Jamie M. Kramer

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Netherlands
• PhD, Biology, Memorial University, Canada
• BSc, Microbiology, University of Guelph, Canada

Academic Positions

• Department member since 2019
• Canada Research Chain in Neuroepigenetics, University of Western Ontario, 2014-2019
• Graduate Coordinator, 2022 - present

Research Topics:

Epigenetics and chromatin in brain function

Research

Epigenetics and chromatin in brain function

Mutations in genes encoding proteins that regulate chromatin structure are one of the most frequent causes of neurodevelopmental disorders, like Autism and Intellectual Disability. We still have very limited knowledge about how chromatin can impact brain function. The main goals of the Kramer lab are: 1) To learn more about the role of epigenetics and chromatin in regulation of learning and memory. 2) To understand the disease mechanisms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders that are caused by disrupted chromatin regulation. We are especially focused on epigenetic regulatory complexes involved in histone modification (acetylation/methylation) and ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling (SWI/SNF superfamily). We take a multidisciplinary systems approach, combining Drosophila behaviour, neuron specific transcriptomics and epigenomics, bioinformatics, developmental biology. Check out our publications on Google Scholar.

Check out our publications and find out more about the lab at www.kramerlab.ca

Keywords:

Epigenetics, Chromatin, Learning and Memory, Mushroom Body, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Drosophila melanogaster

Current Lab Members

Publications

2021

• Riahi H, Fenckova M, Goruk K, *Schenck A, *Kramer JM. (2021) The epigenetic regulator G9a attenuates stress-induced resistance and metabolic transcriptional programs across different stressors and species. BMC Biology, recently accepted. *equal contribution.
• Raun N.*, Jones S.G.*, Kramer, J.M. (2021) Conditioned courtship suppression in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Neurogenetics. doi: 10.1080/01677063.2021.1873323. Online ahead of print.

2020

• Kummeling J.*, Stremmelaar D.E.*, Raun N.*, Reijnders M, Willemsen MH, Ruiterkamp-Versteeg M, Schepens M, Man CCO, Gilissen C, Cho MT, McWalter K, Sinnema M, Wheless JW, Simon MEH, Genetti CA, Casey AM, Terhal PA, van der Smagt JJ, van Gassen KL, Joset P, Bahr A, Steindl K, Rauch A, Keller A, Raas-Rothschild A, Koolen DA, Agrawal PB, Hoffman TL, Powell-Hamilton NN, Thiffault I, Engleman K, Zhou D, Bodamer O, Hoefele J, Riedhammer KM, Schwaibold EMC, Tasic V, Schubert D, Top D, Pfundt R, *Higgs MR, *Kramer JM, *Kleefstra T (*equal contribution). (2020). Characterization of SETD1A haploinsufficiency in humans and Drosophila defines a novel neurodevelopmental syndrome. Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-0725-5. Online ahead of print.

2019

• Nixon K.C.J.*, Rousseau, J.*, Stone M.H., Sarikahya M., Ehresmann S., Mizuno S., Matsumoto N., Miyake N., DDD study, Baralle D., McKee S., Izumi K., Ritter A., Heide S., Héron D., Depienne C., Titheradge,H., Kramer J.M.*, and Campeau P.M.* (2019) A Syndromic Neurodevelopmental Disorder Caused by Mutations in SMARCD1, a Core SWI/SNF Subunit Needed for Context-Dependent Neuronal Gene Regulation in Flies. American Journal of Human Genetics. 104(4): 596-610. *equal contribution
• Chubak M.C., Nixon K.C.J., Stone M.H., Raun N., Rice S.L., Sarikahya M., Jones S.G., Lyons T.A., Jakub T.E., Mainland R.L.M., Knip M.J., Edwards T.N., and Kramer J.M. (2019) Individual components of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex have distinct roles in memory neurons of the Drosophila mushroom body. Disease Models and Mechanisms. 12(2): dmm037325.
• Riahi H., Brekelmans C., Foriel S, Merkling S.H., Lyons T.A., Itskov P.M., Kleefstra T., Ribeiro C., van Rij R.P., Kramer J.M.*, Schenck A.* (2019) The histone methyltransferase G9a regulates tolerance to oxidative stress-induced energy consumption. PLoS Biology. 17(3): e2006146 *equal contribution.
• Castells-Nobau A, Eidhof I, Fenckova M, Brenman-Suttner DB, Scheffer-de Gooyert JM, Christine S, Schellevis RL, van der Laan K, Quentin C, van Ninhuijs L, Hofmann F, Ejsmont R, Fisher SE, Kramer JM, Sigrist SJ, Simon AF, Schenck A. (2019) Conserved regulation of neurodevelopmental processes and behavior by FoxP in Drosophila. PLoS One. 14(2): e0211652.

2018

• Jones S.G., Nixon K.C.J., and Kramer J.M. (2018) Mushroom body specific transcriptome analysis reveals dynamic regulation of learning and memory genes after acquisition of long-term courtship memory. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 8(11) 3433-3446.

2017

• Mainland R.L., Lyons T.A., Ruth M.M., Kramer J.M. (2017) Optimal RNA isolation method and primer design to detect gene knockdown by qPCR when validating Drosophila transgenic RNAi lines. BMC Research Notes, 10: 647.
• Koemans T.S., Kleefstra T., Chubak M.C., Stone M.H., Reijnders M.R.F., Munnik S., Willemsen M.H., Fenckova M., Stumpel C.T.R.M., Bok L.A., Saenz M.S., Byerly K.A., Baughn L.B., Stegmann A.P.A., Pfundt R., Zhou H., Bokhoven H., Schenck A.*, Kramer J.M.* (2017) Functional Convergence of Histone Methyltransferases EHMT1 and KMT2C Involved in Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder. PLoS Genetics, 13(10): e1006864. *equal contribution
• Anreiter I., Kramer J.M., Skolowski M.B. (2017) Epigenetic mechanisms modulate differences in Drosophila foraging behavior. PNAS, 114(47): 12518-12523.
• Farhan S.M.K, Nixon K.C.J., Everest M., Edwards T.N., Long S., Segal D., Knip M.J., Arts H.H., Chakrabarti R., Wang J., Robinson J.F., Lee D., Mirsattari S.M., Rupar C.A., Siu V.M., FORGE Canada Consortium, Poulter M.O., Hegele R.A., Kramer J.M. (2017) Identification of a novel synaptic protein, TMTC3, involved in periventricular nodular heterotopia with intellectual disability and epilepsy. Human Molecular Genetics, 26(21): 42778-4289.
• Koemans TS, Oppitz C, Donders RAT, Bokhoven H, Schenck A, Keleman K, Kramer J.M. (2017) Drosophila courtship conditioning as a measure of learning and memory. Journal of Visualized Experiments (124), e55808.