Programming and Reprogramming Cell Fate
Decoding Transcription Factor Logic to Reprogram Mammalian Genomes
Capturing the Naive (red) and Primed (green) states of hESCs
A roadmap of mammalian development
How are pluripotent stem cells “programmed” to generate all bodily cell types during development, and how can somatic cells be “reprogrammed” to an ESC-like state?
We develop and apply innovative genomic technologies to map the epigenetic and transcriptomic events that drive cell fate decisions during early ESC differentiation and somatic to iPS reprogramming.
Gene expression (red) in the nucleus of Naive iPSCs
Reprogramming transcription factors and gene regulation
How can transcription factors identify and select cell type-specific genomic targets from thousands of potential binding sites?
Current research in the lab is aimed at understanding how reprogramming transcription factors facilitate the loss or destabilization of somatic cell identities and the activation of new target programs at single cell resolution
ex vivo expansion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Engineering customizable cell fates
How can we engineer clinically relevant cell types to alleviate pathological conditions?
We use computational and systems biology approaches to define novel reprogramming TF combinations that can contribute to the generation of Hematopoietic Stem, Progenitor and Mature blood cell types with the ultimate goal of transplantation therapy and to understand mechanisms that contribute to blood diseases.
Announcements
11/10/2024 Eva and Mary win short and chalk talk awards in GEMS symposium!
10/10/24 Itay is awarded a KUH Forward fellowship
09/15/24 Mary gets first place Talk Prize at Departmental Retreat
04/01/2024 Costas joins the Editorial board of JBC
11/08/2022 Costas and Dr Jie Liang receive the 2023 INCITE award to study High-Resolution Ensemble 3D Structures of genome across Tissues
University of Illinois at Chicago
We are located in a vibrant area of Chicago, only minutes away from downtown. Our laboratory is on the second floor of the Molecular Biology Research building (MBRB) and we are part of the multi-disciplinary department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics within the college of Medicine. We are also affiliated with the Center for Bioinformatics and Quantitative Biology and the UIC Cancer Center. The research focus areas within the research center are stem cells and developmental biology, genomics, structural biology, cell signaling and diverse aspects of cancer biology.
Our address:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
University of Illinois at Chicago, MBRB 2370
900 S. Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60607-7170
Office no 312-355-8012
Lab no 312-355-8011
Join Us!
We have multiple open positions for post-doctoral fellows and Phd students to investigate the roles of transcription factors in development and disease and to engineer clinically relevant cell fates. If you are interested contact Kostas at chronis@uic.edu
Funding
Defining a chromatin-state clock to measure and reverse hematopoietic stem cell aging Norn Group -Impetus Grant Funding Mechanism
Reprogramming Gene Regulatory Networks to a Hematopoietic Stem Cell State #R01HL170286 - NHLBI
The lung endothelium as an instructive niche for the innate immune system during vascular injury #P01 HL160469 -NHLBI
High-Resolution Ensemble 3DStructures of Genome across Tissues INCITE award - Argonne National Labs
Programming and Reprogramming Cell Fate - UIC seed Funding
