Bill Henry photo
R. William Henry
Associate Professor
  • Ph.D. 1992, University of Alberta, Canada
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, 1992-1998, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

henryrw@msu.edu
409 Biochemistry Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1319
Office: 517-353-3980
Lab: 517-353-3980
FAX: 517-353-9334

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R. William Henry

Research Interests

graphic of snapWe study transcription of human small nuclear (sn) RNA genes as a model system to understand mechanisms of transcription and regulation of gene expression. Correctly regulated gene expression is important for healthy development and the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Disruptions in transcriptional regulation are observed in many disease states including cancer. Moreover, viruses subvert the cellular transcriptional programs for their own benefit during viral infection.

Therefore, it is important to understand the transcriptional mechanisms that underlie control of gene expression. Human snRNA genes encode short stable RNAs that as part of specialized protein-snRNA complexes typically are involved in processing other RNA molecules.

For example, snRNAs are essential for mRNA splicing, rRNA processing, and tRNA processing. MORE

Recent Publications

Gene regulation by the p53 and RB tumor suppressor proteins

Ullah, Z., M.S. Buckley, D.N. Arnosti, and R.W. Henry. (2007). Retinoblastoma protein regulation by the COP9 signalosome. Mol Biol Cell 18: 1179-86. Abstract

Gridasova, A.A., and Henry, R.W. (2005). The p53 tumor suppressor protein represses human snRNA gene transcription by RNA polymerases II and III independently of sequence specific DNA binding. Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Apr;25(8):3247-60 Acrobat pdf.

Keller, S.A., Ullah, Z., Buckley, M., Henry, R.W., and Arnosti, D.N. (2005). Distinct developmental expression of Retinoblastoma factors in Drosophila. Gene Expression Patterns, 5:411-421. Acrobat pdf.

Hirsch, H.A., Jawdekar, G.W., Lee, K.A., Gu, L., and Henry, R.W. (2004). Distinct mechanisms for repression of RNA polymerase III transcription by the Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein. Molecular & Cellular Biology, 24:2989-5999. Acrobat pdf.

Hirsch, H.A., Gu, L., and R. W. Henry (2000). The Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein targets distinct core-promoter complexes to regulate RNA polymerase III gene expression. Molecular & Cellular Biology, 20:9182-9191. Acrobat pdf.

The general transcription machinery and human snRNA gene transcription

Jawdekar, G.W. and R.W. Henry. (2008). Transcriptional regulation of human small nuclear RNA genes. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1779:295-305 Abstract

Jawdekar GW, Hanzlowsky A, Hovde SL, Jelencic B, Feig M, Geiger JH, Henry RW. (2006). The unorthodox SNAP50 zinc finger domain contributes to cooperative promoter recognition by human SNAPc. J Biol Chem. 281(41):31050-60. Acrobat pdf.

Hanzlowsky A, Jelencic B, Jawdekar GW, Hinkley CS, Geiger JH, Henry RW. (2006). Co-expression of multiple subunits enables recombinant SNAPC assembly and function for transcription by human RNA polymerases II and III. Protein Expr Purif. 48(2):215-23. Acrobat pdf.

Gu L, Esselman WJ, Henry RW. (2005). Cooperation between small nuclear RNA-activating protein complex (SNAPc) and TATA-box-binding protein antagonizes Protein Kinase CK2 Inhibition of DNA Binding by SNAPc. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 280:27697-704. Acrobat pdf.

Hinkley, C. S., Hirsch, H. A., Gu, L., LaMere, B., and Henry, R.W. (2003). The SNAP190 Myb DNA-binding domain regulates TBP-TATA recognition. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 278:18649-18657. Acrobat pdf.

Hovde, S., Hinkley, C. S., Strong, K., Brooks, A., Gu, L., Henry, R. W., and J. Geiger (2002). Activator recruitment by the general transcription machinery: X-ray structural analysis of the Oct-1 POU domain/human U1 octamer/SNAP190 peptide ternary complex. Genes & Development, 16:2772-2777. Acrobat pdf.

Chen, D., Hinkley, C. S., Henry, R. W., and S. Huang (2002). TBP dynamics in living human cells: constitutive association of TBP with mitotic chromosomes. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 13:276-284. Acrobat pdf.

Henry, R.W., Mittal, V., Ma, B., Kobayashi, R., and N. Hernandez (1998). Assembly of a functional, core promoter complex (SNAPc) shared by RNA polymerase II and III. Genes & Development, 12:2664-2672. Acrobat pdf. MORE