TFIIB Autoacetylation Mechanism
In a recent letter to Nature, we demonstrated that TFIIB auto-acetylates in the presence of acetyl coenzyme A at physiological pH. We were able to show that TFIIB binds acetyl-CoA, transfers the acetyl group to K238 of TFIIB, and releases free CoA. In a collaboration with Gerhard Wagner at BIDMC, we are currently studying the structural clues which may lead us to the specific mechanism for this posttranslational modification.
