UCSF

The molecular gatekeepers of nearly all gene expression in living cells are the proteins that function in the process of transcription. Transcription occurs when a cell must respond to a signal. These signals can be in the form of metabolic responses, signals for growth or differentiation, signals to defend against stress or pathogenic invasion, to name a few. The fundamentals of transcription have been extensively studied in bacterial systems and model organisms, but technical limitations have hindered their studies in mammalian and human systems. Recent developments in mass spectrometric methodologies, next-generation sequencing and techniques to study difficult-to-detect post-translational protein modifications are extensively reviewed here to highlight an important regulatory network through which gene expression is regulated. In addition, I present two vignettes: the first, a study of the regulatory mechanisms of monomethylation of the HIV-1 Tat protein in regulating HIV-1 gene expression and latency; the second, a study investigating the role of acetylation in regulating RNA Polymerase II protein modifications and gene expression in mammalian systems. Together, these studies combine new mass spectrometric techniques, modification-specific antibodies, protein purification methods, and next generation sequencing to better understand the role of these modifications in regulating the transcriptional response in mammalian systems. These findings can be applied to better understand mechanisms that regulate HIV-1 viral latency, along with fundamentally shifting the field of mammalian transcription by pinpointing unique modes of regulation only found in higher eukaryotes relevant to HIV-1 infection and cancer.