Aside from being a portrait artist, Ito is also a physician, scientist, fiction writer and musician.
He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
Check out my short stories below:
Piano composition:
Read some of my scientific papers:
The ATP binding site of the chromatin remodeling homolog Lsh is required for nucleosome density and de novo DNA methylation at repeat sequences. Ren J, Briones V, Barbour S, Yu W, Han Y, Terashima M, Muegge K. Nucleic Acids Res. 2015 Feb 18;43(3):1444-55
Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in LSH mutant reveals de-repression of repeat elements and redundant epigenetic silencing pathways. Yu W, McIntosh C, Lister R, Zhu I, Han Y, Ren J, Landsman D, Lee E, Briones V, Terashima M, Leighty R, Ecker JR, Muegge K. Genome Res. 2014 Oct;24(10):1613-23
CG hypomethylation in Lsh-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts is associated with de novo H3K4me1 formation and altered cellular plasticity. Yu W1, Briones V, Lister R, McIntosh C, Han Y, Lee EY, Ren J, Terashima M, Leighty RM, Ecker JR, Muegge K. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 22;111(16):5890-5
The Ghosts in the Machine: DNA methylation and the Mystery of Differentiation, Briones, Victorino, Muegge, Kathrin, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms, 2012 February 22
Lsh, chromatin remodeling family member, modulates genome-wide cytosine methylation patterns at nonrepeat sequences. Tao Y, Xi S, Shan J, Maunakea A, Che A, Briones V, Lee EY, Geiman T, Huang J, Stephens R, Leighty RM, Zhao K, Muegge K. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Apr 5;108(14):5626-31.
Lsh mediated RNA polymerase II stalling at HoxC6 and HoxC8 involves DNA methylation. Tao Y, Xi S, Briones V, Muegge K. PLoS One. 2010 Feb 11;5(2):
Lsh partakes in Transcriptional Silencing of Stem Cell Genes, Sichuan Xi, Theresa Geiman, Victorino Briones, Yongguang Tao, Hong Xu and Kathrin Muegge Stem Cells. 2009 Jul 30
DNA hypomethylation caused by Lsh deletion promotes erythroleukemia development, Fan T, Schmidtmann A, Xi S, Briones V, Zhu H, Suh HC, Gooya J, Keller JR, Xu H, Roayaei J, Anver M, Ruscetti S, Muegge K. Epigenetics. 2008 May-Jun;3(3):134-42. Epub 2008 May 9.
Mechanism of Fibroblast Growth Factor-Binding Protein 1 Repression by TGF-beta, Victorino R. Briones, Shiyou Chen, Anna Tate Riegel, Robert J. Lechleider Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Apr 25;
RhoA modulates Smad signaling during transforming growth factor-beta-induced smooth muscle differentiation. Chen S, Crawford M, Day RM, Briones VR, Leader JE, Jose PA, Lechleider RJ. J Biol Chem. 2006 Jan 20; 281(3):1765-70. Epub 2005 Nov 28.
Transcriptional Regulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor Binding Protein (FGF-BP) 1 by Transforming Growth Factor Beta Signaling (TGF-beta). Briones VR, Lechleider RJ. TGF-beta Superfamily: Signaling and Development (FASEB sponsored) Snowmass, Colorado. June 2005
Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 (BMP2) downregulates DNA Methyltransferase DNMT3B. Briones VR, Lechleider RJ. Georgetown University Student Research Contest Washington, DC. March 2004.