Karen Arndt

Summary

A fundamental question in molecular biology is how organisms interpret the vast amounts of information encoded in their genomes. The Arndt lab uses a wide range of experimental approaches to study the first step in gene expression, the synthesis of messenger RNA by RNA polymerase II, with a focus on the mechanisms that regulate transcription in the chromatin environment of a eukaryotic cell.  Specific areas of interest include the mechanisms that couple histone modifications to active transcription, the coordination among different epigenetic modifications and their impact on transcription elongation and termination, and the molecular functions of core RNA polymerase II elongation factors with broad and conserved effects on the eukaryotic transcriptome. The fundamental importance of understanding eukaryotic transcriptional regulation is evident from the large number of human developmental defects and diseases, including cancer and AIDS, that arise when cellular transcription factors are altered by mutation or commandeered by viral proteins.