Michael J. Lee

I really enjoyed this "Snippet" about our recent paper describing PDAR. lifescienceeditors.com/2025/11/15/why…

BE Seminar Series returns with @TheLeeLab, @UMassChan “Life, Death, and the Discovery of the Pol II Degradation-dependent Apoptotic Response (PDAR)” 32-141, 4p, 10/2 ow.ly/WiQh50X5aLh

Now online! RNA Pol II inhibition activates cell death independently from the loss of transcription dlvr.it/TMWhrz

@DrTonyLetai I don’t think it has another name (not well studied… just a couple papers). I’ll contact you about it as we move forward! We definitely want to explore how MOMP activation works in this context but the first paper is just focused on the existence of this pathway.

@TheLeeLab Does BCL2L12 have some other name? Not familiar with it. We can help study the BH3 domain of it if you find you need that down the road.

We just posted a preprint about a death mechanism that we find truly surprising. When you turn off transcription, cells die (duh!) but did you know this happens due to loss of Pol II itself, not loss of Pol II activity! preprint here and a thread (1/n): biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

@DrTonyLetai Thanks Tony! PTBP1 doesn't have a BH3 domain and as far as we can tell, it doesn't interact directly with any BCL2 family protein. We identify 1 BCL2-family/BH3- protein as being required for apoptosis in this context and it's BCL2L12... relationship between these is TBD.

@TheLeeLab Cool paper, Mike. Does PTBP1 directly interact with any BCL-2 family proteins? Or have a BH3 domain?

I don't post in this space much anymore... I can be found on other platforms using the same handle.

The answer is about analytical resolution!!! The way we measure drug responses makes drug-induced growth rates and death rates very clear. More conventional approaches just can't see these distinctions clearly, masking this crazy phenotype. (8/end)

It's challenging to uncouple Pol II expression from Pol II activity (Pol II activity creates Pol II expression) but we managed! We did many things, but the most notable is that we suppressed lethality caused by loss of Pol II by giving cells a non-functional form of Pol II! (4/n)

Please RT! We are officially accepting applications to the @UW Pharmacology PhD program! Are you excited about doing a PhD in a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary community that spans all levels of pharmacology? Come join us! Deadline is Dec. 1. pharmacology.uw.edu/graduate-progr…

The SACB Abstract deadline is this Friday. This is an awesome community and always a very engaging meeting. Join us in Colorado this February!

Systems approaches to cancer biology meeting (SACB2025) is coming up! The abstract deadline and application to be part of our SACB 2025 Scholar program is Friday, November 1. Check out the details at sacbmeeting.org

Thrilled to share our latest story on 5-FU inducing RNA damage during ribosome biogenesis - cell.com/cell-reports-m…. The whole thing started when Karl and Jung-Kuei were trying to figure out hiow limiting dNTPS skewed DNA repair. Never thought it would be RNA and tge ribosome!

Congratulations to our 2024 medicine laureate Victor Ambros ✨ This morning he celebrated the news of his prize with his colleague and wife Rosalind Lee, who was also the first author on the 1993 'Cell' paper cited by the Nobel Committee. #NobelPrize

Victor R. Ambros, PhD, @UMassChan's Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine, has won a Nobel Prize. Media: Email UMassChanCommunications@umassmed.edu for news conference info and interview requests. #NobelPrize #BreakingNews #AdvancingTogether