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SUMMARY:Lecture: Robert G. Roeder\, Regulation of transcription in animal 
 cells: a 50-year journey revealing an expanding universe of factors and me
 chanisms - Prof Robert Roeder (Rockerfeller University)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220510T140000
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220510T153000
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/4035c306-bdf8-484b-b625-e60520b510cf/
DESCRIPTION:Public lecture by biochemist and molecular biologist Dr Robert
  G. Roeder\, 2021 Kyoto Prize Laureate for Basic Sciences \n\nRobert G. Ro
 eder has revealed the principle of the regulatory mechanism of transcripti
 on in eukaryotes through his over 50 years of transcriptional research\, b
 y identifying functions of a series of factors such as three distinct RNA 
 polymerases\, basic transcription factors\, one of the first gene-specific
  factors\, and regulators in transcription from chromatin. \n\nAbstract\nI
  was raised on a farm\, where I was expected to remain\, and had little ex
 posure to science and no family support for higher education. However\, th
 rough determination and hard work\, values instilled by my parents\, I had
  the good fortune to obtain a college degree\, a Ph.D. in biochemistry\, a
 nd academic positions that allowed me to passionately pursue an exciting c
 areer in the biological sciences. \n\nInitially inspired by college\, grad
 uate and postdoctoral mentors\, my studies focused on the regulation of ge
 ne expression\, which is fundamental to normal human development and physi
 ology (and associated pathologies)\, at the level of transcription (copyin
 g DNA into RNA by RNA polymerase). Although an endogenous RNA polymerase a
 ctivity was first identified in rat liver nuclei in 1959\, subsequent stud
 ies in several labs focused on the more abundant bacterial enzyme that was
  purified in 1969 and found to interact directly with gene promoters and g
 ene-specific regulatory factors. \n\nAs I will describe\, and initially th
 rough my own biochemical studies\, the mechanisms of transcription and its
  regulation in eukaryotes\, containing ~20\,000 genes in the case of human
 s\, proved far more complex. Major discoveries to be highlighted include: 
 (1) nuclear RNA polymerases (Pols) I\, II and III in eukaryotes in 1969—
 a Eureka! moment\; (2) their distinct gene-specific functions and subunit 
 structures\; (3) cognate general initiation factors that facilitate core p
 romoter recognition and assembly of polymerases into pre-initiation comple
 xes\; (4) the prototype gene-specific transcriptional activator (TFIIIA) i
 n eukaryotes and\, distinct from prokaryotes\, a mechanism involving site-
 specific promoter binding and facilitated recruitment of general initiatio
 n factors that in turn recruit polymerase\; (5) both general and gene/cell
 -specific transcriptional co-activators\, including mechanisms involving d
 irect activator interactions\; (6) a general transcription repression mech
 anism—promoter assembly into nucleosomes—that restricts the otherwise 
 promiscuous ability of Pol II and its initiation factors to transcribe cel
 l-specific genes\; (7) functional modifications of transcriptional activat
 ors\, as well as histones\, by histone acetyltransferases\; (8) obligatory
  (causal) roles for histone modifications in transcription of repressed ch
 romatin templates in vitro—thus providing formal proof for their previou
 sly assumed roles (from in vivo correlations) in transcription and\; (9) b
 iochemically defined systems (with purified Pol II\, general initiation an
 d elongation factors\, activators\, and coactivators) that mediate transcr
 iption of repressed recombinant chromatin templates and allow unparalleled
  studies of transcription mechanisms. These studies provided seminal insig
 hts into the unexpectedly complex mechanisms involved in eukaryotic transc
 ription\, were foundational for subsequent and current studies of transcri
 ptional regulation through other approaches\, and have profound implicatio
 ns for gene regulation in human health and disease.\nSpeakers:\nProf Rober
 t Roeder (Rockerfeller University)
LOCATION:Blavatnik School of Government (Blavatnik School of Government an
 d Zoom)\, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter OX2 6GG
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/4035c306-bdf8-484b-b625-e60520b510cf/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Lecture: Robert G. Roeder\, Regulation of transcription i
 n animal cells: a 50-year journey revealing an expanding universe of facto
 rs and mechanisms - Prof Robert Roeder (Rockerfeller University)
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