Laboratory for Transcription Structural Biology

Main Publications List

  1. Kujirai, T., Ehara, H., Ito, T., Henmi, M., Oya, E., Kobayashi, T., Sekine, S. and Kurumizaka, H. (2026) Structural basis of transcription-coupled H3K36 trimethylation by Set2 in coordination with FACT. Sci. Adv. 12(5), eaed1952. 
  2. Sekine, S. (2025) Toward structural understanding of eukaryotic transcription elongation. Proc. Jpn Acad. Ser. B Phys. Biol. Sci. 101 (7), 414-430.
  3. Naganuma, M., Kujirai, T., Ehara, H., Uejima, T., Ito, T., Goto, M., Aoki, M., Henmi, M., Miyamoto-Kohno, S., Shirouzu, M., Kurumizaka, H. and Sekine, S. (2025) Structural insights into promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II at +1 nucleosome. Sci Adv. 11(10), adu0577. 
  4. Yanagisawa, T., Murayama, Y., Ehara, H., Goto, M., Aoki, M. and Sekine, S. (2024) Structural basis of eukaryotic transcription termination by the Rat1 exonuclease complex. Nat. Commun. 15(1), 7854. 
  5. Sekine, S., Ehara, H., Kujirai, T. and Kurumizaka, H. (2024) Structural perspectives on transcription in chromatin. Trends Cell Biol. 34(3):211-224.
  6. Akatsu, M., Ehara, H., Kujirai, T., Fujita, R., Ito, T., Osumi, K., Ogasawara, M., Takizawa, Y., Sekine, S. and Kurumizaka, H. (2023) Cryo-EM structures of RNA polymerase II-nucleosome complexes rewrapping transcribed DNA. J. Biol. Chem. 299, 105477
  7. Osawa, T., Aoki, M., Ehara, H. and Sekine, S. (2023) Structures of dengue virus RNA replicase complexes. Mol. Cell 83, 2781-2791. 
  8. Murayama, Y., Ehara, H., Aoki, M., Goto, M., Yokoyama, T. and Sekine, S. (2023) Structural basis of the transcription termination factor Rho engagement with transcribing RNA polymerase from Thermus thermophilus. Sci. Adv. 9, eade7093. 
  9. Hirano, R., Ehara, H., Kujirai, T., Uejima, T., Takizawa, Y., Sekine, S. and Kurumizaka, H. (2022) Structural basis of RNA polymerase II transcription on the chromatosome containing linker histone H1. Nat. Commun. 13, 7287.
  10. Ehara, H., Kujirai, T., Shirouzu, M., Kurumizaka, H. and Sekine, S. (2022) Structural basis of nucleosome disassembly and reassembly by RNAPII elongation complex with FACT. Science 377, eabp9466.
  11. Shimizu, H., Saito, A., Mikuni, J., Nakayama, EE., Koyama, H., Honma, T., Shirouzu, M., Sekine S. and Shioda, T. (2019) Discovery of a small molecule inhibitor targeting dengue virus NS5 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 13, e0007894.
  12. Ehara, H., Kujirai, T., Fujino, Y., Shirouzu, M., Kurumizaka, H. and Sekine, S. (2019) Structural insight into nucleosome transcription by RNA polymerase II with elongation factors. Science 363, 744-747.
  13. Kujirai, T., Ehara, H., Fujino, Y., Shirouzu, M., Sekine, S. and Kurumizaka, H. (2018) Structural basis of the nucleosome transition during RNA polymerase II passage. Science 362, 595-598.
  14. Ooi, W.Y., Murayama, Y., Mekler, V., Minakhin, L., Severinov, K., Yokoyama, S. and Sekine, S. (2018) A Thermus phage protein inhibits host RNA polymerase by preventing template DNA strand loading during open promoter complex formation. Nucleic Acids Res. 46, 431-441. 
  15. Ehara, H., Yokoyama, T., Shigematsu, H., Yokoyama, S., Shirouzu, M. and Sekine, S. (2017) Structure of the complete elongation complex of RNA polymerase II with basal factors. Science 357, 921-924.
totop