China Union of Life Science Societies, a life science union under the China Association for Science and Technology(CAST), has recently announced China’s top 10 advances in life sciences in 2021. The study on assembly of a preinitiation complex (PIC), which was led by Fudan researcher Yanhui Xu, is on the list.
Yanhui Xu, professor at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, is committed to the research on key proteins such as gene expression regulation using biochemistry and structural biology.
His team has revealed the basic mechanism of transcription initiation, overturning the traditional belief of how promoter recognition is involved in PIC assembly. Their study has also provided a theoretical framework for the regulation and intervention of abnormal gene expression in diseases.
The researchers managed to determine the structure of the complete PIC containing TFIID, the first PIC-Mediator complex with complete structure and function and their dynamic assembly process and molecular mechanism. Their findings on the regulation of transcriptional initiation process around promoter region, have been published as two Articles in Science in 2021 (Science 372, eaba8490; Science 372, eabg0635).
China Union of Life Science Societies, with 22 national-level societies as its members, has been in charge of the annual selection of "Top 10 Advances in Life Sciences in China" since 2015, aiming to promote research progress and technological innovation in life sciences and encourage Chinese scientists to make influential achievements in this field.
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
