The maintenance of genome stability takes place in a chromatin environment, and it is increasingly evident that epigenetic regulation is a key component of genome stability. Notably, epigenetic pathways are frequently perturbed in cancer cells.

Understanding the interplay between epigenetic regulation and genome stability at a molecular level is critical to cancer biology and has important translational implications.

The programme will address the challenges of understanding this complex field and will emphasise new experimental systems for interrogating these pathways.

While the emphasis is on understanding molecular mechanisms of epigenetic impacts on genome stability, we will also consider how recent advances can be exploited in the clinic.

Topics to be covered

• Epigenetic aspects of DNA damage signalling
• Chromatin remodelling and histone modifications in DNA repair and replication
• Chromatin environment and its influence on DNA repair mechanisms
• Epigenetic regulation of chromosome organisation and segregation
• Histone chaperones, non-coding RNAs, and genome stability