Jerry Workman

Jerry Workman has made milestone contributions to understanding how histone modifications regulate transcription by overcoming the nucleosome barrier to RNA polymerase, using biochemical reconstitution approaches that revealed the molecular mechanisms by which histone acetyltransferase and chromatin remodeling complexes cooperate to activate gene expression. His studies of the SAGA complex demonstrated how histone H3 acetylation, deubiquitination, and transcription factor interactions are coordinated to activate transcription from chromatin templates. He established that the chromatin template, not naked DNA, is the physiological substrate for transcriptional regulation, fundamentally changing how cancer gene expression is understood and therapeutically targeted.