Alan Cantor's laboratory is focused on further elucidating the transcriptional mechanisms that regulate normal hematopoiesis and how they may be perturbed in certain hematologic malignancies. Cantor and colleagues are particularly interested in the role of GATA, FOG, RUNX and ETS transcription factor family members in megakaryocyte development.

The Cantor laboratory is currently taking two approaches to further understand the roles of two transcription factors--a truncated isoform of GATA-1 and RUNX-1--in megakaryocyte development. The first is to isolate and characterize of stable multiprotein complexes involving these factors. The second approach is aimed at a genome-wide identification of target genes of these factors (and their cis-regulatory elements) by a chromatin immunoprecipitation cloning technique that takes advantage of the metabolic biotin tagging system.