UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry : UCLA Portal

Website:

Harold Martinson's Home Page.

Email Address:

hgm@chem.ucla.edu

Laboratory Address:

Young Hall 5033

Work Address:

Young Hall 5040A

Work Phone Number:

1 (310) 825-3767
1 (310) 825-4916

Professor
Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biochemistry

Member
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB) Graduate Program, JCCC Gene Regulation Program Area

A Short Biography:

Dr. Martinson received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.

Click here for information about the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) Graduate Program.

Research Interest:

Broadly speaking we are interested in how the genes of organisms transmit their information to the cellular biosynthetic machinery. We are especially interested in how this is accomplished in the most complex of organisms- eukaryotes in general, but especially in mammals. RNA polymerase II is the enzyme charged with initiating the transfer of information from the DNA in the nucleus to the cell cytoplasm via RNA. Amazingly, RNA polymerase not only carries out the intricate task of precisely transcribing the DNA, but it also oversees the elaborate network of events involved in processing the RNA that it makes. Our focus is on the functional interactions of the transcriptional machinery with the machineries responsible for cleavage & polyadenylation and for splicing.

Publications:

Kazerouninia, A., Ngo, B. & H.G. Martinson Poly(A) signal-dependent degradation of unprocessed nascent transcripts accompanies poly(A) signal-dependent transcriptional pausing in vitro. RNA, 2009; 15: in press.

Rigo, F. and H.G. Martinson Polyadenylation releases mRNA from RNA polymerase II in a process that is licensed by splicing. RNA, 2009; 15: 823-836.

Rigo Frank, Martinson Harold G Functional coupling of last-intron splicing and 3'-end processing to transcription in vitro: the poly(A) signal couples to splicing before committing to cleavage. Molecular and cellular biology, 2008; 28(2): 849-62.

Nag Anita, Narsinh Kazim, Martinson Harold G The poly(A)-dependent transcriptional pause is mediated by CPSF acting on the body of the polymerase. Nature structural & molecular biology, 2007; 14(7): 662-9.

Nag A, Narsinh K, Kazerouninia A and Martinson HG The conserved AAUAAA hexamer of the poly(A) signal can act alone to trigger a stable decrease in RNA polymerase II transcription velocity RNA, 2006; 12: 1534-1544.

Rigo F, Kazerouninia A, Nag A, Martinson HG The RNA Tether from the Poly(A) Signal to the Polymerase Mediates Coupling of Transcription to Cleavage and Polyadenylation Molecular Cell, 2005; 20: 733-745.

Park NJ, Tsao DC, Martinson HG The two steps of poly(A)-dependent termination, pausing and release, can be uncoupled by truncation of the RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal repeat domain. Molecular and Cellular Biology. , 2004; 24(10): 4092-103.

Kim SJ, Martinson HG Poly(A)-dependent transcription termination: continued communication of the poly(A) signal with the polymerase is required long after extrusion in vivo. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. , 2003; 278(43): 41691-701.

Orozco IJ, Kim SJ, Martinson HG The poly(A) signal, without the assistance of any downstream element, directs RNA polymerase II to pause in vivo and then to release stochastically from the template. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. , 2002; 277(45): 42899-911.

Tran DP, Kim SJ, Park NJ, Jew TM, Martinson HG Mechanism of poly(A) signal transduction to RNA polymerase II in vitro. Molecular and Cellular Biology. , 2001; 21(21): 7495-508.

Chao LC, Jamil A, Kim SJ, Huang L, Martinson HG Assembly of the cleavage and polyadenylation apparatus requires about 10 seconds in vivo and is faster for strong than for weak poly(A) sites. Molecular and Cellular Biology. , 1999; 19(8): 5588-600.

Yeung G, Choi LM, Chao LC, Park NJ, Liu D, Jamil A, Martinson HG Poly(A)-driven and poly(A)-assisted termination: two different modes of poly(A)-dependent transcription termination. Molecular and Cellular Biology. , 1998; 18(1): 276-89.

Harold Martinson, Ph.D.