Daniel Richard Foltz

Our research program is focused on the important basic question of how chromosomes are segregated during cell division to ensure the complete and accurate inheritance of the genome. Chromosome instability is a hallmark of cancer and can drive tumorigenesis. Therefore, how centromere specification is controlled is a basic biological question with great therapeutic potential. Centromeres are specified by the incorporation of a histone variant CENP-A, and stable inheritance of this locus is controlled by an epigenetic pathway. We are using a combination of cell biology, biochemical purification, and in vitro reconstitution of centromeric chromatin to discover the mechanism of epigenetic inheritance and CENP-A function across the cell cycle. The immediate goal is to determine the mechanism of epigenetic centromere inheritance, with a long-term goal of delineating the role of this process in tumorigenesis, and translate our basic understanding of the enzymes and proteins involved in this process into therapeutic approaches for targeting proliferative disease.