Bedford Laboratory
Mark Bedford, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Areas of Research
- Epigenetics
- Molecular Carcinogenesis
- Arginine Methylation
- Epigenetic Readers
- Chemical Inhibitors
- Domain Readers
The Bedford Laboratory is defining the biological role of arginine methylation, a common post-translational modification present on histones and other proteins. Histone arginine methylation plays an important role in the histone code and epigenetic memory.
The Bedford group focuses their research on protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that methylate arginine residues. Arginine is unique among amino acids as its guanidino group contains five potential hydrogen bond donors that are positioned for favorable interactions with biological hydrogen bond acceptors.
Three types of methylarginine species exist: monomethylarginine (MMA), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA). The formation of MMA, ADMA, and SDMA in mammalian cells is performed by a family of nine PRMTs.
Bedford Lab in Action
Donghang Cheng, Ph.D., mentoring Michael Chen during the Summer Program in Cancer Research (SPCR).
Donghang Cheng, Ph.D., and Vidya Vemulapalli, Ph.D., discussing cells.
Mark Bedford, Ph.D., and Narkhyun Bae, Ph.D., excited about experimental results.