What we are about
The gut is a complex and dynamic ecosystem where myriads of microorganisms interact with the host epithelium. These microbes aid in the digestion of food and training of the immune system. The understanding of most-microbiota interactions at a mechanistic level is of critical importance yet remains poorly developed. The International Laboratory for Microbiome Host Epigenetics is largely funded by FAPESP and aims to tackle these challenges.
Our hypothesis is that chromatin dynamics are of central importance in the gut host-microbiota interactions. We will use cutting-edge approaches, such as single cell biology, to illuminate how chromatin dynamics integrate the microbiota-host crosstalk. We will reveal how microbiota-linked histone modifications mechanistically affect gene expression and how such chromatin changes are affected in a mouse model of diseases, such as ulcerative colitis. While most of this work will be performed in the mouse model, we will also probe questions using biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis.
This is collaboration between the labs of Prof Marco Vinolo, University of Campinas, and Patrick Varga-Weisz, holder of a FAPESP funded São Paulo Chair of Excellence and also lecturer at the University of Essex, Colchester, UK. We are also funded by a Newton Advanced Fellowship to Prof Marco Vinolo from the Royal Society (UK). The main lab is based at the Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil. The University of Campinas is one of the top universities of the Latin Americas with superb infrastructure. The main language of the lab is English.
