Cho Lab
Principal Investigator: Ken W.Y. Cho
Institution: University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY: Differentiation of progenitor cells requires their ability to interpret genomic information in diverse and highly specific ways. Understanding how gene batteries are regulated during this transition is one of the most fundamental questions in biology. A particularly intriguing context for this question is the process of zygotic genome activation (ZGA), when the paternal and maternal genomes unite after fertilization and begin transcription for the first time to transcribe its genome, this marking the initiation of the embryonic developmental program. During this stage, maternal factors such as transcription factors and chromatin modifiers that are present in the egg, are recruited to the embryonic genome to coordinate its first wave of gene expression and begin shaping its epigenetic and transcriptional landscape. Uncovering how the naïve embryonic genome is gradually remodeled into defined active and repressive domains is a central challenge in developmental biology. Recent studies have also revealed that some aspects of this regulatory process may be inherited from the parental genomes, suggesting that specific features of the maternal and paternal epigenomes con…
Active NIH Awards
- 2R35GM139617-06: Zygotic Genome Activation by Maternal Transcription Factors and Epigenetic Modifiers (2026)
- 5R35GM139617-05: Maternal transcription factors shaping early embryonic chromatin landscape (2025)
- 5R35GM139617-04: Maternal transcription factors shaping early embryonic chromatin landscape (2024)
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