Uncovering the role of Cdk8 in RNA synthesis

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Organisms are regularly challenged by changes to the environments they inhabit. Surviving these insults requires them to mount an appropriate response. Gene activation and repression is a key mechanism by which organisms respond to their environments. This is achieved through changes in a process called transcription. Transcription is performed by a molecular machine called RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) which reads information encode in the cell's DNA. The process of transcription is complex, it requires the collective action of hundreds of regulators that function to direct RNAPII towards or away from specific regions of the DNA in response to environmental signals. Cdk8 is a known regulator of transcription factors and as such, it plays important roles in mediating the ability of organisms to respond to changes in their environment. Despite its importance, we know very little about how Cdk8 functions and is itself regulated, particularly in response to environmental signals. Several lines of evidence suggest that Cdk8 likely regulates many more aspects of transcription than we currently are aware of. In fact, we recently discovered that Cdk8 regulates factor involved in the activation of metabolism genes in response to nutrient signals. The goal of this project is to understand how Cdk8 functions and which transcriptional programs it regulates.