Antoine MOLARO

Chef d'équipe
institute
AccueilAntoine MOLARO
Antoine Molaro

MOLARO
Antoine
Chef d'équipe
CR

Présentation

Training

2013-2020       Postdoctoral Fellow, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA. Advisor: Dr. Harmit S. Malik - Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellow

2008-2012       Ph.D. thesis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA. Advisor: Prof. Gregory J. Hannon

2008    Master (II) internship, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA. Advisor: Dr. Alexei Aravin and Prof. Gregory J. Hannon

2007    Master (I) internship, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France. Advisor: Dr. Philippe Clerc and Prof. Philip Avner

Education

2012    Ph.D : Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France / Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA. Doctoral school: “Life Science Complexity” – ED515

2008    Master : Developmental Biology, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France / École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

2006    License : Biology, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France / École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

Recherche

Foreword

I am broadly interested in understanding the function of the germline epigenome. In mammals, the germline epigenome is key to the inheritance of genetic and epigenetic information. It is also at the heart of intense evolutionary battles, known as genetic conflicts. These can arise between genetic elements within our genomes, whole chromosomes or between parents. In fact, these constant tugs of war shape fundamental aspect of reproduction and speciation and drive rapid evolutionary innovation. Thus, contrary to current paradigms that focus on evolutionary conservation, I study the rapid evolution of the epigenome to discover novel principles in reproduction and speciation. My research program interfaces epigenomics with evolutionary biology.

 

Some prior research

As a graduate student, I have uncovered some of the rules behind the co-evolution of the germline genome and epigenome in primates (Molaro, Hodges et al., 2011). I also identified the consequences of small RNA’s adaptive evolution on the establishment of the germ cell epigenome in mice (Molaro et al., 2014). During my postdoc, I have discovered adaptive evolution in germline DNA methyltransferases and in short H2A histone variants in mammals (Molaro et al., 2018 and 2019). Using mouse models, I have uncovered that some short H2As have parental-effect functions that are crucial for embryogenesis (Molaro et al., 2020). In collaboration with cancer biologists we have discovered that short H2As are ectopically expressed in many human cancer (Chew et al., 2021).

 

Current research

Currently, my team uses mouse models, mammalian cell culture and comparative epigenomics to answer some of the following questions:

  • What are the functions of protein domains subject to diversification in chromatin modifying enzymes?
  • Which evolutionary forces drive short histone H2A variants diversification in mammals?
  • How do short H2As imprint parental epigenomes during mammalian reproduction?
  • How does epigenome evolution shape normal development and disease progression in humans?

Publications

17 publications
2023

Histone renegades: Unusual H2A histone variants in plants and animals.

Publié le 15 Fév 2023 dans Seminars in cell & developmental biology , vol. 135 - pp 35-42

Osakabe A, Molaro A

2022

Distinct evolutionary trajectories of SARS-CoV-2-interacting proteins in bats and primates identify important host determinants of COVID-19.

Publié le 30 Août 2022 dans Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 119 - pp e2206610119

Cariou M, Picard L, Guéguen L, Jacquet S, Cimarelli A, Fregoso OI, Molaro A , Navratil V, Etienne L

Novel Classes and Evolutionary Turnover of Histone H2B Variants in the Mammalian Germline.

Publié le 03 Fév 2022 dans Molecular biology and evolution , vol. 39

Raman P, Rominger MC, Young JM, Molaro A , Tsukiyama T, Malik HS

2021

Short H2A histone variants are expressed in cancer.

Publié le 20 Jan 2021 dans Nature communications , vol. 12 - pp 490

Chew GL, Bleakley M, Bradley RK, Malik HS, Henikoff S, Molaro A , Sarthy J

2020

Dynamic Evolution of De Novo DNA Methyltransferases in Rodent and Primate Genomes.

Publié le 01 Juil 2020 dans Molecular biology and evolution , vol. 37 - pp 1882-1892

Molaro A , Malik HS, Bourc'his D

Sex and suicide: The curious case of Toll-like receptors.

Publié le 04 Mar 2020 dans PLoS biology , vol. 18 - pp e3000663

Navarro-Costa PA, Molaro A , Misra CS, Meiklejohn CD, Ellis PJ

Biparental contributions of the H2A.B histone variant control embryonic development in mice.

Publié le 04 Déc 2020 dans PLoS biology , vol. 18 - pp e3001001

Molaro A , Wood AJ, Janssens D, Kindelay SM, Eickbush MT, Wu S, Singh P, Muller CH, Henikoff S, Malik HS

2018

Studying the Evolution of Histone Variants Using Phylogeny.

Publié le 01 Jan 2018 dans Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) , vol. 1832 - pp 273-291

Molaro A , Drinnenberg IA

Evolutionary expansion of DNA hypomethylation in the mammalian germline genome.

Publié le 04 Fév 2018 dans Genome research , vol. 28 - pp 145-158

Qu J, Hodges E, Molaro A , Gagneux P, Dean MD, Hannon GJ, Smith AD

Evolutionary origins and diversification of testis-specific short histone H2A variants in mammals.

Publié le 04 Avr 2018 dans Genome research , vol. 28 - pp 460-473

Molaro A , Young JM, Malik HS

2016

Hide and seek: how chromatin-based pathways silence retroelements in the mammalian germline.

Publié le 04 Avr 2016 dans Current opinion in genetics & development , vol. 37 - pp 51-58

Molaro A , Malik HS

2014

Two waves of de novo methylation during mouse germ cell development.

Publié le 15 Juil 2014 dans Genes & development , vol. 28 - pp 1544-9

Molaro A , Falciatori I, Hodges E, Aravin AA, Marran K, Rafii S, McCombie WR, Smith AD, Hannon GJ

2012

Production of artificial piRNAs in flies and mice.

Publié le 04 Jan 2012 dans RNA (New York, N.Y.) , vol. 18 - pp 42-52

Muerdter F, Olovnikov I, Molaro A , Rozhkov NV, Czech B, Gordon A, Hannon GJ, Aravin AA

Genomic landscape of human allele-specific DNA methylation.

Publié le 08 Mai 2012 dans Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 109 - pp 7332-7

Fang F, Hodges E, Molaro A , Dean M, Hannon GJ, Smith AD

2011

Directional DNA methylation changes and complex intermediate states accompany lineage specificity in the adult hematopoietic compartment.

Publié le 07 Oct 2011 dans Molecular cell , vol. 44 - pp 17-28

Hodges E, Molaro A , Dos Santos CO, Thekkat P, Song Q, Uren PJ, Park J, Butler J, Rafii S, McCombie WR, Smith AD, Hannon GJ

Sperm methylation profiles reveal features of epigenetic inheritance and evolution in primates.

Publié le 16 Sep 2011 dans Cell , vol. 146 - pp 1029-41

Molaro A , Hodges E, Fang F, Song Q, McCombie WR, Hannon GJ, Smith AD

Contacter
Antoine MOLARO

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