The research focus of the Hahn Laboratory is the mechanism and regulation of transcription by RNA polymerases II and III. In eukaryotes, the RNA polymerases are components of a large protein machine which functions to correctly position the polymerase at the beginning of a gene and serves to integrate signals that switch transcription on and off. Most of the subunits of the transcription machinery are essential for growth. Mutations in several subunits are known to lead to cancer and other diseases. The laboratory uses yeast as a model organism to study these processes. The eukaryotic transcription machinery has been highly conserved through evolution from yeast to humans, and work in the yeast system often directly translates to more complex eukaryotic systems. Yeast also provides a powerful genetic and biochemical system to analyze this complex process. Research in the laboratory aims to map key protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions within the transcription machinery and its regulatory factors that are fundamental to the regulation and mechanism of transcription.

Current Research Projects

Lab Members

Selected Publications

Structure Coordinates