Alessandro Vannini, PhD - "Transcriptional and extra-transcriptional roles of the RNA Polymerase III machinery in genome function and organisation"

Alessandro Vannini, PhD
Head of Structural Biology Research Centre
Human Technopole, Milan, Italy

Short CV

Abstract
The eukaryotic nuclear genome is transcribed by the multi-subunit enzymes RNA Polymerase (Pol) I, II and III, which catalyze DNA-dependent RNA synthesis. Pol III transcribes genes encoding short non-coding essential RNAs, such as the entire pool of transfer RNAs (tRNAs). Recent studies have shown that Pol III plays a paramount role in numerous essential processes occurring in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm, globally defined as “extra-transcriptional” functions of the Pol III transcription apparatus, since they are not strictly dependent on Pol III transcripts or on the transcriptional activity of Pol III. The lecture will focus on unpublished results unraveling unexpected mechanistic insights into extra transcriptional roles of Pol III (and SMC complexes) into chromatin organization.