Ania Berdel  

Home Institution
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Host Institution
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Howard Hughes Medical institute, La Jolla, CA
Research Mentor: Michael Geoff Rosenfeld, MD Professor, Medicine
Cancer Biology Program

E-Mail: aberdel@gmail.com
Research Topic
see Abstract
Personal Reactions to the U.S. Experience
Even though I have already spent several years of my life in the U.S., I must say that California truly is one of the nicest places to be! When you go through La Jolla or San Diego you’ll always see people jogging somewhere, or surfers in their wet suits, casually carrying their boards across the street. Having the Pacific Ocean right in front of the door, beautiful gorges and mountains for hiking, and the Anza Borrego Desert all in close vicinity, it makes San Diego the perfect spot for outdoor lovers. After being done in the lab it is just the best to enjoy the rest of the day hanging out at the beach with friends, going for a run or swimming.
San Diego is one of the most fascinating and charming cities I have ever been to. It also offers a great nightlife with lots of outdoor bars, a big variety of cultural arts – music, and other seasonal events such as football, baseball, air shows etc…one shouldn’t miss those! Especially the website www.signonsandiego.com gives you useful information of what is going on in the city and where the special places to “hang out” are.
Having this relaxing and exciting environment around you, gives you so much energy and excitement to face the challenges in the lab. I am having a great and fulfilling time here in every way possible. We are about 40 people in my lab, which makes it a fun and multicultural place to work, with the studious Asian researchers, a funny Italian connection, Polish, Venezuelan temperament and some local souls. This is a great experience of how a laid back life style contributes to an intense research atmosphere and brings forward the best results possible.
The Rosenfeld Lab is very productive and competitive in the publishing world, and I have the chance to work here with high tech facilities and learn a lot of fancy methods used in epigenetic research.
Greatest Difficulties Encountered
When I arrived in the Rosenfeld lab I was supposed to work on a project together with a Russian scientist. Unfortunately she was often away and busy on personal terms, and I spent the first weeks reading papers and getting to know the lab. Since she was only very seldom in the lab and provided not very much guidance, the experiments went rather slowly, and it was hard for me to get into the project and go on by myself. I was caught between strongly wanting to further participate in this project and thinking that I have to change something if I wanted to get the most of this year in the lab. When I learned that she would move to San Francisco and open up a new lab, it was time to take some action, and I switched the project, because I felt very comfortable with the people in the lab and wanted to stay in San Diego.
The Grad students and Post Docs here at the Rosenfeld lab are great fun and very helpful with any questions I have. I am now working together with Wen, a Chinese researcher, on a very interesting project concerning DNA methylation and the demethylase influence on posttranslational transcription. I have learned a lot of methods so far working with Wen and he is a very enthusiastic teacher.
Most humorous incident
There were many funny incidents! One of them occurred during my first week in the lab when I was startled hearing a loud voice calling franticly through the lab in an Italian accent: “Espresso”!
My Venezuelan bay neighbour and others sprang up and shouted “Yeah, let’s get caffeinated!”
I didn’t expect such a sudden rush and outburst of energy in the lab and was a little confused, but finding myself shortly after at the coffee cart on the UCSD campus across the lab, I thought “Wow, what’s going on? But I kind of like it!” This soon became a daily ritual and it reflects the great and dynamic atmosphere in the lab.
Helpful Hints for Future Students
- www.craigslist.com (for finding flats, cheap furniture, vehicles etc.)
- I tried to get around San Diego and La Jolla by bike and bus, but it is just too time consuming and too difficult to do spontaneous trips on the weekends. When buying your own car over craigslist, take your time to compare the different offers!
- www.signonsandiego.com (a great website to know what is going on in San Diego and California!)
- Sports: In addition to going running, surfing, kayaking, and hiking, register for some REC classes at the RIMAC at the UCSD!
- California has so much to offer! Enjoy your time here and be open to experience a different lifestyle!

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Abstract on Research Topic

Role of protein methylation and demethylase activity in chromatin remodelling and transcriptional regulation
Authors: Ania Berdel1)2), Thorsten Cramer 1), Wen Liu2), Michael G. Rosenfeld2)

Institutions:
1) Department of Gastroenterology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany
2) University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, San Diego, USA

Abstract:
The posttranslational modification of histones plays an important role in chromatin regulation.
Findings suggest that lysine and arginine-specific methylation of histones may cooperate with other types of post-translational histone modification to regulate chromatin structure and gene transcription. Proteins that methylate histones on arginine residues can collaborate with other coactivators to enhance the activity of specific transcriptional activators such as nuclear receptors.
Lysine methylation of histones is associated with transcriptionally active nuclei, regulates other types of histone modifications, and is necessary for proper mitotic cell divisions. The fact that some transcription factors and proteins involved in RNA processing can also be methylated suggests that protein methylation may also contribute in other ways to regulation of transcription and post-transcriptional steps in gene regulation. In future work, it will be important to develop methods for evaluating the precise roles of protein methylation in the regulation of native genes in physiological settings, e.g. by using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, differentiating cell culture systems, and genetically altered cells and animals. It will also be important to isolate additional protein methyltransferases by molecular cloning and to characterize new methyltransferase substrates, the regulation of methyltransferase activities, and the roles of new methyltransferases and substrates.
Histone methylation influences constitutive heterochromatin, genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation and gene transcription. Histone demethylase catalyzes the removal of methyl groups on lysine or arginine residues of histones. Two kinds of histone lysine demethylases have been identified, including lysine specific demethylase 1 and Jumonji C (JmjC) domain family proteins. These histone demethylases are involved in the regulation of gene expression.
Histone modification is a dynamic process, and the imbalance of histone methylation has been linked to cancers. Therefore, histone demethylases may represent a new target for anti-cancer therapy.