Had a cracking lab meeting this morning with our latest epigenome editing results (new tools we're trying for the 1st time). Reminded me we're organizing an awesome symposium in Paris in Nov! Here's our updated flyer (new speaker @dfachinetti.bsky.social). Please share! ctrlepiedit.sciencesconf.org

👋 To all aneuploidy and chromosome instability aficionados check out the Consequences of Aneuploidy FASEB conference (Florida-USA 🏖️) co-organised with @peterlylab.bsky.social, Mike Lampson, Alison Taylor and myself: events.faseb.org/event/Aneupl...
👉 Deadline for abstract submission: August 3rd.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science! The core of the Fachinetti lab

Still some time to register to this great meeting! Great science and great location for a very affordable registration cost!

#Post-doc position available in our lab at I. Curie, Paris Application and job details here:
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Registrations are now open!!

Congrats Lars and @bencarty.bsky.social . Happy to have contributed to this beautiful story!

Happy to share the “International Symposium on Chromosome Dynamics: from Structure to Cellular Function” that will be held in Japan 31st of May 2026 www.fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp/labs/fukagaw.... Registrations will open on December 1st! Plenty of opportunities to present your work! Hope to seeing you

The 21st Course on Epigenetics which will take place from March 25th to April 1st, 2026 at the Institut Curie (Paris).
The Course is open to M2 and PhD students. Application via the Advanced Training Office website before December 15th, 2025 at:
minilien.curie.fr/3avv47

Very excited and honored that our project CenAGE with @manellab.bsky.social and Elsa Logarinho was granted! Looking forward to discover how centromere instability affects the immune cells contributing to systemic ageing. More Info here: curie.fr/actualite/no... Open positions soon, stay tuned!

Thanks Maxim!!

Congrats, Sara! Looking forward to seeing more great science from you and your collaborators!

My team is recruiting a Study Engineer (IE) with experience in mammalian cell culture - ideally human iPSCs - to work on a project exploring the role of aneuploidy and centromere regulation in neuroblastoma initiation and progression.
info and application here
institut-curie.org/job/study-en....

Dipping into the function of DNA methylation at centromeres - Nature Genetics Human centromeres contain a small chromatin region with low levels of DNA cytosine methylation that resides with CENP-A. Salinas-Luypaert et al. find a role of DNA methylation in maintaining the size and function of centromeres by controlling the binding affinity of key centromere components.

Thanks to @erhardtlab.bsky.social for the news and views on our paper on DNA methylation&centromere www.nature.com/articles/s41....

10-year celebration of the Fachinetti team!
Thank you to all my amazing current and former members for making these two days so special for me! I feel so lucky to have met you all!

#ResultatScientifique🔎| La méthylation de l’ADN agit comme un code caché des centromères, garantissant une division cellulaire stable et freinant l’instabilité génomique 🧬
🤝@cnrs-paris.bsky.social @institutcurie.bsky.social
✍️ @dfachinetti.bsky.social
📕 @natgenet.nature.com |https://buff.ly/hxb1yxh

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

📢ONLINE @natgenet.nature.com

📰DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function.

By Catalina Salinas-Luypaert, @dfachinetti.bsky.social, @naltemose.bsky.social and colleagues.

⬇️

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

▶️ Pour en savoir plus
⏩ Lire l'actu : curie.fr/actualite/di...
⏩ Lire la publication : www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Finally we want to thank our amazing collaborators @foijer-lab.bsky.social , Geert Kops and team, Claire Francastel and team and @khmiga.bsky.social and team.

#6 In summary, this work carried out at @institutcurie.bsky.social @cnrs.fr @stanforduniversity.bsky.social and supported by @agencerecherche.bsky.social @fondationarc.bsky.social @chanzuckerberg.bsky.social ‪provides the first evidence that DNA methylation directly influences centromere function

#5 We also found that gradual methylation loss allows most cells to adapt and survive, whereas rapid loss causes aneuploidy and cell death. This slow adaptation mirrors what often happens during cancer progression.

#4 We show that loss of DNAme leads to disruption of the centromere’s bipartite structure and also controls the presence of another centromere-associated protein, CENP-B. Excessive CENP-B makes centromeric DNA more fragile and prone to breakage.

#3 Using DiMeLo-seq, Rosa Lee and Danilo Dubocanin from the Altemose team mapped CENP-A binding with high precision. They found that when DNA methylation is lost, CENP-A spreads to inappropriate regions, causing centromere alterations and chromosomal imbalances.

#2 During her PhD, Catalina Salinas-Luypaert developed human cell models that allowed us to directly alter DNA methylation at centromeres and observe the consequences. We show that DNA methylation is critical to keep CENP-A correctly positioned and centromeres functioning.

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

#1 Centromeres are epigenetic loci defined by CENP-A, positioned in unmethylated DNA flanked by highly methylated regions. Our work, published in @natgenet.nature.com in collaboration with @naltemose.bsky.social investigates the role of DNAme at human centromeres www.nature.com/articles/s41...

And great time with our long-term friends, the Holland!

Not to forget a great dinner and time with my ex neighbor labs @odlab.bsky.social . San Diego is always the best place to be ♥️

Finally, superb time at UPENN with my friends Alessandro Gardini, Ben Black and @glennislogsdon.bsky.social and great discussion with the faculty members. I felt at home!

Amazing visit also to @stanfordpress.bsky.social with my friend @naltemose.bsky.social and great time with @astraight.bsky.social team members. What a campus and what great labs! You guys rock!

Great time with @hirofunabiki.bsky.social @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social with amazing discussion with @prasad.bsky.social , @johnmaciejowski.bsky.social @agnelsfeir.bsky.social and Simona Giunta. Thanks also to Hiro’s lab for all the great chat! Happy to have seen my PhD friend Fabio Vanoli