Cheng-Ming Chiang, Ph.D.

Research

My lab has been interested in understanding the mechanisms of transcription and gene regulation in eukaryotes using primarily cell-free systems reconstituted with purified gene-specific transcription factors, general cofactors, and components of the general transcription machinery to recapitulate transcriptional events in the test tubes. Our goals are to elucidate the general principles underlying gene activation and repression in mammalian cells and their associated viruses, in particular, DNA tumor viruses such as human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Recently, we have applied reconstituted chromatin systems to define histone modifications and chromatin remodeling involved in p53 target gene transcription implicated in cell cycle control, DNA repair, and apoptosis. In addition, we have identified bromodomain 4 protein (Brd4) as the cellular corepressor implicated in transcriptional repression of HPV E6 and E7 oncoprotein expression by HPV-encoded E2 proteins.