Pamela Garcia Lopez

Current Research:

Transcription factors (TFs) regulate transcription by binding to cis-regulatory elements on the DNA and recruiting cofactors (COFs). COFs recruited to the DNA regulate transcription by methylating DNA, modifying histones, remodeling the chromatin structure, or serving as a scaffold for the transcription machinery. Although binding of TFs to the DNA is relatively well studied, TF-COF interactions are still not well characterized. My research aims to decipher the rules of cofactor recruitment by transcription factors in mammalian cells. In particular, I use high-throughput approaches, such as protein binding microarrays (PBMs), as well as computational analysis of large RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and mass spec datasets, to examine how TF-COF interaction networks vary across cell types as well as healthy and diseased states.