The Chatterjee lab uses biophysical techniques such as Fluorescence Polarization, Time-resolved Förster Resonance Energy Transfer, protein NMR and Cryo-EM to understand the biochemical crosstalk between histone modifications and gene transcription. Active research areas with openings for new students include (1) understanding the role of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) in gene regulation by histone sumoylation, (2) studying the mode of nucleosome binding and ubiquitylation by BRCA1, and (3) investigating the effect of acetylation and phosphorylation on the regulation of oligomeric state, DNA-binding and transcriptional activation by the master gene regulator and transcription factor p53.
