Ph.D. students Iva Guberovic and Michael Maher, both researchers of the Chromatin, metabolism, and Cell Fate Group of the Josep Carreras Research Institute led by Marcus Buschbeck, tell through an interview their experience in the European Project Chromatin and Metabolism interactions as targets for healthy living: CHROME.

This project is part of the Innovative Training Networks (ITN) modality and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action funded by the European Commission. It aims to train, through an international network of public and private centers, a new generation of creative and innovative researchers, capable of transforming knowledge and ideas into products and services for the economic and social benefit of the European Union.

CHROME brings together 15 early-stage researchers from a wide range of research fields. Its goal is to deepen in the interaction between metabolism and epigenetics in the context of human health, combining basic research and translational science, and exploring topics such as the gut microbiome, the circadian rhythm, and leukemia. This project provides these students with training opportunities across Europe, intense cross-sectorial secondments and mentoring, and great networking opportunities.

Iva Guberovic is a Croatian Ph.D. student in Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona, enthusiastic about the basic principles of cross-organelle communication, with a particular interest in the crosstalk between chromatin and metabolism.

Michael Maher, originally from Ireland, came to Barcelona to work as a lab technician and eventually found his way to the Josep Carreras Institute to pursue a Ph.D. in the lab of Marcus Buschbeck. He is interested in the epigenetic regulation of lipid metabolism in leukemia.

Both students share their experiences.

What answers did you pursue with your research in the CHROME project?

Iva Guberovic (IG): How can chromatin directly sense changes in metabolism, primarily via a select group of histone variants termed macroH2A histone variants.

Michael Maher (MM): I pursued which epigenetic factors and chromatin remodelers regulate lipid metabolism in leukemia. Leukemia cells use fats as a potent fuel source, allowing increased proliferation and drug resistance. So, by identifying the regulatory aspects of lipid metabolism, we may unearth clues to potential targets for therapies that are leukemia cell-specific.

What progress have you made with your research work?

IG: During the past three years, we have found a couple of new and exciting aspects of macroH2A histone variants that have brought me closer to answering the central questions of my Ph.D. project!

MM: In my case, I have produced two datasets that identify potential epigenetic factors involved in lipid metabolism, and gene expression differences between low and high fatty acid uptake cells. The flow cytometry-based approach we have taken to measure and separate cells based on their fatty acid uptake is also a novel method to study lipid metabolism in leukemia cells.

What has the CHROME project allowed you to achieve?

IG: The secondment to a Ladurner lab in Munich allowed me to learn about biophysics, a scientific field that was completely new for me. My project is very interdisciplinary and involves the use of methods in biophysics, biochemistry, in cellulo, and in vivo research. However, the essential part of CHROME is the people involved in it. CHROME has been an integral part of my project, which enabled me to approach my research questions from many aspects, thanks to the expertise and interdisciplinarity of the network. It has also provided me with beautiful experiences, great friends, and a big research family I know I can rely on in the future.

MM: Science is a community effort and is much more than merely carrying out experiments at the bench. CHROME has opened up many doors for me in terms of developing new collaborations, exposure to international conferences, and sharing and learning ideas with fellow students and group leaders alike. I had the fantastic opportunity to spend a couple of months with a collaborator's lab group in Switzerland, where I learned new techniques for measuring metabolism, as well as experience in a new working environment.

What are the next steps of your research?

IG: I plan to finish my Ph.D. within a year, during which I will still intensely collaborate with CHROME researchers across Europe. After that, I plan to stay in the chromatin and metabolism research world, always counting on the people I met during the amazing CHROME experience.

MM: Overall, I am keen to see if the associations between lipid metabolism and epigenetic gene signatures we have observed in leukemia cell lines are also apparent in patient samples. Meanwhile, the plan is to end my thesis project and hopefully defend it at the end of 2020.