Patrick Schultz

Schultz and his team decipher the three-dimensional organization of macromolecular complexes by using high-resolution cryo- Electron Microscopy (EM) to visualize single molecules in their native state and image analysis to extract signal from noise. Their study how basal transcription factors interact with the promoter of protein-encoding genes and analyze the transmission of activation signals mediated by cis-acting transcription factors towards the basal transcription machinery in order to trigger increased transcription. The study of different intermediate states reveals snapshots of dynamic processes that highlight the conformational changes of these nanomachines during transcription initiation.

These approaches were applied to several molecular systems including the SAGA and TFIID coactivators, but also to other systems such as TFIIH, TFIIE, RNA Polymerase I, DNA Topoisomerase II, or HIV integrase, in collaboration mainly with IGBMC team leaders. As part of an integrated vision of cellular structural biology, they analyze the organization of transcription within the nuclei of rod photoreceptors. The biological system used is a mouse model of human disease: the type 7 Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Chromatin organization, histone modification, and transcriptional activity.