Unlocking the structure, mechanism and cellular assembly of key multiprotein complexes in human gene transcription

An essential first step in biogenesis is gene transcription. In humans, this process is regulated by complexes often comprising ten or more subunits, which arrange in superstructures that cooperate at the interface of chromatin, fine-tuned by activating and repressing modalities. Professor Berger's research aims to understand the cellular mechanisms of these protein machines, their assembly process from gene to functional complex, their interdependence in gene regulation and the factors that control them. He will study an archetypal general transcription factor complex (TFIID), a multiprotein coactivator (SAGA) and a multiprotein corepressor (NuRD), using a combination of macromolecular crystallography, electron microscopy, proteomics, cell biology and genetics.