| Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory (Kokubo Group)
1. Member Staff
Tetsuro Kokubo
Professor.
Graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Ph.D.degree (1990).
Postdoctoral fellow at National Institutes of Health, USA (1990-1995).
Associate professor at Nara Institute of Science and Technology
(1995-2001).
Professor at Yokohama City University (2001-).
Graduate student
Nao Fujii
Kazuma Sugawara
Undergraduate student
Himari Tanaka
Technical staff
Kiyoshi Watanabe
Kazuyo Teshima
Guest researcher
Koji Kasahara
2. Research
Functional analysis of TFIID subunits (TAFs)
The regulatory mechanisms that govern gene expression are of fundamental
importance for understanding the normal processes of various biological
phenomena, including development, differentiation and morphogenesis as
well as for deciphering the molecular basis of various genetic
disorders. The general transcription factor TFIID, which is comprised
of TBP and a series of TAFs, plays a central role in the assembly of the
preinitiation complex as well as in the response to transcriptional
activators. We are currently focusing on the characterization of TAF
function, which is essential for these two molecular events, using
budding yeast as our model organism.
3. Recent publications
(Tetsuro Kokubo) R. Iwami, N. Takai, M. Matsutani, Y. Shiwa, H. Kokubo, K. Kasahara, T. Kokubo
TFIID dependency of steady-state mRNA transcription altered epigenetically by simultaneous functional loss of Taf1 and Spt3 is Hsp104-dependent
PLoS One, vol.18, No.2, e0281233 (2023)
K. Kasahara, R. Nakayama, Y. Shiwa, Y. Kanesaki, T. Ishige, H. Yoshikawa, T. Kokubo
Fpr1, a primary target of rapamycin, functions as a transcription factor for ribosomal protein genes cooperatively with Hmo1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
PLoS Genet, vol.16, No.6, e1008865 (2020)
R. Iwami, N. Takai, T. Kokubo
The function of Spt3, a subunit of the SAGA complex, in PGK1 transcription was restored only partially when reintroduced by plasmid into taf1 spt3 double mutant yeast strains
Genes & Genetic Systems, vol.95, No.3, 151-163 (2020)
K. Kasahara, S. Takahata, T. Kokubo
Transcriptional activation is weakened when Taf1p N-terminal domain 1 is substituted with its Drosophila counterpart in yeast TFIID
Genes & Genetic Systems, vol.94, No.1, 51-59 (2019)
Watanabe K, Kokubo T
SAGA mediates transcription from the TATA-like element independently of Taf1p/TFIID but dependent on core promoter structures in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
PLoS One. 2017 Nov 27;12(11):e0188435.
Watanabe K, Yabe M, Kasahara K, Kokubo T
A random screen using a novel reporter assay system reveals a set of sequences that are preferred as the TATA or TATA-like elements in the CYC1 promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
PLoS One. 2015 Jun 5;10(6):e0129357.
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