In silico analysis of linker histones in health and disease

Very long, linear DNA molecules carry the inheritable and instructive information of an organisms’ genome that is at the foundation of life. To be packaged and protected, genomes are organized into chromatin. This process is not static but highly dynamic constituting a fundamental regulatory system. Different proteins of the linker histone family are crucial for organizing DNA into chromatin. Various, often sporadic findings point to changes in linker histone expression and/ or changes in their composition (aka mutation) to be linked to various diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. We have set up different experimental systems to thoroughly analyze the role of linker histones in cell differentiation, organismal development and tissue homeostasis. In this VSRP project, we want to harness on the wealth of data that is available on the expression and mutation of genes in different disease context. We will map the changes in linker histone levels and putative mutations that are linked to neurodevelopmental diseases (e.g. Autism spectrum disorder, Schizophrenia, etc.) and various cancers expanding a novel datamining pipeline. Preliminary results on small datasets indeed indicate specific linker histones to be over or under expressed or mutated in specific diseases. Solidifying these findings by expanding the datasets analyzed will build a strong rationale for further experimental investigation.

- Interface with different databases for downloading various data from research studies - Synchronize and execute different pipelines of datamining (expression and mutant analysis) - Debugging of code - Documentation of analysis pipelines using GitHub and similar internal pipelines