.nature.com/articles/s4...

1 month ago 13 5 0 0

With the human embryo model field rapidly expanding, it would be good if those venturing into it properly acknowledge the history of the field and give credit where credit's due. I doubt hTLS would be there w/o mouse gastruloids @amartinezarias.bsky.social @susannevandenbrink.bsky.social & TLS.

1 month ago 10 4 0 0
A dual role for CTCF in development CTCF is an essential DNA binding protein whose absence leads to embryonic lethality. CTCF is primarily known for its role in 3D genome organization where its N-terminal domain interacts with cohesin to anchor chromatin loops. How CTCF facilitates proper embryonic development remains unclear, necessitating temporal control to resolve its stage-specific functions. By combining gastruloids, an in vitro model of embryonic development, with a degron system to rapidly deplete CTCF at defined timepoints, we show that early CTCF depletion impairs early gastruloid morphogenesis. Surprisingly, ATAC-seq and time-resolved RNA-seq revealed that differentiation was unaffected. CTCF binding is strongly enriched at promoters of downregulated genes. Re-expression of a CTCF variant with an N-terminal truncation, incapable of looping, was sufficient to rescue the expression of CTCF-promoter bound genes and the defects in morphogenesis. However, extended culture (up to 168 hours) of gastruloids reconstituted with N-terminal truncated CTCF led to their collapse. Our work shows that CTCF has a dual function in early mammalian development: at early stages CTCF regulates developmentally important genes through promoter binding, while at later stages its looping function is required for correct development. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, 637587, 865459 Dutch Research Council, https://ror.org/04jsz6e67, 016.161.316, VI.C.222.049 Dutch Cancer Society, https://ror.org/0368jnd28, N/A

🧵 CTCF is essential for embryonic development, but why has remained unclear. By combining gastruloids with a temporal degron system, we uncovered a surprising dual function — and it changes how we think about CTCF's role in development. 1/8 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1 month ago 112 55 7 4

I am very happy to share that I've started my new position @upcite.bsky.social and opened my lab @institutimagine.bsky.social 🎉

In the lab we will study how differences in X-linked gene dosage between the sexes affect fetal growth and survival and contribute to sex differences later in life 👩‍🔬🧪🧬🧫

1 month ago 49 11 13 0
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🚨JOB ALERT🚨PLEASE SPREAD and RT

Searching for a motivated Master’s student @bokelab.bsky.social @crg.eu @prbb.org to investigate how proteostasis in oocytes influences dormancy and fertility.

Reach out to me (adriano.bolondi@crg.es) to join us in sunny Barcelona!

See details below👇

1 month ago 9 18 0 4

If you want to explore ncRNA dynamics during mammalian development, love microscopy, and are not afaraid of transposons biology, apply‼️
We are looking for a postdoc to join our team at @imbavienna.bsky.social
More details 👇🏻

1 month ago 23 29 0 0
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The role of KRAB zinc-finger proteins in expanding the domestication potential of transposable elements - Nature Genetics This Perspective explores the co-evolution of transposable elements and KRAB zinc-finger proteins in relation to their integration into human gene regulatory networks, highlighting their potential eff...

Find our latest Perspective article in Nature Genetics on "The role of KRAB zinc-finger proteins in expanding the domestication potential of transposable elements" at www.nature.com/articles/s41..., with implications for the future of research on the cause of human disease.

1 month ago 41 19 0 1
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Our most recent work on the “function and evolution” of #nuclear-speckles is now online at Cell @cp-cell.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Read the thread👇 for the highlights of our findings.

1 month ago 124 60 9 5
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Excited to share @suminkim.bsky.social and @mileshuseyin.bsky.social 's new Current Opinion review on how Polycomb complexes mediate 3D genome interactions including mechanistic models and potential roles in gene regulation:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

2 months ago 60 18 1 2
Chromatin binding and N-terminal domains of DNMT3B1 confer specificity for developmentally regulated CpG island methylation A biweekly scientific journal publishing high-quality research in molecular biology and genetics, cancer biology, biochemistry, and related fields

Are you a DNMT3 enthusiast wondering how they achieve specificity at CpG islands during development? And why is DNMT3B specifically required for methylation on the inactive X?

We set out to dissect the mechanism, now published in Genes & Development
genesdev.cshlp.org/content/earl...
[1/12]

2 months ago 16 7 2 0
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Unbalanced chromatin binding of Polycomb complexes drives neurodevelopmental disorders Borges, González-Blanco, Arigela, et al. report new missense mutations in the PRC1 genes RNF2 and RING1 in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Functional dissection of a deleterious variant...

Very excited to share our new Molecular Cell paper on missense mutations in Polycomb genes and how they can disrupt chromatin regulation to drive neurodevelopmental disorders. A huge thank you to everyone involved, and to our amazing collaborators!
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

2 months ago 28 9 2 1

During germline epigenetic reprogramming, Polycomb must be restricted in the gametes to ensure proper genome regulation in the fertilized embryo. 2 must-read papers assess what happens when Ezhip (Polycomb antagonist) is lost. They come to highly similar conclusions and should be read in tandem 1/4

2 months ago 24 7 1 0
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H4K16 acylations destabilize chromatin architecture and facilitate transcriptional response during metabolic perturbations Nitsch et al. show that short-chain acylations of histone H4K16, acetylation (C2), propionylation (C3), and butyrylation (C4) modulate chromatin structure in vitro. These effects can translate in vivo...

Now final version out: Our manuscript connecting histone modifications with metabolism: How H4K16 acylations regulate inter +intranucleosomal interactions and confer resilience to metabolic challenges in vivo. Thanks to the team+ @sandrani.bsky.social

Enjoy 👇👇 www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

3 months ago 38 20 1 1
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Academic employee for Research Group, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, reNEW

Do you want to play a key role in running a cutting-edge stem cell and embryology lab at reNEW @ucph.bsky.social ? We’re hiring a Lab Manager to support our team and help with stem cell and animal work. Apply before Feb. 1st : rb.gy/d5uf17

4 months ago 14 12 0 1
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Escape from X inactivation is directly modulated by Xist noncoding RNA Nature Cell Biology - The authors show that increased Xist RNA levels can induce de novo silencing of genes that normally escape X inactivation. SPEN depletion prevents the silencing of escape...

Very happy to share our paper rdcu.be/eUImj out today in @natcellbio.nature.com 🎉🎉🎉
We uncover an unexpected role for endogenous Xist RNA in regulating X-linked genes that escape X-inactivation.

4 months ago 74 31 6 2
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🧬 Are you interested in synthetic biology, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and cutting-edge genomics? Apply by 07.01.2026 to join Stefan Mundlos’ lab @stemundi.bsky.social at the MPIMG. #IMPRS-BAC #gradschool! @nataliabenetti.bsky.social
👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/5124667/Mund...

4 months ago 11 7 0 1
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SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3 Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

4 months ago 133 65 10 6
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Single-cell activation screen identifies hepatic maturation regulators with zonal resolution The maturation of lineage-committed embryonic hepatocytes requires both the timed activation of metabolic gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and silencin…

Happy to see Atsuhiro Taguchi's work on genes involved in liver zonation published in Dev @cellpress.bsky.social. Kudos to all authors at @molgen.mpg.de #MeissnerLab #HniszLab. Grateful for the opportunity to help!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

5 months ago 6 1 0 0
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IMPRS-BAC Open Call: Current IMPRS student Marcel Wittmund talks about what pursuing a PhD means to him and how the IMPRS program supports his doctoral studies at the MPIMG.

Apply by Jan 7th, 2026! www.molgen.mpg.de/IMPRSPhDproj...

#IMPRSBAC @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social @maxplanck.de

5 months ago 12 5 0 0
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[2026] – Endogenous retroviruses in human embryogenesis

My lab is seeking two PhD candidates to investigate the function and regulation of endogenous retroviruses in the early stages of human development 🦠👩‍🔬. Apply through the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) program: www.molgen.mpg.de/IMPRS/applic.... www.molgen.mpg.de/5094682/Fuey...

5 months ago 33 22 0 0
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HDAC3 prevents enhancer hyperactivation to enable developmental transitions Dynamic gene regulation requires precise cooperation between transcription factors and chromatin modifiers at regulatory elements to achieve not only activation or repression, but also appropriate tra...

Genes are not On/Off switches. In a new preprint we show that HDAC3 is key to establish correct transcriptional dose in development. Gr8 work from N. Stamidis @ucph.bsky.social and collab. @jamiehackett.bsky.social @gregersenlab.bsky.social . Huge thx to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

7 months ago 68 22 6 3

Excited for a major milestone in our efforts to map enhancers and interpret variants in the human genome:

The E2G Portal! e2g.stanford.edu

This collates our predictions of enhancer-gene regulatory interactions across >1,600 cell types and tissues.

Uses cases 👇

1/

7 months ago 84 37 2 1

Congratulations @julianeg.bsky.social ! Very happy for your grant and looking forward to seeing more cool stuff from your lab!

7 months ago 1 0 1 0
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During Cassandra Extavour's visit to the MPIMG, I was honored to chair a session discussing how we can collectively improve diversity and inclusion in science.

As a next generation of scientist, it was truly inspiring and empowering.

Kudos to all the organizers that make it happen!

10 months ago 5 0 0 0

What controls condensate composition and function beyond binding stoichiometry? We show that condensate microenvironments play a key role, and can be probed by a micropeptide killswitch in live cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @nature.com ‬ with @yaotianzhang.bsky.social Denes Hnisz & team.

10 months ago 16 7 2 4
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Delighted to share a new preprint from the lab!

We identified zinc-finger associated domain (ZAD)-containing C2H2 zinc-finger proteins (ZAD-ZnFs) as insulator-binding proteins in Drosophila.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

10 months ago 19 13 1 0

Check out this 🧵 from @eimearlagan.bsky.social on our new Molecular Cell @cp-molcell.bsky.social paper! We show how the H3K27M Oncohistone reprograms chromatin in DMG, creating a specific dependency on CBX4/PCGF4-containing forms of cPRC1 👇

11 months ago 40 15 0 0
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Clonal tracing with somatic epimutations reveals dynamics of blood ageing - Nature The discovery that DNA methylation of different CpG sites can serve as digital barcodes of clonal identity led to the development of EPI-Clone, an algorithm that enables single-cell lineage tracing th...

Out @nature.com: Clonal tracing with somatic epimutations

🧬 Single cell methylome encodes cell state & clonal identity

🔨 EPI-Clone reads out both (+mutations, +RNA) at scale

🩸 Clonal expansions of HSCs are universal from age 50, not driven by CH mutations

doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🧵

11 months ago 128 42 7 10