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Dr. Bin Liu, Assistant Professor and leader of the Transcription and Gene Regulation lab at The Hormel Institute, published a paper in “Nucleic Acids Research,” a prestigious journal with a very high impact factor published by Oxford University Press.

Liu is the corresponding author of the paper titled “Structural basis for activation of

Swi2/Snf2 ATPase RapA by RNA polymerase.” Liu utilized cryo-electron microscopy (CryoEM), a Titan Krios considered one of the world’s most powerful electron microscopes housed at The Hormel Institute for this research. The results provide the structural basis of RapA ATPase activation by RNAP and advance our understanding of the activation mechanism of the widespread Swi2/Snf2 family ATPase.

“The Swi2/Snf2 family proteins regulate many nucleic acid transactions, such as DNA

replication, transcription, DNA repair and recombination through mediating mobilization

of various nucleic acid-protein complexes,” Liu said. “These family proteins are also involved in human diseases, such as Cockayne’s syndrome, alpha-thalassemia, mental retardation syndrome, and cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood.”

The findings are critically important because by understanding the progression of disease, research leading to control and prevention can be advanced.

Liu’s paper can be read at https://academic.oup.com/nar/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkab744/6357092.