Architectural role of RNA polymerase III promoters and associated factors in shaping and organising the human genome

The human genome is highly compacted in the nucleus, and chromatin fibres – the basic organisational unit of eukaryotic genomes – are specifically organised in units that are brought together to form chromosomes. The three-dimensional organisation of the genome influences the way that the genetic information stored within can be decoded by cells.

I will use a combination of structural biology methods with in vitro functional studies to investigate the protein complex RNA polymerase III, which plays an important role in transcription, in order to determine what role it plays in controlling the topology of the genome.