Pierre‐Antoine Defossez

A new class of inherently efficient SUMOylation substrates

This paper identifies a new class of inherently efficient SUMOylation substrates by showing that ZBTB38BTB and related BTB domains can be SUMOylated efficiently without E3 ligase involvement.

Dual profiling of DNA modifications with enhancer features during the exit of naive pluripotency

The paper uses Methyl-ATAC and Methyl-CUT&Tag to study 5mC and 5hmC dynamics during mESC differentiation, revealing their role in enhancer regulation.

New histone deposition recruits the DNA methylation maintenance machinery at sites of DNA damage repair

The paper shows DNA methylation is largely maintained during UV damage repair through recruitment of DNMT1 and DNMT3A, driven by UHRF1 and repair endonucleases, and linked to histone dynamics and transcriptional response.

DNA methylation links lagging strand replication to transposable element control

The paper shows DNA methylation maintenance is linked to lagging-strand replication and TE control in mouse cells, with TE integration preferentially occurring on the lagging strand.

DNA methylation protects cancer cells against senescence

The paper shows that reduced DNA methylation in cancer cells leads to senescence without DNA damage, involving p21 and cGAS, and demonstrates this in vivo.

Non-canonical functions of UHRF1 maintain DNA methylation homeostasis in cancer cells

This study shows UHRF1 has non-canonical roles beyond DNMT1 activation in maintaining DNA methylation homeostasis in cancer cells.

Comprehensive locus-specific L1 DNA methylation profiling reveals the epigenetic and transcriptional interplay between L1s and their integration sites.

The paper profiles L1 DNA methylation at single-locus resolution across normal and cancer cells, revealing how methylation and transcription interact with L1 integration sites.

A genome-wide knock-out screen for actors of epigenetic silencing reveals new regulators of germline genes and 2-cell like cell state

The paper identifies new regulators of germline genes and 2-cell like cell state through a genome-wide CRISPR knock-out screen in mouse ES cells.