Biology

Kirill Lobachev, Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Biology, St. Petersburg State University

Phone: 404-385-6197
Fax: 404-894-0519
Office: (IBB) 2303/2212

Research Interests

DNA repair, recombination, replication, genome stability

DNA of all organisms is constantly under attack from endogenous and environmental insults. Efficient repair of damaged DNA is essential to preserve genome integrity on the level required for species survival and individual health. Defects in DNA repair lead to genome instability that is a hallmark of many tumors and inherited diseases in humans. Using yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model, the laboratory of Professor Kirill Lobachev investigates molecular mechanisms underlying eukaryotic genome stability. The major focus of Dr. Lobachev’s group is understanding the mechanisms of double-strand break formation (DSB) and chromosome rearrangements caused by human repetitive sequences. Inverted repeats, di-and trinucleotide repeats, AT and GC rich minisatellites have the ability to form non-canonical DNA structures (e.g. hairpins, cruciforms and triplex DNA) that can be targets for structure-specific nucleases or can impede DNA replication. The primary interests of the laboratory are genetic pathways leading to formation and processing of DSBs, molecular structures of DSB intermediates, and effects of DSBs on genome integrity.

Selected Publications

Lobachev K.S., Stenger J.E., Kozyreva O.G., Jurka J., Gordenin D.A., Resnick MA. 2000. Inverted Alu repeats unstable in yeast are excluded from the human genome. EMBO Journal 19: 3822-3830.

Stenger J.E., Lobachev K.S., Gordenin D.A., Darden T.A., Jurka J., Resnick M.A. 2001. Biased distribution of inverted and direct Alus in the human genome: implications for insertion, exclusion, and genome stability. Genome Research 11: 12-27.

Bennett C.B., Lewis L.K., Gopalakrishnan K., Lobachev K.S., Jin Y., Sterling J., Snipe J. and Resnick M.A. 2001. Genes required for ionizing radiation resistance in yeast. Nature Genetics 29: 426-434.

Lobachev K.S., Gordenin D.A., Resnick M.A. 2002. The Mre11 complex is required for repair of hairpin-capped double-strand breaks and prevention of chromosome rearrangements. Cell 108: 183-193.