User:Elena Klenova

I am Professor of Molecular Oncology at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, UK. Research in my laboratory is focussed on the understanding of biological roles of two related proteins, CTCF and BORIS (CTCFL), in genetics, epigenetics and disease, particularly, in tumourigenesis. CTCF and BORIS belong to a group of Zinc Finger transcription factors and share an identical DNA binding domain. Although related, CTCF and BORIS have different functions. CTCF has properties of a tumour suppressor, whereas BORIS has features of an oncogene. CTCF is present in various cell types, whereas BORIS normally is found only in the testis. Importantly, BORIS is activated in many cancers and could potentially be used as cancer biomarker.