News

28 March 2022
Partners in complexity
Unsung molecular heroes link steps in gene expression, providing another hint to understanding biological complexity in humans
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Our research focuses on how DNA and proteins interact to regulate gene expression.
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Molecular and Cell Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Systems Biology
Human cell lines, Yeast
The Workman Lab studies how large protein complexes modify chromatin and control gene expression in yeast, fruit flies, and mammalian cells. Studying the mechanism of, and mutations in these protein complexes offers insight into human health and disease.
The human DNA code is three billion letters long. To squeeze into the tiny nucleus of each cell, every 200 letters or so the DNA wraps around protein balls, called histones, resembling beads on a string. The necklace then gets folded and compressed many times over, ultimately forming finger-like chromosomes.
Workman was among the first to discover histones, which are essential for packaging DNA with chromatin, a component of chromosomes, and are crucial for regulating gene expression. He additionally pioneered the concept of “transcription co-activators,” and his lab has uncovered various large protein complexes that modify gene expression by causing histones to either loosen or tighten their grip on DNA, leaving it open to enzymes that can efficiently read its code and turn on genes.
The lab also focuses on how signaling, metabolism, and chromatin regulate information contained in the DNA sequence and feedback to cellular events. Workman has shown how chromatin-modifying complexes influence RNA regulation. Mutations in these and other complexes have been implicated in cancer and other diseases.
Principal Investigator
Investigator
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Jerry Workman, Ph.D., an Investigator at the Stowers Institute, is known for his pioneering work uncovering the role of histones in the regulation of gene expression.
Jerry Workman, Ph.D., an Investigator at the Stowers Institute, is known for his pioneering work uncovering the role of histones in the regulation of gene expression.
In 2018, Jerry Workman was awarded a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences based on the lab’s research on chromatin-modifying complexes, including a focus on the multi-subunit complexes SAGA and SWI/SNF.
News
28 March 2022
Unsung molecular heroes link steps in gene expression, providing another hint to understanding biological complexity in humans
Read Article
News
30 November 2020
Researchers at the Stowers Institute have developed an approach that integrates several technologies to build detailed structural models of protein complexes, which are made up of multiple proteins that assemble and work together to perform a biological function.
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News
07 September 2023
A key player is associated with many human cancers
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Beyond Moco Biosynthesis-Moonlighting Roles of MoaE and MOCS2
Suganuma T. Molecules. 2022;27:3733. doi: 3710.3390/molecules27123733.
MPTAC links alkylation damage signaling to sterol biosynthesis
Suganuma T, Workman JL. Redox Biol. 2022;51:102270. doi: 102210.101016/j.redox.102022.102270.
MOCS2 links nucleotide metabolism to nucleoli function
Suganuma T, Swanson SK, Gogol M, Garrett TJ, Florens L, Workman JL. J Mol Cell Biol. 2022;13:838-840.
The SAGA core module is critical during Drosophila oogenesis and is broadly recruited to promoters
Soffers JHM, Alcantara SG, Li X, Shao W, Seidel CW, Li H, Zeitlinger J, Abmayr SM, Workman JL. PLoS Genet. 2021;17:e1009668. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009668.
Bhattacharya S, Wang S, Reddy D, Shen S, Zhang Y, Zhang N, Li H, Washburn MP, Florens L, Shi Y, Workman JL, Li F. Nat Commun. 2021;12:6452. doi: 6410.1038/s41467-41021-26799-41463.
Church MC, Workman JL, Suganuma T. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22:10274. doi: 10210.13390/ijms221910274.