Kevin Struhl

Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Harvard Medical School
Building C1, Room 315
240 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: (617) 432-2104
Fax: (617) 432-2529
Email: kevin@hms.harvard.edu

Web Page: The Struhl Lab Page
10 postdoctoral students, 1 graduate student

The molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation are highly conserved among eukaryotes. Transcriptional regulation in response to environmental and developmental cues is mediated by the combinatorial and synergistic action of specific DNA-binding activators and repressors on components of the general transcription machinery and chromatin modifying activities. Much of the work in this laboratory combines genetic, molecular, and genomic approaches available in yeast to address fundamental questions about transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in living cells. In addition, we are defining physiological targets of human transcriptional regulatory proteins and chromatin modifications on a whole-genome basis using a novel microarray approach.

Transcriptional mechanisms in yeast: Current projects include 1) growth-regulated expression of ribosomal protein genes and activator-specific recruitment of TFIID, 2) novel aspects of signal transduction and gene regulation that occur during the response to osmotic stress, 3) how specific components of the basic transcription machinery are recruited to promoters in vivo under genetically and environmentally defined conditions, 4) mechanisms of global repression and gene silencing.

Relationship between chromatin structure and gene expression: Questions of interest include 1) the molecular basis for the relationship between histone acetylation and methylation with transcriptional activity, 2) genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation to determine whether and how individual nucleosome remodeling or histone modifying complexes are recruited to specific promoters, 3) a novel mechanism by which promoter regions are more accessible to nuclear proteins than non-promoter regions, 4) dynamics of chromatin modification in vivo.

Functional genomics in mammalian cells:  We are using high-density tiled microarrays representing the entire human genome to determine in vivo binding sites of transcription factors, histone modifications, chromatin-modifying activities, transcriptional silencing factors, oncproteins, and tumor suppressor proteins.  In separate projects, we are investigating the dynamic association of these factors in cells undergoing differentiation to neutrophils and monocytes and in cells undergoing the process of cellular transformation.

References:

• Cawley, S., Bekiranov, S., Ng, H.H., Kapranov, P., Sekinger, E.A., Kampa, D., Piccolboni, A., Sementchenko, V., Cheng, J., Williams, A., Wheeler, R., Wong, B., Drenkow, J., Yamanaka, M., Patel, S., Brubaker, S., Tammana, H., Helt, G., Struhl, K. and Gingeras, T. R. (2004).  Unbiased mapping of transcription factor binding sites along human chromosomes 21 and 22 points to widespread regulation of non-coding RNAs. Cell 116 499-509.
• Ng, H.H., Robert, F., Young, R.A., and Struhl, K. (2003).  Targeted recruitment of Set1 histone methylase by elongating Pol II provides a localized mark and memory of recent transcriptional activity.  Mol. Cell 11 709-719.
• Sekinger, E.A., Moqtaderi, Z., and Struhl, K. (2005). Intrinsic histone-DNA interactions and low nucleosome density are important for preferential accessibility of promoter regions in yeast. Mol. Cell. 18 735-748.
• Proft, M., Mas, G., de Nadal, E., Vendrell, A., Noriega, N., Struhl, K., and Posas, F.  (2006).  The stress-activated Hog1 kinase is a selective transcriptional elongation factor for genes responding to osmotic stress. Mol. Cell. 23 241-250.