Danesh Moazed

Danesh Moazed, Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology (HMS)
HHMI Investigator

Danesh Moazed, Ph.D., is a Professor and HHMI Investigator in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.  He is a member of the Harvard Biophysics Program and the Harvard Initiative for RNA Medicine (HIRM). He received his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California in Santa Cruz and performed postdoctoral studies at the University of California in San Francisco.

The Moazed lab studies how genes are silenced and how silencing is epigenetically inherited across generations.  The lab’s interests revolve around diverse pathways of heterochromatin-mediated gene silencing in yeast and mammalian cells.  Work in budding yeast focuses on the structure and function of a diverged and relatively simple form of heterochromatin, which requires only three Silent information regulator (“Sir”) proteins that form a histone deacetylase and chromatin-binding complex.  Work in fission yeast focuses on a conserved example of heterochromatin that requires the nuclear RNA interference (RNAi) machinery, other RNA processing pathways, Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) homologs, and histone-modifying enzymes.  In mammalian cells, the work is focused on HP1-mediated and other heterochromatin formation pathways.  The lab uses approaches ranging from genetics and genomics, biochemical purification and reconstitution, and structural biology for their studies.  Ultimately, the lab seeks to understand the conserved fundamental principles that govern the assembly, function, and epigenetic propagation of heterochromatin.

Harvard Medical School

Dept. of Cell Biology, LHRRB 517

240 Longwood Avenue

Boston, MA 02115

Lab telephone: 617-432-1258

Lab fax: 617-432-1144

Minimal requirements for the epigenetic inheritance of engineered silent chromatin domains.
Authors: Authors: Yuan AH, Moazed D.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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SENP3 and USP7 regulate Polycomb-rixosome interactions and silencing functions.
Authors: Authors: Zhou H, Feng W, Yu J, Shafiq TA, Paulo JA, Zhang J, Luo Z, Gygi SP, Moazed D.
Cell Rep
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Rixosomal RNA degradation contributes to silencing of Polycomb target genes.
Authors: Authors: Zhou H, Stein CB, Shafiq TA, Shipkovenska G, Kalocsay M, Paulo JA, Zhang J, Luo Z, Gygi SP, Adelman K, Moazed D.
Nature
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Real-Time Quantitative PCR and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization for Subcellular Localization of miRNAs in Neurons.
Authors: Authors: Tatarakis A, Moazed D.
Methods Mol Biol
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A composite DNA element that functions as a maintainer required for epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin.
Authors: Authors: Wang X, Paulo JA, Li X, Zhou H, Yu J, Gygi SP, Moazed D.
Mol Cell
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A conserved RNA degradation complex required for spreading and epigenetic inheritance of heterochromatin.
Authors: Authors: Shipkovenska G, Durango A, Kalocsay M, Gygi SP, Moazed D.
Elife
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Native Chromatin Proteomics Reveals a Role for Specific Nucleoporins in Heterochromatin Organization and Maintenance.
Authors: Authors: Iglesias N, Paulo JA, Tatarakis A, Wang X, Edwards AL, Bhanu NV, Garcia BA, Haas W, Gygi SP, Moazed D.
Mol Cell
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Automethylation-induced conformational switch in Clr4 (Suv39h) maintains epigenetic stability.
Authors: Authors: Iglesias N, Currie MA, Jih G, Paulo JA, Siuti N, Kalocsay M, Gygi SP, Moazed D.
Nature
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Epigenetic inheritance mediated by coupling of RNAi and histone H3K9 methylation.
Authors: Authors: Yu R, Wang X, Moazed D.
Nature
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Evolving Models of Heterochromatin: From Foci to Liquid Droplets.
Authors: Authors: Tatarakis A, Behrouzi R, Moazed D.
Mol Cell
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