Prof. Huang has collaborated with experimentalists on a paper that has been recently accepted by Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. In this study, a combination of X-ray, bio-chemical experiments, and theoretical modeling have been used to elucidate the detailed molecular mechanism by which RNA polymerase II stalled at a site-specific monofunctional pyriplatin DNA adduct. Our findings pave the way for rational improvement of monofunctional platinum anticancer drugs.