The award lecture will focus specifically on Dr. Strahl's research on an enzyme called Rad6, which is responsible for adding ubiquitin to histone 2B. Normally in cells, DNA is wrapped around an octamer of histones. When the cell is ready to express the genes on the DNA, a variety of modifications are made to the histones, including the addition of ubiquitin.
Through his research Dr. Strahl has discovered that Rad6 is associated with polymerase II, an enzyme complex responsible for producing mRNA from DNA. This interaction is mediated by the Paf1 transcription elongation complex and the E3 ligase Bre1. Dr. Strahl has found that this association is necessary for the proper functioning of Rad6 and hence the production of the mRNA transcript.
Dr. Strahl will also discuss some of his research on another histone modification, methylation, or the addition of a methyl group. He has been studying the biochemical and cellular pathways that regulate histone methylation and will talk about some of his findings related to this research.
Dr. Strahl, who is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, completed his doctoral studies in molecular endocrinology at North Carolina State University in 1998, and subsequently moved to the laboratory of Dr. David Allis at the University of Virginia. Dr. Allis is an internationally recognized expert on dynamic chromatin structure and its relationship to gene transcription and other fundamental DNA processes, and in a relatively short time, Dr. Strahl emerged as a young leader in this
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Contact: Nicole Kresge
nkresge@asbmb.org
301-634-7415
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
1-Mar-2005