Michael Erb, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry
Research Focus
Chromatin and transcriptional biology
We use chemical tools and integrative transcriptional genomics to study the proteins that regulate pathogenic gene expression programs in cancer. Compared to genetic approaches, chemical tools allow us to better assign the direct mechanisms by which these proteins function in native living systems.
Target discovery
We use unbiased forward genetic approaches to motivate new targets for drug discovery. We focus on the discovery of targets with demonstrated roles in genetically-defined cancer sub-types. We also use forward genetics to uncover mechanisms of response and resistance to novel drug classes.
Drug discovery and chemical probes
Current efforts in the group are aimed at DNA-binding transcription factors, chromatin reader domains, and chromatin modifiers. We use diverse discovery chemistry approaches, including high-throughput screening, high-throughput medicinal chemistry, chemical proteomics, and chemically induced proximity to address the most compelling targets.
Select Publications
-
Bishop, Timothy R.; Subramanian, Chitra; Bilotta, Eric M.; Garnar-Wortzel, Leopold; Ramos, Anissa R.; Zhang, Yuxiang; Asiaban, Joshua N.; Ott, Christopher J.; Rock, Charles O.; Erb, Mich A. Acetyl-CoA biosynthesis drives resistance to histone acetyltransferase inhibition. Nature Chemical Biology 2023.
View -
Zhang, Yuxiang; Remillard, David; Onubogu, Ugoma; Karakyriakou, Barbara; Asiaban, Joshua N.; Ramos, Anissa R.; Bowland, Kirsten; Bishop, Timothy R.; Barta, P A.; Nance, Stephanie; Durbin, A D.; Ott, Christopher J.; Janiszewska, Michalina; Cravatt, Benjamin F.; Erb, Mich A. Collateral lethality between HDAC1 and HDAC2 exploits cancer-specific NuRD complex vulnerabilities. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 2023.
View -
Garnar-Wortzel, Leopold; Bishop, Timothy R.; Kitamura, Seiya; Milosevich, Natalia; Asiaban, Joshua N.; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Zheng, Qinheng; Chen, Emily; Ramos, Anissa R.; Ackerman, Christopher J.; Hampton, Eric N.; Chatterjee, Arnab K.; Young, Travi S.; Hull, Mitchell V.; Sharpless, K B.; Cravatt, Benjamin F.; Wolan, Dennis W.; Erb, Mich A. Chemical Inhibition of ENL/AF9 YEATS Domains in Acute Leukemia. ACS Central Science 2021, 7, 815-830.
View -
Asiaban, Joshua N.; Milosevich, Natalia; Chen, Emily; Bishop, Timothy R.; Wang, Justin; Zhang, Yuxiang; Ackerman, Christopher J.; Hampton, Eric N.; Young, Travi S.; Hull, Mitchell V.; Cravatt, Benjamin F.; Erb, Mich A. Cell-Based Ligand Discovery for the ENL YEATS Domain. ACS Chemical Biology 2020, 15, 895-903.
View -
Erb, Michael A.; Schultz, Peter G.; Bollong, Michael J.; Zhang, Yuxiang; Schultz, Peter G.; Saghatelian, Alan; Moresco, James J.; Martinez, Thomas F.; Koh, Minseob; Ko, Yeonjin; Erb, Michael A.; Diedrich, Jolene K.; Chu, Qian; Bollong, Michael J.; Ahmad, Insha A short ORF-encoded transcriptional regulator.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2021, e2021943118.
View -
Erb, Mich A.; Scott, Thomas G.; Li, Bin E.; Xie, Huafeng; Paulk, Joshiawa; Seo, Hyuk- S.; Souza, Amanda; Roberts, Justin M.; Dastjerdi, Shiva; Buckley, Dennis L.; Sanjana, N E.; Shalem, Ophir; Nabet, Behnam; Zeid, Rhamy; Offei-Addo, Nana K.; Dhe-Paganon, Sirano; Zhang, Feng; Orkin, Stuart H.; Winter, G E.; Bradner, Jam E. Transcription control by the ENL YEATS domain in acute leukaemia. Nature 2017, 543, 270-274.
View
