Selected Research articles:
Allen, BL; Quach, K; Jones, T; Levandowski, CB; Ebmeier, CC; Rubin, JD; Read, T; Dowell, RD; Schepartz, A*; Taatjes, DJ*. Suppression of p53 response by targeting p53–Mediator binding with a stapled peptide. Cell Rep 2022, 39: 110630.
Levandowski, CB; Jones, T; Gruca, M; Ramamoorthy, S; Dowell, RD;* Taatjes, DJ.* The D40p53 isoform inhibits p53-dependent eRNA transcription and enables regulation by signal-specific transcription factors during p53 activation. PLoS Biol 2021, 19: e3001364.
Rimel, JK; Poss, ZC; Erickson, B; Maas, ZL; Ebmeier, CC; Johnson, JL; Decker, T-M; Yaron, TM; Bradley, MJ; Hamman, KB; Hu, S; Malojcic, G; Marineau, JJ; White, PW; Brault, M.; Tao, L.; DeRoy, P; Clavette, C; Nayak, S; Damon, LJ; Kaltheuner, IH; Bunch, H; Cantley, LC; Geyer, M; Iwasa, J; Dowell, RD; Bentley, DL; Old WM;* Taatjes, DJ.* Selective inhibition of CDK7 reveals high-confidence targets and novel mechanisms for TFIIH function in transcription. Genes Dev 2020, 34: 1452 – 1473.
Fant, CB; Levandowski, CB; Gupta, K; Maas, ZL; Moir, JT; Rubin, JD; Sawyer, A; Esbin, M; Rimel, JK; Luyties, O; Marr, MT; Berger, I; Dowell, RD; Taatjes, DJ. TFIID enables RNA polymerase II promoter-proximal pausing. Mol Cell 2020, 78: 785 – 793.
Guo, YE; Manteiga, JC; Henninger, J; Sabari, BR; Dall'Agnese, A; Hannett, NM; Spille, J-H; Afeyan, LK; Zamudio, AV; Shrinivas, K; Abraham, BJ; Boija, A; Decker, TM; Rimel, JK; Fant, CB; Lee, TI; Cisse, II; Sharp, PA; Taatjes, DJ; Young, RA. RNA polymerase II phosphorylation regulates a switch between transcriptional and splicing condensates. Nature 2019, 572: 543 – 548.
Steinparzer, I; Sedlyarov, V; Rubin, JD; Eislmayr, K; Galbraith MD; Levandowski, CB; Vcelkova, T; Sneezum, L; Wascher, F; Amman, F; Kleinova, R; Bender, H; Andrysik, Z; Espinosa, JM; Superti-Furga, G; Dowell, RD; Taatjes, DJ;* Kovarik, P.* Transcriptional responses to IFNg require Mediator kinase-dependent pause release and mechanistically distinct CDK8 and CDK19 functions. Mol Cell 2019, 76: 485 – 499.
Boija, A; Klein, IA; Sabari, BR; Dall'Agnese, A; Coffey, EL; Zamudio, AV; Li, CH; Shrinivas, K; Manteiga, J; Hannett, NM; Abraham, BJ; Schuijers, J; Afeyan, L; Guo, YE; Rimel, JK; Fant, CB; Lee, TI; Taatjes, DJ; Young, RA. Transcription factors activate genes through the phase separation capacity of their activation domains. Cell 2018, 175: 1842 – 1855.
Ebmeier, CC; Erickson, B; Allen, BL; Allen, MA; Kim, H; Fong, N; Jacobsen, JR; Liang, K; Shilatifard, A; Dowell, RD; Old, WM; Bentley, DL*; Taatjes, DJ*. Human TFIIH kinase CDK7 regulates transcription-associated chromatin modifications. Cell Rep 2017, 20: 1173 - 1186.
Poss, ZC; Ebmeier, CC; Odell, AT; Tangpeerachaikul, A; Lee, T; Pelish, HE; Shair, MD; Dowell, RD; Old, WM; Taatjes, DJ. Identification of Mediator kinase substrates in human cells using cortistatin A and quantitative phosphoproteomics. Cell Rep 2016, 15: 436 – 450.
Pelish, HE; Liau, BB; Nitulescu, I; Tangpeerachaikul, A; Poss, ZC; DaSilva, D; Caruso, B; Arefolov, A; Fadeyi, O; Christie, A; Du, K; Banka, D; Schneider, EV; Jestel, A; Zou, G; Si, C; Ebmeier, CC; Bronson, RT; Krivtsov, AV; Myers, AG; Kohl, N; Kung, A; Armstrong, S; Lemieux, M; Taatjes, DJ; Shair, MD. Mediator kinase inhibition further activates super-enhancer-associated genes in AML. Nature 2015, 526: 273 – 276.
Selected Review articles:
Nayak, S; Taatjes DJ. SnapShot: Mediator Complex Structure. Cell 2022, 185: 3458.
Clopper, KC; Taatjes, DJ. Chemical inhibitors of transcription-associated kinases. Curr Opin Chem Biol 2022, 70: 102186.
Richter, WF; Nayak, S; Iwasa, J; Taatjes, DJ. The Mediator complex as a master regulator of transcription by RNA polymerase II. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2022, 23: 732 - 749.
Luyties, O; Taatjes, DJ. The Mediator kinase module: an interface between cell signaling and transcription. Trends Biochem Sci 2022, 47: 314 - 327.
Palacio, M; Taatjes DJ. Merging established mechanisms with new insights: Condensates, hubs, and the regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription. J Mol Biol 2022, 433: 167216.
Schier, AC; Taatjes, DJ. Structure and mechanism of the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery. Genes Dev 2020, 34: 465 – 488.
Rimel, JK; Taatjes, DJ. The essential and multi-functional TFIIH complex. Protein Sci 2018, 27: 1018 - 1037.