DrNicholas Crump
Associate Professor in Myeloma Research
Department of Immunology and Inflammation - Faculty of Medicine
Orcid identifier0000-0001-9610-6763 (opens in a new tab)
- Associate Professor in Myeloma ResearchDepartment of Immunology and Inflammation - Faculty of Medicine
- 4S9B, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Campus, United Kingdom
RESEARCH
Multiple myeloma is one of the most common types of blood cancer. Unfortunately, despite its prevalence, even successful treatments are not effective in the long-term – patients often enter remission, but invariably relapse in the future. New treatments are therefore needed for patients following relapse.
My lab studies the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, with a particular interest in the way these processes are dysregulated in multiple myeloma. Enhancers are distal regulatory DNA elements that stimulate expression of target genes, and inappropriate enhancer activity is a common cause of oncogene upregulation. We are focused primarily on understanding the role of oncogenic enhancer activity in driving myeloma-specific transcriptional profiles, and identifying the factors responsible for this behaviour.
We use a variety of high-throughput genomics techniques to study the chromatin landscape, including ChIP-seq (and small cell number techniques such as ChIPmentation), ATAC-seq and RNA-seq. In addition, we use the 3C technologies Next Generation Capture-C and Micro-Capture-C to explore the physical association of enhancers and promoters, and investigate how this is regulated. We also use genetic and pharmacological manipulation of myeloma cell lines to allow a mechanistic exploration of enhancer function. A major goal of the lab is to use these techniques to identify potential therapeutic targets that could be developed as novel therapies for multiple myeloma.
My lab studies the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, with a particular interest in the way these processes are dysregulated in multiple myeloma. Enhancers are distal regulatory DNA elements that stimulate expression of target genes, and inappropriate enhancer activity is a common cause of oncogene upregulation. We are focused primarily on understanding the role of oncogenic enhancer activity in driving myeloma-specific transcriptional profiles, and identifying the factors responsible for this behaviour.
We use a variety of high-throughput genomics techniques to study the chromatin landscape, including ChIP-seq (and small cell number techniques such as ChIPmentation), ATAC-seq and RNA-seq. In addition, we use the 3C technologies Next Generation Capture-C and Micro-Capture-C to explore the physical association of enhancers and promoters, and investigate how this is regulated. We also use genetic and pharmacological manipulation of myeloma cell lines to allow a mechanistic exploration of enhancer function. A major goal of the lab is to use these techniques to identify potential therapeutic targets that could be developed as novel therapies for multiple myeloma.