George Khoury Lecture

George Khoury, highly regarded as a superb scientist and caring mentor, was chief of the NCI Laboratory of Molecular Virology. He conducted some of the earliest research with genetic enhancers and was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences shortly before his death from lymphoma in 1987 at age 43. This lecture, now part of the Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series, honors his memory. George Khoury lecturers are selected by a committee led by the NIH Virology Interest Group and approved by the NIH Director.

Chromatin structure and the control of gene expression

Carl Wu, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

George Khoury Lecture

The Wu laboratory investigates the biochemical basis for histone H2A.Z exchange using the budding yeast model organism. They have identified the yeast SWR1 ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex as the responsible enzyme. In a purified system, SWR1 removes H2A-H2B dimers from nucleosomes and deposits free H2A.Z-H2B dimers in an ATP-dependent manner. Homologous enzymes have since been characterized in mammalian systems. How does SWR1 recognize promoters and enhancers genome-wide?

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