Our new paper describing single molecule studies of activator-Mediator-RNApII interactions is now out in Molecular Cell. Dan Zhou and Jongcheol Jeon are co-first authors. The paper helps explain transcription "synergy", where combining two activators work much better than the sum of two individual activators.
James Portman was awarded a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for his work using single-molecule microscopy to study transcription elongation. Congratulations, James!
Working with the Marto Lab, postdocs Deepash Kothiwal and HyunJin Bae produced an improved msCTD system for analyzing phosphorylations on the CTD of RNA pol II subunit Rpb1. Improved chromatography allows us to separate the different phospho-isoforms for better detection and quantitation. Read about it here in the Journal of Chromatography.
Congratulations to postdoc Madhura De, whose painting entitled "Stop!" was chosen for the HMS Staff Art Show! You can see it, and lots of other amazing artwork, at Countway Library for the next few months.
The lab now has two great technicians: Brynn Jacobs is staying for a gap year before heading to medical school, and Mohammed Hijaz just joined us.
Jongcheol Jeon's paper using single-molecule microscopy (pre-print available on Biorxiv here) to show how transcription activators "recruit" the SAGA histone acetyltransferase complex has been accepted at Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. Congratulations, Jongcheol!
Madhura De has been awarded a 2024 BCMP Department Postdoctoral Fellowship to support her work imaging interactions between transcription activators and the basal transcription machinery. Congratulations, Madhura!
