Jennifer Kugel

Mammalian mRNA Transcription and its Regulation

Controlling gene expression is essential to growth, development, and sustained life. This requires regulating the spacial, temporal, and developmental expression of genes in a wide diversity of cell types. The underlying goal of our research is to uncover molecular mechanisms governing how mammalian gene expression is regulated. Our research program focuses on two primary points of control: transcription of messenger RNA (mRNA) and post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs by microRNAs (miRNAs). We use a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell-based techniques, molecular genetics, and single molecule studies to investigate gene expression in multiple biochemical and cellular systems. Please visit the lab's research webpage to learn more.

Go to the lab's Research webpage to learn more.

See my NCBI bibliography for a full and up-to-date list

• Rivas, T., Goodrich, J.A., Kugel, J.F. (2021) The Herpes Simplex Virus 1 protein ICP4 acts as both an activator and a repressor of host genome transcription during Infection. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24:e0017121.
• Salant, G.M., Tat, K.L., Goodrich, J.A., and Kugel, J.F. (2020) miR-206 knockout shows it is critical for myogenesis and directly regulates newly identified target mRNAs. RNA Biol. 17(7): 956-965.
• Ly, E., Powell A.E., Goodrich J.A., and Kugel J.F. (2020) Release of human TFIIB from actively transcribing complexes is triggered upon synthesis of 7- and 9-nt RNAs. J. Mol. Biol. 432:4049-4060.
• Ly, E., Kugel, J.F., Goodrich, J.A. (2020) Single molecule studies reveal that p53 tetramers dynamically bind response elements containing one or two half sites. Sci. Rep. 10(1):16176.
• Cardiello, J.F., Goodrich, J.A., and Kugel, J.F. (2018) Heat shock causes a reversible increase in RNA polymerase II occupancy downstream of mRNA genes, consistent with a global loss in transcriptional termination. Mol. Cell. Biol. 38:e00181-18