The Yamamoto Lab is interested in mechanisms by which gene transcription is regulated in different cell types and physiological (or pathological) settings; those mechanisms control fundamental biological processes, including development, cell differentiation, responses to environmental signals and stresses, senescence and disease.

The central focus of our studies is the intracellular receptor (IR) superfamily of regulators, metazoan factors that include receptors for steroid and thyroid hormones in mammals. IRs transduce signaling information by binding to small hydrophobic ligands and assembling into transcriptional regulatory complexes at target genes. We employ biochemical, cellular, molecular, genetic and structural approaches in mammals, C. elegans and yeast to investigate IR functions and mechanisms.