Professional Summary
My lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of RNA Polymerase II transcription termination in the context of health, disease, and environmental stress. We use a combinatorial approach integrating structural biology (i.e., cryo-EM), biochemistry and genomics to answer fundamental biological questions: (i) how is RNA Polymerase II transcription terminated and how is this process regulated?, (ii) how do diseases and environmental insults abrogate termination?, (iii) how can we rescue disease-driven transcription termination defects?
Education
PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison 2014 (Biochemistry)
BS: University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez 2007 (Industrial Biotechnology)
Positions and Work Experience
2017 -2021 Postdoc, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology,
2021 -2023 Investigator Scientist, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology,
2024 -2025 Senior Laboratory Research Scientist, The Francis Crick Institute,
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Carminati, Manuel; Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Manav, M Cemre; Bellini, Dom; Passmore, Lori A (2023. ) A direct interaction between CPF and RNA Pol II links RNA 3' end processing to transcription.Molecular cell, , 83 (24 ) ,4461-4478.e13 More Information
Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Turtola, Matti (2023. ) Birth of a poly(A) tail: mechanisms and control of mRNA polyadenylation.FEBS open bio, , 13 (7 ) ,1140-1153 More Information
Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; West, Steven; Passmore, Lori A (2023. ) Knowing when to stop: Transcription termination on protein-coding genes by eukaryotic RNAPII.Molecular cell, , 83 (3 ) ,404-415 More Information
Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; O'Reilly, Francis J; Fagarasan, Holly; Sheekey, Eleanor; Maslen, Sarah; Skehel, J Mark; Rappsilber, Juri; Passmore, Lori A (2022. ) Mpe1 senses the binding of pre-mRNA and controls 3' end processing by CPF.Molecular cell, , 82 (13 ) ,2490-2504.e12 More Information
Kumar, Ananthanarayanan; Yu, Conny W H; Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Li, Xiao-Han; Freund, Stefan M V; Passmore, Lori A (2021. ) Dynamics in Fip1 regulate eukaryotic mRNA 3' end processing.Genes & development, , 35 (21-22 ) ,1510-1526 More Information
Lidschreiber, Michael; Easter, Ashley D; Battaglia, Sofia; Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Casañal, Ana; Carminati, Manuel; Baejen, Carlo; Grzechnik, Pawel; Maier, Kerstin C; Cramer, Patrick; Passmore, Lori A (2018. ) The APT complex is involved in non-coding RNA transcription and is distinct from CPF.Nucleic acids research, , 46 (21 ) ,11528-11538 More Information
Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Tseng, Sandra C; Simonett, Shane P; Taunton, Jack; Ansari, Aseem Z (2016. ) Engineered Covalent Inactivation of TFIIH-Kinase Reveals an Elongation Checkpoint and Results in Widespread mRNA Stabilization.Molecular cell, , 63 (3 ) ,433-44 More Information
Zhang, David W; Mosley, Amber L; Ramisetty, Sreenivasa R; Rodríguez-Molina, Juan B; Washburn, Michael P; Ansari, Aseem Z (2012. ) Ssu72 phosphatase-dependent erasure of phospho-Ser7 marks on the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain is essential for viability and transcription termination.The Journal of biological chemistry, , 287 (11 ) ,8541-51 More Information