Research
Current Research Interests
| The research focus of the Hahn Laboratory is the mechanism and regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II. In eukaryotes, RNA polymerases are components of large protein machines that integrate regulatory signals and position polymerase at gene regulatory regions. Most subunits of the transcription machinery are essential for viability, and regulation of transcription is one of the key steps controlling cell identity, growth, development and stress response. Misregulation of transcription is a major cause of human disease. Research in the laboratory aims to decipher key mechanisms used by the transcription machinery and by regulatory factors that are fundamental to the regulation of transcription. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the transcription process is important for understanding gene control and the action of transcription regulators. Two central questions in the transcription field are: (i) how do transcription activators work? and (ii) what is the mechanism of transcription initiation? Our laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore these questions using budding yeast (S. cerevisiae) as an experimental system. These approaches include biochemistry, structural biology, biophysics, and molecular genetics. The eukaryotic transcription machinery has been highly conserved through evolution from yeast to humans, and work in the yeast system directly translates to more complex eukaryotic systems. Yeast also provides a powerful genetic and biochemical system to analyze transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. See below for more detailed information about our research: |
 Structure of the TATA binding protein (TBP; red) in complex with DNA. This protein-DNA complex nucleates assembly of the polymerase II transcription machinery at a promoter. (see Kim et al, 1993; Geiger et al, 1996) |
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| last updated December, 2011 | |||||||||||
