The research in Dr. Champoux's laboratory is focused on several projects relating to the enzymology of nucleic acid synthesis and repair. One project is concerned with human DNA topoisomerase I, an enzyme that provides swivels to remove torsional strain during DNA replication, transcription and chromatin assembly. A related study focuses on tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1(Tdp1) a repair enzyme that removes topoisomerase I molecules that become covalently trapped on DNA. A second project concerns the mechanism of reverse transcription during retroviral replication. Specific studies look at the roles of RNase H and the importance of displacement synthesis by the polymerase activity of reverse transcriptase in reverse transcription.
