Robert G. Roeder (born June 3, 1942 in Boonville, Indiana, United States) is an American biologist. He is known as a pioneer in eukaryotic transcription. He is the recipient of the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2000 and the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2003. He currently serves as Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Biochemical and Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University.
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Biography
Roeder was born in Boonville, Indiana, USA in 1942. He received his B.A. summa cum laude in chemistry from Wabash College and his M.S. in chemistry from the University of Illinois. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1969 from the University of Washington, Seattle, where he worked with William J. Rutter. He did postdoctoral work with Donald D. Brown at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in Baltimore, from 1969 to 1971. He was a member of the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis from 1971 to 1982, when he joined The Rockefeller University. In 1985, he was named Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor. He was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1988 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995, and a foreign associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2003.
Major Discoveries
- 1969-1977: In 1969, as a graduate student at the University of Washington, Roeder discovers that three enzymes, called RNA polymerases, directly copy DNA in animal cells. As a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, he goes on to show that these enzymes, referred to as Pol I, II and III, recognize and copy distinct classes of genes.
- 1977-1979: Roeder develops cell-free systems to better study transcription. Composed of the purified RNA polymerases and components extracted from cell nuclei, the systems allow researchers to recreate transcription in a test tube in a way that faithfully mimics the real process in cells.
- 1980: The development of cell-free systems leads to the identification of complex sets of proteins called accessory factors that are essential for each individual RNA polymerase (Pol I, II and III) to "read" specific target genes.
- 1980: Roeder identifies the first mammalian gene-specific activator, called TFIIIA. TFIIIA and similar proteins bind to specific DNA sequences and enhance the reading of corresponding target genes. Repressors perform the opposite task by inhibiting a gene's activity.
- 1990s: A decade of research culminates with the discovery of coactivators, large protein complexes that provide a bridge between the activators and repressors and the RNA polymerases and other components of the general transcription machinery.
- 1991: Roeder's laboratory demonstrates that coactivators can be ubiquitous, monitoring many genes in a variety of cells, or specific to one particular cell type. Roeder and colleagues introduce the concept of cell specificity after they demonstrate that the coactivator OCA-B, the first cell-specific coactivator, discovered by Roeder in 1991, is unique to immune system B cells.
- 1996: Roeder's laboratory discovers the major conduit for communication between gene-specific activators and the general transcription machinery in animal cells: a giant coactivator (TRAP/SMCC) that consists of about 25 different protein chains and is referred to as the human mediator after its counterpart in yeast.
- 2002: Roeder and colleagues show that a single component of the mediator is absolutely essential for the formation of fat cells — a finding that may one day contribute to new treatments for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other conditions in which the fat-making process breaks down.
Highly Cited Papers
- 1. Dignam, J. D., Lebovitz, R. M., and Roeder, R. G. Accurate transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II in a soluble extract from isolated mammalian nuclei. Nucleic Acids Res., 11: 1475-1489, 1983. Times Cited: 9,404
- 2. Gu, W. and Roeder, R. G. Activation of p53 sequence-specific DNA binding by acetylation of the p53 C-terminal domain. Cell, 90: 595-606, 1997. Times Cited: 1,184
- 3. Sawadogo, M. and Roeder, R. G. Interaction of a gene-specific transcription factor with the adenovirus major late promoter upstream of the TATA box region. Cell, 43: 165-175, 1985. Times Cited: 1,046
- 4. Dignam, J. D., Martin, P. L., Shastry, B. S., and Roeder, R. G. Eukaryotic gene transcription with purified components. Methods Enzymol., 101: 582-598, 1983. Times Cited: 750
- 5. Roeder, R. G. and Rutter, W. J. Multiple forms of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in eukaryotic organisms. Nature, 224: 234-237, 1969. Times Cited: 726
Honors and Awards
- 1977: American Chemical Society Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry.[1]
- 1986: National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology.[2]
- 1988: Member, National Academy of Sciences.
- 1990: Honorary Doctor of Science from Wabash College.
- 1995: Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science.[3]
- 1995: Passano Award.[4]
- 1995: Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- 1999: Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University.[5]
- 1999: General Motors Cancer Research Foundation’s Alfred P. Sloan Prize.[6]
- 2000: Gairdner Foundation International Award.[7]
- 2001: Dickson Prize in Medicine from University of Pittsburgh.[8]
- 2002: ASBMB-Merck Award.[9]
- 2003: Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research.[10]
- 2003: Foreign Associate Member, European Molecular Biology Organization.
- 2005: Honorary Doctor of Science from Washington University in St. Louis.[11]
Prominent Alumni of the Roeder Laboratory
- Robert B. Darnell - Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Professor, Rockefeller University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ricard A. Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D.--Associate Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Medical School
References
- ^ ACS Biological Chemistry: Achievement and Travel Awards
- ^ National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
- ^ Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award
- ^ The Passano Foundation
- ^ The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
- ^ General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Awards Honor Top Cancer Innovators
- ^ The Gairdner Foundation
- ^ Science 2001 Dickson Prize Lecturer
- ^ ASBMB-Merck Award
- ^ The Lasker Foundation
- ^ Washington University to confer five honorary degrees May 20, 2005
External links
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