My laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic memory, which are key to a number of biological processes, including embryonic development, cancer, stem cell pluripotency, and brain function.
- Molecular mechanisms of epigenetic memory
- Noncoding RNAs
- Chromatin biochemistry
- Genes and behavior
- Laurea (Biotechnology) University Of Milan, 2000.
- PhD (Immunology) Harvard Medical School, 2006.
Scacchetti A, Shields EJ, Trigg NA, Lee GS, Wilusz J, Conine CC, Bonasio R. A ligation-independent sequencing method reveals tRNA-derived RNAs with blocked 3’ termini. Mol Cell July 29, 2024 (online).
GitHub repository for LIDAR analysis.
Sheng L, Shields EJ, Gospocic J, Sorida M, Ju L, Byrns CN, Carranza F, Berger SL, Bonini N, Bonasio R. Ensheathing glia promote increased lifespan and healthy brain aging. Aging Cell 22(5):e13803, May 2023.
Gospocic J*, Glastad KM*, Sheng L, Shields EJ, Berger SL✉, Bonasio R✉. Kr-h1 maintains distinct caste-specific neurotranscriptomes in response to socially regulated hormones. Cell 184(23):5807-5823, November 2021.
Petracovici A, Bonasio R. >Distinct PRC2 subunits regulate maintenance and establishment of Polycomb repression during differentiation. Molecular Cell 81(12):2625-2639, April 2021.
He C✉, Bozler J, Janssen KA, Wilusz JE, Garcia BA, Schorn AJ, Bonasio R✉. TET2 chemically modifies tRNAs and regulates tRNA fragment levels. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 28(1):62-70, January 2021.
Sheng L*, Shields EJ*, Gospocic J, Glastad KM, Ratchasanmuang P, Berger SL, Raj A, Little S, Bonasio R. Social reprogramming in ants induces longevity-associated glia remodeling. Science Advances 6(34):eaba9869, August 2020.
Explore the ant brain at single-cell resolution with antSCout.
Zhang Q*, McKenzie NJ*, Warneford-Thomson R*, Gail EH, Flanigan SF, Owen BM, Lauman R, Levina V, Garcia BA, Schittenhelm RB, Bonasio R✉, Davidovich C✉. RNA exploits an exposed regulatory site to inhibit the enzymatic activity of PRC2. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 26(3):237-247, March 2019.
Shields EJ, Sheng L, Weiner AK, Garcia BA, Bonasio R. High-quality genome assemblies reveal long non-coding RNAs expressed in ant brains. Cell Reports 23(10):3078-3090, June 2018.
Download our new ant genome assemblies.
Gospocic J, Shields EJ, Glastad KM, Lin Y, Penick CA, Yan H, Mikheyev AS, Linksvayer TA, Garcia BA, Berger SL, Liebig J, Reinberg D, Bonasio R. The neuropeptide corazonin controls social behavior and caste identity in ants. Cell 170(4):748-759, Aug 2017.
He C, Sidoli S, Warneford-Thomson R, Tatomer DC, Wilusz JE, Garcia BA, Bonasio R. High-resolution mapping of RNA-binding regions in the nuclear proteome of embryonic stem cells. Molecular Cell 64(2):416–30, Oct 2016.
Browse the RBR-ID dataset.
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Building 421, Philadelphia, PA 19104