M. Cristina Cardoso

Prof. M. Cristina Cardoso is a faculty member at the Department of Cell Biology and Epigenetics, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. Her laboratory focuses on elucidating the mechanisms underlying epigenome maintenance during cell division, DNA replication dynamics, and chromatin structure. She leads a multidisciplinary team employing advanced live-cell and super-resolution microscopy, combined with biochemical and cell biological techniques. Her work integrates the study of DNA replication, epigenetic regulation, and nuclear architecture to understand how these processes influence cellular differentiation, reprogramming, and disease.

Her research highlights include the discovery of dynamic replisome components, the role of histone modifications in replication timing, and the development of novel tools like cell-permeable nanobodies for live-cell imaging. The Cardoso Lab collaborates extensively, with funding from major institutions, and contributes to open-source software for microscopy analysis.

Key areas of investigation include:

• Epigenome maintenance during cell proliferation and stress
• Epigenetic reprogramming in differentiation and disease
• Targeted manipulation of cellular structures using CPPs and nanobodies
• Super-resolution imaging of chromatin and DNA repair

Her lab’s software contributions include tools for DNA replication modeling and colocalization analysis. Despite no listed awards, her work is widely cited in epigenetics and cell biology fields.