Santos Laboratory
Margarida A. A. Santos, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Areas of Research
- Leukemia
- Stem Cell Biology
- Epigenetics
- DNA Damage Response
The Santos laboratory studies the DNA damage response and the epigenetic regulation of normal and cancer stem cells. Current studies focus on the hematopoietic system for two reasons: 1) it is a well-established system for adult stem cell studies and 2) the dynamic nature of the hematopoietic system places it in a vulnerable position with respect to genomic damage during DNA replication.
The Santos lab is investigating a family of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) and how these PRMTs affect benign and malignant cell differentiation. They are also defining the roles of the MLL3/4 complex in normal and malignant cells. The long-term goal of the research program is to define the mechanisms through which epigenetic regulation and transcription occur during normal differentiation and how these processes become disrupted in cancer, and to use this information to develop specific and potent therapeutic strategies for patients.
CARM1 arginine methyltransferase as a therapeutic target for cancer. Santos M, Hwang JW, Bedford MT. J Biol Chem. 2023 Sep;299(9):105124.
GSK-3484862 targets DNMT1 for degradation in cells. Chen Q, Liu B, Zeng Y, Hwang JW, Dai N, Corrêa IR Jr, Estecio MR, Zhang X, Santos MA, Chen T, Cheng X. NAR Cancer. 2023 May 17;5(2):zcad022.
Methyl-lysine readers PHF20 and PHF20L1 define two distinct gene expression-regulating NSL complexes. Van HT, Harkins PR, Patel A, Jain AK, Lu Y, Bedford MT, Santos MA. J Biol Chem. 2022 Mar;298(3):101588.