The findings, made in collaboration with colleagues at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, were published in the Nov. 4, 2005 issue of the scientific journal Cell. Contributing authors from the Stowers Institute include Daeyoup Lee and Bing Li, Postdoctoral Research Associates, and Samantha Pattenden, Postdoctoral Research Fellow. A summary of the findings appears in the same issuse of Cell .

     Disruption of the physiologic balance between cell proliferation and death is a universal feature of all cancers. The proteasome plays a pivotal role in the control of many cell cycle-regulatory processes and has become the focus of new cancer therapies. Recently, the proteasome was shown to be involved in transcriptional regulation independently of its proteolytic activity. The role of the proteasome complex in transcriptional activities such as elongation or chromatin remodeling is a recent development in the field.

     “The findings of Dr. Workman’s team open another possible explanation as to how the proteasome not only eliminates target protein complexes but also how they activate target protein complexes and, consequently, achieve gene expression in vivo,” said Robb Krumlauff, Ph.D. “These answers bring us closer to understanding a significant factor in human cancer.”

     Dr. Workman’s team has plans to build on these findings in future research.

     “Since we have shown the non-proteolytic function of the proteasome to be significant,” said Dr. Workman, “we will further define the molecular mechanism of non-proteolytic function and thus further define how proteolytic and non-proteolytic functions of proteasomes tightly control expression of genetic information.”

     More information about Dr. Workman’s lab group can be found at www.stowers-institute.org/labs/workmanLab.asp.

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have endowed it with $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.