shahnwa

Mechanism and Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription

The research focus of the Hahn Laboratory is the mechanism and regulation of transcription. 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.  Nearly all of these mechanisms have been conserved in eukaryotes.  The laboratory provides an excellent learning environment for students and postdoctoral fellows to address scientific questions using a multidisciplinary approach.

Our long term goals are to understand: (i) the mechanism of the general transcription factors in promoting transcription by RNA polymerase and (ii) the mechanism of transcription activation by gene-specific regulatory factors.

Please see the Hahn lab web site for more information on our research