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Epigenetics

Families Learn about Juicy Genes

Researchers from the Kawamura Research Group hosted an activity at this year’s Discover Festival – a one-day interactive event for families and members of the public on 7th June 2025 at Newcastle University.  The hands-on activity provided attendees with an opportunity to extract and see DNA using a simple experiment involving kiwis and strawberries, as well as better understand the role that DNA plays, and why epigenetics is important when fighting diseases like cancer.   “It was so great to see so many passionate young minds that were keen to try our practical experiment. Teaching them more about DNA and it’s role in epigenetics was very rewarding!” – Rob Dawber, Research… Read More »Families Learn about Juicy Genes

Thesis hand in day for Klem!

Our group member Klemensas Simelis based at Oxford University handed in his thesis this week. Klem’s research looked at the “Development of Chemical Tools for Ten-Eleven Translocation Enzymes”. A summary of his project follows: Methylation of DNA (5-methylcytosine) is an epigenetic mark that typically silences gene expression. Ten-Eleven Translocation enzymes (TETs) oxidise the methyl groups of 5-methylcytosine, forming epigenetic DNA marks with distinct functions and facilitating DNA demethylation by other cellular mechanisms, which restores gene expression. The work discussed in the thesis is focused on: i) broadening the understanding of how these enzymes work using biochemical assays to detect catalytic activity, and ii) developing small molecule and cyclic peptide TET inhibitors… Read More »Thesis hand in day for Klem!

Chiara selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting!

We are delighted to announce that Chiara Maniaci has been selected to attend the prestigious 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in June. Chiara will join a cohort of 611 of the most qualified young scientists from 91 countries after a rigorous selection process.  She was nominated by the Royal Society and assessed on academic ability, motivation, and extra-curricular activities in a multi-stage process. The meeting will take place in Lindau, Germany from 26 June – 1 July, the participants will be able to meet each other and around 30 Nobel Laureates in person.  The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the exchange among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. Chiara… Read More »Chiara selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting!

New Epigenetics Paper by Roman Belle and Team

Congratulations to Roman Belle on the publications of ‘Reading and erasing of the phosphonium analogue of trimethyllysine by epigenetic proteins‘. We are very happy to have published this work in great collaboration between academic groups in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark. Thanks to all involved: Jos J. A. G. Kamps, Jordi Poater, Kiran Kumar, Bas J. G. E. Pieters, Eidarus Salah, Timothy D. W. Claridge, Robert S. Paton, F. Matthias Bickelhaupt, Akane Kawamura, Christopher J. Schofield & Jasmin Mecinović. The work was supported by the European Research Council, Cancer Research UK, EPSRC, Clarendon Scholarship, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the Spanish MINECO, and a World Bank Education… Read More »New Epigenetics Paper by Roman Belle and Team

Great North Museum Science Fair

The Kawamura Group had a great day at the Great North Museum (GNM) Family Outreach Science Fair on 24th February 2022. The fair was part of the series of events to mark 150 years of Science, Agriculture and Engineering at Newcastle University.  It celebrated the shared history of collaborations between GNM and Newcastle University.  Open to the general public as part of GNM’s half-term programme, it involved a series of different activities showcasing research from across the faculty. It was a fantastic opportunity to share our research and to engage the next generation of scientists. It was also a great opportunity for the PGRs in the group to gain some… Read More »Great North Museum Science Fair

Paper in Oncogene

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Paper in Oncogene – Systematic characterization of chromatin modifying enzymes identifies KDM3B as a critical regulator in castration resistant prostate cancer. Our collaborative work with Dr Nathan Lack’s laboratory (Koç University / Turkey and Vancouver Prostate Centre /Canada) is finally out! Hilal Saraç has led this study on how KDM3B has been identified to be important in the proliferation of castrate resistant prostate cancers. This work was funded by the Royal Society Newton Advance Fellowship. Hilal’s beautiful waterfall plot figure – epigenetic shRNA library screening identifies KDM3B (red) to be essential for CRPC proliferation 

Epigenetics exhibit at the Oxford Science + Ideas Festival

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We had a fantastic day engaging with members of the public and talking about Epigenetics at the Oxford Science + Ideas festival. Children enjoyed modifying our plasticine histone model, and everyone appreciated real world examples of how Epigenetics is an important area of research. We showed people that identical twins differ because of the different environments they experience, using NASA twins Scott and Mark Kelly as a unique example of two very different environments! We also found some great examples of how Epigenetics affects animals: bees have completely different roles based on their diet during development, and that the sex of some species of turtles differ depending on the temperature… Read More »Epigenetics exhibit at the Oxford Science + Ideas Festival

2019 RSC CBBG Postgraduate Symposium, Southampton

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Kawamura Group DPhil students presented their work at the RSC Chemical Biology and Bio–organic Group Postgraduate Symposium in Southampton. Great job Loane Serano, Klem Simelis, Grace Roper & Raphael Reinbold for presenting their posters, and Benoit Darlot for the oral presentation on his exciting work on anti-inflammatory peptides derived from tick saliva proteins – our collaborative work with Prof. Shoumo Bhattacharya.