Office Address
420 Washington Avenue SE
MCB 6-110
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States
Kanishk
Jain
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
The Jain Lab’s overarching goal is to combine classical biochemistry with genomic and proteomic approaches to decipher fundamental principles of chromatin engagement by epigenetic machinery and determine how they contribute to human biology and disease. In particular, we study how the Histone Code is laid down and how chromatin is accessed in vitro and in vivo, enabling us to understand how the regulation of these processes affects vital cellular mechanisms such as transcription, splicing, and DNA damage response. Our work aims to broaden the fundamental understanding of epigenetic regulation in human health and lead to new therapeutic approaches in cancer.
Research statement
The Histone Code is governed by a dynamic interplay of "writers," "readers," and "erasers" that regulate processes like transcription, splicing, and the DNA damage response. Writers, such as histone acetyltransferases and methyltransferases, add specific post-translational modifications (PTMs) to histones, while erasers, like histone deacetylases, remove these marks. Readers, including plant homeodomain (PHD) or chromodomain proteins, recognize and bind to these modifications, influencing chromatin structure and recruiting factors involved in gene regulation, splicing machinery, or DNA repair proteins, thereby orchestrating cellular responses. We aim to advance our understanding of chromatin engagement by chromatin readers, writers, and erasers and the implications to human biology by addressing two central themes: 1) Understanding histone reader engagement with chromatin in cancer and 2) Demystifying the complex hierarchy of histone PTMs and their crosstalk.
Selected publications
Geoffrey C. Fox, Karl F. Poncha, B. Rutledge Smith, Lara N. van der Maas, Nathaniel N. Robbins, Bria Graham, Jill M. Dowen, Brian D. Strahl*, Nicolas L. Young*, and Kanishk Jain*. “H3K18 & H3K23 acetylation directs establishment of MLL-mediated H3K4 methylation.” J. Biol. Chem. 2024 Aug; 300(8) 107527.
*denotes co-corresponding authors
Kanishk Jain, Matthew R. Marunde, Jonathan M. Burg, Susan L. Gloor, Faith M. Joseph, Karl F. Poncha, Zachary B. Gillespie, Keli L. Rodriguez, Irina K. Popova, Nathan W. Hall, Anup Vaidya, Sarah A. Howard, Hailey F. Taylor, Laylo Mukhsinova, Ugochi C. Onuoha, Emily F. Patteson, Spencer W. Cooke, Bethany C. Taylor, Ellen N. Weinzapfel, Marcus A. Cheek, Matthew J. Meiners, Geoffrey C. Fox, Kevin E. Namitz, Martis W. Cowles, Krzysztof Krajewski, Zu-Wen Sun, Michael S. Cosgrove, Nicolas Young, Michael-C Keogh, and Brian D. Strahl. “An acetylation-mediated chromatin switch governs H3K4 read-write capability.” eLife. 2023 May 12:e82596.
Kanishk Jain, Caroline S. Fraser, Matthew Marunde, Madison M. Parker, Cari Sagum, Jon Burg, Nathan Hall, Irina Popova, Keli Rodriguez, Anup Vadiya, Krzysztof Krajewski, Michael-Christopher Keogh, Mark T. Bedford, and Brian D. Strahl. “Characterization of the plant homeodomain (PHD) reader family for their histone tail interactions.” Epigenetics & Chromatin. 2020 Jan 13:3.
Kanishk Jain and Steven G. Clarke. “PRMT7: a unique member of the protein arginine methyltransferase family.” Archive of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 2019 Apr 665: 36-45.
Kanishk Jain, Cyrus Y. Jin, and Steven G. Clarke. “Epigenetic control via allosteric regulation of mammalian protein arginine methyltransferases.” PNAS USA. 2017 Sep 114(38):10101-10106.
Kanishk Jain, Rebeccah A. Warmack, Erik W. Debler, Andrea Hadjikyriacou, Pete Stavropoulos, Günter Blobel, and Steven G. Clarke. “Protein arginine methyltransferase product specificity is mediated by distinct active-site architectures.” J. Biol. Chem. 2016 Aug 291(35): 18299-308.
Erik W. Debler, Kanishk Jain, Rebeccah A. Warmack, You Feng, Steven G. Clarke, Gunter Blobel, and Pete Stravropoulos. “A glutamate/aspartate switch controls product specificity in a protein arginine methyltransferase.” PNAS USA. 2016 Feb 113(8): 2068-73.
Education and background
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles (2018)
BS, University of Virginia (2013)
Honors/Awards:
American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-24
NIH/NCI Postdoctoral T32: Cancer Epigenetics Training Program, 2018-20
NIH/NIGMS Predoctoral T32: Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Program, 2015-18