Our lab is interested in how genetic material is packaged in eukaryotes and the implications this has for biological processes. Within each cell of our body, we have nearly four metres of DNA distributed over 46 chromosomes which is sequestered in a nucleus of only 1000 m3.
Chromatin must, therefore, fulfil two conflicting roles: structure DNA so that genomic instability is minimised, but at the same time remain accessible to factors involved in transcription, replication and repair. In studying these contrary roles, our investigations span two length scales, namely the assembly of individual nucleosomes to form the 10 nm fibre and the mechanics of higher-order chromatin domains. To do this we utilise both in vitro biochemical approaches and advanced live-cell imaging.
Alonso publishes his work defining a new import pathway specific for monomeric histones.
Alonso J. Pardal, Andrew J. Bowman.
A specific role for importin-5 and NASP in the import and nuclear hand-off of monomeric H3
doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81755 [Link]
Cradle to grave
Alonso and Fil summarise the current literature on histone chaperoning from "ribosome to nucleosome".
Pardal A.J., Fernandes-Duarte F., Bowman A.J. (2019) The histone chaperoning pathway: from ribosome to nucleosome
Essays Biochem. 63(1):29-43. Review. doi:org/10.1042/EBC20180055 [Link]
Pulsing histones
Mike and Andrew develop a real-time pulse chase strategy called 'RAPID-release' to probe the histone chaperoning pathway & propose a pathway for the import of monomeric histones.
Apta-Smith M.J., Hernandez-Fernaud J.R., Bowman A.J. (2018) Evidence for the nuclear import of histones H3.1 and H4 as monomers.
EMBO J. doi:10.15252/embj.201798714. doi:org/10.15252/embj.201798714 [link]
I read biochemistry at Leicester before moving to the University of Dundee to do my PhD under Tom Owen-Hughes. My PhD was focused predominantly on using pulsed EPR to probe the structure of the H3-H4 tetramer complex in solution. After my PhD I continued in the chromatin field carrying out a postdoc at the LMU in Munich in the lab of Andreas Ladurner. There I investigated the role of TPR proteins in histone chaperoning, revealing a novel histone peptide binding module in the protein NASP (Bowman et al., 2016), and discovered a minimal two-chaperone system for the efficient folding of an H3-H4 dimer in vitro (Bowman et al., 2017).
Following my postdoc I took up a position as an Independent Research Fellow at the University of Warwick as part of the Warwick-Wellcome Quantitative Biomedicine Program. During this time I became interested in using a broader range of tools to study the dynamics of the histone chaperoning network. Combining a novel synthetic pulse-labelling technique (RAPID-release) with microscopy and more traditional biochemical tools, we proposed that histones H3 & H4 are rapidly imported into the nucleus as monomers, not as dimeric units, and that a stable nuclear pool of monomeric H3 exists bound to NASP (Apta-Smith et al., 2018).
Currently I am a Sir Henry Dale Fellow.
2018 - Present: Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Warwick
2015 - 2018: Independent Research Fellow, Warwick
2013-2015: Marie Curie Fellow, Munich
2011-2013: EMBO fellow, Munich
2010-2011: Research associate, Dundee
2006-2010: PhD student, Dundee
2002-2006: BSc Biochemistry, Leicester
Angel Mtani | Ph.D. student | Warwick ARAP PhD scheme
I'm originally from London and joined the lab after a B.Sc. in Biochemistry at the Univesrity of Portsmouth. In my project I will use the RAPID-release system coupled with proximity biotinylation to investigate chromatin fibre maturation after replication.
This project is a joint collaboration with the Wee Wei Tee lab in Singapore [Link].
Hasan Mammar| Visiting Ph.D Student | EMBO-STF Fellowship
I'm here as an EMBO-STF funded project investigating the role of PARP inhibitors in chromatin replication using the RAPID-release approach. You can normally find me at the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre in Szeged, Hunagary where I am pursuing a Ph.D in the lab of Gyula Timinszky
[Link].
Alonso Pardal | postdoc | funded by Wellcome Trust
I discovered a novel histone import pathway dedicated to monomeric H3/H4. Read about it here [Link]. I am now a postdoc in the Zhang Lab at the MRC-LMB in Cambridge [Link]
Sehar Sajid| Postdoctoral Fellow | 2019-2020
I worked on a joint project with Prof. Victor Zammit investigating the cellular targeting of ACC2 in human cells using confocal microscopy
I am currently in Pakistan
Mike Apta-Smith| Postdoctoral Fellow | 2016-2017
I studied histone deposition and helped develop the RAPID-release approach.
I moved on to a postdoc position in Colin Taylor's lab, Cambridge.
Filipe Fernandes Duarte | PhD student | funded by MRC
I am originally from Portugal, having studied biochemistry & genetics at the University of Lancaster before joining the MRC-DTP graduate program. After a mini project in the lab during my MSc year, I decided to return to undertake my full PhD.
I am currently persuing a career in consulting in the medical/biotech field
My project involved combining tether-and-release approaches to observe the dynamics of replication domains in single, living cells by pulse-labelling chromatin with fluorescent histones. .
George Smith| Undergraduate student | MSci. in Integrated Natural Sciences
I'm orignally from Windsor and am pursuing a 4-year MSci in Intergrated Natural Sciences at Warwick. My third year project was aimed at investigating chromatin domain movement in live cells using Lattice LightSheet imaging.
Lauran Salmon | Medical student | SSC2 project
I'm a medical student enrolled on the MBChB course at Warwick Medical School and am purusing a short project in the lab as part of my studies. I have a joint project with Thomas focussed on the role of UBR7 in the histone chaperone network.
Thomas Turner| Medical student | SSC2 project
I'm also medical student enrolled on the MBChB course at Warwick Medical School and, along with Lauren, I'm purusing a short project in the lab as part of my studies. I have a joint project with Lauren focussed on the role of UBR7 in the histone chaperone network.
I studied the role of histone acetylation in nucleosome assembly.
I moved back to the University of Angers in France to finish my studies.
Sir Henry Dale Fellowship | Wellcome Trust/Royal Society
Probing the chromatin assembly pathway.
2018-2023
Warwick Quantitative Biomedicine Programme Fellowship | Wellcome Trust / University of Warwick
Live-cell imagine approaches in studying chromatin assembly.
2015-2018
>> British Science Festival - University of Warwick, Sept 2019
Above | Fil joined the Warwick QBP team to deliver a practical in DNA extraction at the British Science Festival.
>> Cafe Scientifique - Leamington Spa, April 2019
Above | Fil presented his Ph.D. project in a Cafe Scientifique talk in Leamington Spa.
>> U3A talk - Warwick, 25th Apr 2018
Andrew gave a talk to the Warwick division of the University of the Third Age on 'Gene Editing',
with practical demonstrations on how to decode DNA, therapeutic strategies to cure sickle cell anaemia, and precision
genome engineering using CRISPR-Cas9!
Below | Batman appearing mysteriously in SDS-PAGE gel - unfortunately he didn't make it to the final
Above | The shortlisted image of ACC2 perinuclear localisation in cancer cells.
>> Pecha Kucha - Coventry, 29th June 2017
With support from the Warwick Quantitative Biology Program we organised a Pecha Kucha evening at The Tin in Coventry.
Speakers from Warwick Medical School gave 20x20 presentations (20 slides, 20 seconds each) on their research,
with guest speakers from the University of Birmingham (Ferenc Mueller), Tel Aviv University (Oded Rechavi) and The University of Oxford (Jane Mellor).
Interested in chromatin? Join The Dicky Bows (neck tie optional).
Fellowships
We are always interested in hearing from motivated individuals who have an interest in using interdisciplinary methods to investigate chromatin structure and function. If you are interested in joining the Bowman lab, contact Andrew Bowman with your CV and a brief overview of your research interests to discuss funding opportunities.
The University of Warwick has a number of doctoral training partnerships, including the MRC-DTP [link], the MIBTP [link] & the Warwick CDT for Analytical Science, [link] in addition to the Chancellor's International Scholarship [link], the Chancellor's EU Scholarship [link] and others (you can check the University's
scholarship page [here].
Pardal A.J. & Bowman A.J. (2022) A specific role for importin-5 and NASP in the import and nuclear hand-off of monomeric H3. eLife doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81755
Apta-Smith M.J., Hernandez-Fernaud J.R., Bowman A.J. (2018) Evidence for the nuclear import of histones H3.1 and H4 as monomers. EMBO J. doi:10.15252/embj.201798714.
Research summary
A histone matchmaker
Cradle to grave
Pulsing histones
Andrew Bowman 
Angel Mtani 
Hasan Mammar
Alonso Pardal 
Sehar Sajid
Mike Apta-Smith
Filipe Fernandes Duarte 
George Smith
Lauran Salmon 
Thomas Turner
Olivia Bradley
Sarah Pritchett
Nicole McFadzean
Marco
Nicole Matthews
Elodie Debray
