Steve West

SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3 Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Episode 5: The DNA of Discovery: A Journey Through Molecular Biology In this episode, Dr. Jurgi Camblong travels to the University of Oxford to meet Professor Nicholas Proudfoot, one of the true pioneers of molecular biology.

Check this out. I was in Nick's lab with Jurgi and we used to run around the University Parks thinking about RNA (whilst getting out of breath). Nick and his lab were both amazing and the main (only!) reason I became a researcher! www.sophiagenetics.com/podcasts/epi...

Are you looking for a PhD starting in September 2026/27? Then do not miss the fantastic opportunity to be part of the LSI PhD Community. New positions for the LSI PhD Programme are out now. www.exeter.ac.uk/research/ins... Deadline: 26.11.2025

Modelling transcription with explainable AI uncovers context-specific epigenetic gene regulation at promoters and gene bodies Author summary Genes are turned on or off through complex processes involving many proteins that interact with DNA wrapped histones and modify their structure. These changes, known as epigenetic modif...

🚀 Excited to share my latest paper on using SHAP, to predict direct target genes of chromatin-associated factors! Check it out for insights into gene regulation and the power of explainable AI in genomics! #XAI #SHAP #Genomics

doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Let's break down what we found! 👇

Congratulations, Kashyap!

Sequential verification of transcription by Integrator and Restrictor Estell and Łazowski et al. show that Integrator and Restrictor form distinct pathways for early attenuation of RNA polymerase II: Integrator acts at the promoter-proximal pause site, whereas Restrictor acts over a downstream “restriction zone.” For transcription to proceed, CDK7/9 oppose Integrator, while U1 snRNP counteracts both Integrator and Restrictor.

Online Now: Sequential verification of transcription by Integrator and Restrictor Online now:

Sequential verification of transcription by Integrator and Restrictor Estell and Łazowski et al. show that Integrator and Restrictor form distinct pathways for early attenuation of RNA polymerase II: Integrator acts at the promoter-proximal pause site, whereas Restricto...

I’m a fair-weather poster on here to say the least. However, I'm pleased to present our latest paper. A great effort from all authors and an interesting insight into transcriptional regulation (we think!).
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Newton International Fellowships | Royal Society This fellowship is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.

We would love to support and host anyone interested in this in my lab. Get in touch if interested.
royalsociety.org/grants/newto...

Restrictor slows early transcription elongation to render RNA polymerase II susceptible to termination at non-coding RNA loci https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.08.631787v1

In this study, Davidson et al. describe an alternative but conserved mechanism for RNA polymerase II transcription termination that occurs directly at T-tracts and independent of polyadenylation site-directed termination. #openaccess

Learn more here:
➡️ tinyurl.com/gd351978

Happy New Year everyone. Time to crack on.

Happy Christmas everyone. I'm going from sporadic posts to none - for a week or so!

📢 Latest publication from the lab! We explore how cells manage the excess pA− RNAs generated by pervasive transcription. While the NEXT complex usually takes charge, in its absence, a network of tailing enzymes, export factors, and exonucleases steps in to modify and degrade these RNAs.

These are the Best Food Regions in the World - TasteAtlas Awards 24/25 Best local food destinations in the world according to audience ratings for local restaurants, iconic dishes, and ingredients from the respective regions.

www.tasteatlas.com/best/regions. This can't be right - not one from the UK. I almost choked on my baked beans!

I'm taking my son to our first panto tomorrow. What's that you say? Oh yes I am!

This is great news!

While we're working on adding Altmetric and making it easier to share eLife papers directly to Bluesky, you can tag us here for a boost!

Controlling Transcription Elongation and Termination: More Than a Means to An End

As you make have seen, there is a special issue of JMB on "Controlling Transcription Elongation and Termination: More Than a Means to An End" curated by my colleague here at Pitt Karen Arndt and by Steve Buratowski from Harvard Medical School 🧪🧵 1/ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Craig, we've never met! This is a great summary and I was happy to contribute to this really interesting issue.

Congrats Rob. Right up our street!

Here it is! Congratuations to @jesskelley.bsky.social @edimitrova.bsky.social @neilblackledge.bsky.social @aleksszczurek.bsky.social and the rest of the team (Maciej, Amy, and Hieu). This was a fab collaboration with Arminja Kettenbach. Also see a lovely complementary paper from Fei Chen's group.

As a long-term signatory of the Declaration on Research Assessment, we thank DORA for this supportive message. There has been an ongoing move away from journal-level metrics; we hope this will only accelerate now.

Of course, I thought of it 30 years ago.

A gerontocracy!

Are you looking for a PhD position starting 2025/26? Then check out our website www.exeter.ac.uk/research/ins... and apply for a PhD position at the Living Systems Institute in Exeter. It could be you in the photo next year. @uniofexeter.bsky.social

We are delighted to join the BlueSky community.
The Living Systems Institute at University of Exeter is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre focused on understanding the fundamental principles of living systems and applying this knowledge to address challenges in health and life sciences.

Bit of snow in Exeter today. My 7 year old Son declared that this was the first snow ever in Southern England! Not quite true but given how all the roads have ground to a halt, I forgive him for thinking it might be......

Quick intro: My lab studies mechanisms of transcriptional termination, but we like all things RNA. Important to note, we don't study DNA recombination and repair (that's the other Steve West!) but we do welcome all followers!!.

Interdisciplinary PhD studentships at the Living Systems Institute
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

Re-initiation!