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Researcher Information

Averell Gnatt, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physiology


Department:
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics


UMGCC Research Program:
Molecular and Structural Biology Program

Education/Training:
College Degree: Ph.D., Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Post Doctoral Degree: Stanford University School of Medicine

Contact Information:
Mailing Address: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
655 West Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
Email: angat001@umaryland.edu
Phone: 410-706-7330
Fax: 410-706-0032

Research Interests:
Although the blueprint of the human genome has been disclosed, mechanisms of the reading of the genome are not fully understood. Transcription (the reading of the genome) and its regulation underlies fundamental processes such as morphogenesis, differentiation and cancer. The focus of our lab is to understand the mechanisms of transcription and its regulation as it relates to cancer. Our research is currently focussed on the motor of transcription, RNA polymerase II and its direct modulation by transcription factors. Our main goals are to determine how RNA Polymerase II functions, how it is regulated by transcription factors and to develop drugs for cancer therapy that target transcription factors. Our approach is multidisciplinary involving molecular, biochemical and state of the art X-ray crystallography.
Publications:
Hu, X., Malik, S., Negroiu, C.C., Hubbard, K., Velalar CN., Hampton B., Grosu D., Catalano, J., Roeder, R.G., and Gnatt, A. (2006) A Mediator-responsive form of metazoan RNA polymerase II. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103:9506-11

Suh MH, Ye P, Zhang M, Hausmann S, Shuman S, Gnatt AL, Fu J. (2005) Fcp1 directly recognizes the C-terminal domain (CTD) and interacts with a site on RNA polymerase II distinct from the CTD. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102:17314-9.

Gnatt, A., (2002) Elongation by RNA polymerase II: structure-function relationship, Biochim Biophys Acta. 2002 Sep 13;1577(2):175.

Gnatt, A., Cramer, P., Fu, J., Bushnell, D., and Kornberg, R. (2001) Structural Basis of Transcription: an RNA Polymerase II Elongation Complex at 3.3 Å Resolution. Science 292:1876-1882.

Cramer, P., Bushnell, D.A., Fu, J., Gnatt, A.L., Maier-Davis, B., Thompson, N.E., Burgess, R.R., Edwards, A.M., David, P.R., and Kornberg, R.D., (2000) Architecture of RNA Polymerase II and implications for the transcription mechanism. Science 288:640-9.

Fu, J., Gnatt, A., Bushnell, D., Jensen, G.J., Thompson, N.E., Burgess, R.T., David, P., and Kornberg, R.D (1999). Yeast RNA polymerase II at 5 Å Resolution. Cell 98:799-810.

Gnatt, A., Fu, J. and Kornberg, R.D. (1997) Formation and crystallization of yeast RNA polymerase II elongation complexes. J. of Biol. Chem. 272:30799-30805.

Poglitsch, C.L., Meredith, G.D., Gnatt, A., Jensen, G.J., Chang, W., Fu, J., and Kornberg R. (1999). Electron crystal structure of an RNA polymerase II transcription elongation complex. Cell 98:791-798.