Thanks T, and back at you! Look at us, just a bunch of science NuRDs

This project represents the best of collaborative, curiosity-driven science—from undergraduates at a PUI taking their first steps at the bench to a full research teams from R2 and R01 Universities uncovering how epigenetic systems maintain developmental fidelity.

Our findings highlight how transcriptional repression, chromatin remodeling, and histone methylation reprogramming synergize to prevent somatic tissues from adopting germline-like transcriptional states.

Thats not all...🔹 Using genetic knockdowns and large genomic sequencing analyses, we show that these complexes physically associate at SPR 5/MET 2 targets—revealing a coordinated, multilayered gene regulatory mechanism that maintains the germline–soma distinction.

In this study....drum roll🥁! 🔹 We found that compromising either the DREAM transcriptional repressor complex or the MEC NuRD chromatin remodeling/HDAC complex exacerbates the developmental delay and ectopic germline gene expression observed in spr 5; met 2 mutants.

*Major Highlights From Our Paper*
Our previous work demonstrates that SPR-5 (an H3K4 demethylase) and MET-2 (an H3K9 methyltransferase) normally work together during fertilization to erase inherited epigenetic marks and prevent germline genes from staying active in somatic tissues.

What makes this publication especially meaningful is that it started with CURE students from Oglethorpe University. Their initial experiments laid the foundation for a question that grew into a multi-institutional project including Emory University and Kennesaw State University.