Our paper on the evolution of binding sites of the transcription factor GABPa has been accepted for publication in MBE. This work was originally started by Robert Querfurth at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. Alvaro and I got excited about this project and happily accepted to get involved in it.
In this work we identified binding sites of GABPa by ChIP-Seq and then used a comparative genomics approach to determine which binding sites are human specific. Interestingly, many of these sites were found to be significantly enriched near genes important for the brain and central nervous system, but also for other functions, such as breast development and energy metabolism, which might provide some clues for the evolution of functions and phenotypes that are unique to humans. Our work received some attention in the international press.
This nice figure was painted by Manjusha Chintalapati as a suggestion for a cover figure.