University of California-San Diego · BiologyGene Regulation and Transcription Lab
James T. Kadonaga · La Jolla, California
Research Focus
The research lab of Dr. James T. Kadonaga focuses on understanding how genes are regulated in humans, particularly the processes involving RNA polymerase II transcription. By exploring the core promoter regions and the proteins that interact with them, the lab aims to unravel the complexities of gene expression that can lead to diseases, including cancer. The research also investigates the biological roles of specific nucleosome-binding proteins to deepen our understanding of gene regulation.
gene regulationRNA polymerase IIcore promotertranscription initiationHMGN proteinstranscription factorsmachine learningchromatin structurehuman diseasescancer
Research Aims
5AIM 01Explore the mechanisms of RNA polymerase II transcription regulation in humans.
AIM 02Investigate the distinct roles of TATA box and DPR in transcription initiation.
AIM 03Analyze the interaction of DNA sequences with protein factors in gene regulation.
AIM 04Utilize HMGN null cell lines to study the function of HMGN proteins in gene expression.
AIM 05Develop machine learning models to predict hormone responsiveness of human genes.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturegenetic analysisDNA sequencingRNA extractionchromatin immunoprecipitationWestern blotmachine learning modelingtranscription assaysPCRbioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications174top 38% of dept.391st of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations30ktop 11% of dept.118th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.