Anki Östlund Farrants explores abnormalities in DNA

Scientists at Stockholm University’s Department of Cell Biology are researching how external stimuli affect genes.

The work is being led by Dr Ann-Kristin Östlund Farrants who heads up the Chromatin Remodelling-Group at the Department of Cell Biology. The group is based in one of the Arrhenius laboratories at Stockholm University’s picturesque leafy campus, just 10 minutes from the heart of Stockholm.

The group, which is funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Cancer charity Cancer Fonden was formed almost ten years ago after Östlund Farrants took up a post at Stockholm University after completing her doctorate in Oslo, Noway.

Today the group consists of Dr Östlund Farrants, two doctoral students and a number of graduate students.

“The central work being done by the group is to understand the function of different ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling complexes in mammalian cells,” says Östlund Farrants.

“The organisation of DNA into chromatin, with its smallest unit the nucleosome, plays a role in gene regulation, replication, recombination, and repair,“ explains Östlund Farrants.

“The chromatin forms an obstacle for a number of protein factors that need access to the DNA. Several protein complexes have been identified that change the chromatin structure and make the DNA more accessible. These complexes regulate the structure either by acetylation, phosphorylation and methylation of the histone proteins in the nucleosome, or by changing the histone-DNA contacts using ATP. The latter complexes are called ATP-dependent chomatin remodelling complexes and several different types exist.”

Focussing on two different types of complex, the SWI/SNF family of complexes, and the ISWI-complex B-WICH, the group is in layman’s terms looking closely at the way external stimuli affect cell division and cell growth.

“We want to know when and why abnormalities in the packaging of the DNA occur. This fundamental knowledge increases our understanding of why diseases occur,” says Östlund Farrants. “This in turn is important when developing treatments for cancer and cardio-vascular disease.”

“One of the problems we’re faced with,” says Östlund Farrants, “is that it is particularly hard for factors required for cellular processes to get access to genes in the DNA when it is packaged layer after layer with protein. How can genes be switched on and off in such an environment?”

With Stockholm University prioritizing Cell Biology as one of its key areas of strategic focus, Stockholm is an exciting place to be for all kinds of DNA research. However, Dr Östlund Farrants is keen to involve the group in an international discussion.

“Obviously it’s important we share and develop our research with international colleagues,” says Östlund Farrants.

“We’ve already agreed a partnership with the Pasteur Institute in France and with Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston,” says Östlund Farrants. “Professor Christian Muchardt from the Institute visited Stockholm University last November.”

“We hope that these collaborations result in a number of scientific papers in the near future.”

Interview and text: Jon Buscall