Fusing
transcriptomics & cell biology
All the cells in our body have the same DNA, the same genes, and yet they are very different from each other. These differences rise from how each cell expresses its genes. Therefore, to understand how cells function and fail it is crucial to understand how gene expression is regulated and executed. Questions we study aim to understand how regulation of gene expression is changing in disease, and to find ways we could modulate gene expression to alleviate disease.
Our Research
We study post-transcriptional gene regulation
Basic concepts are established regarding how RNA production based on DNA code is regulated (transcriptional gene regulation). But genes are also heavily regulated at multiple steps after transcription such as RNA processing, nuclear export, translation, and RNA degradation (post-transcriptional gene regulation), where basic principles are not well understood. Our lab is interested in how RNA Binding Proteins and non-coding RNAs orchestrate post-transcriptional gene regulation.
Zooming in to subcellular resolution
The same RNA Binding Protein may act at distinct cellular locations to regulate different steps along the mRNA life cycle. This can happen concurrently at the same time by separate subpopulations of the same RBP, or alternatively RBPs may shuttle between compartments in response to a signal or in disease. So, to really understand post transcriptional gene regulation we zoom-in on subcellular compartments, capture a specific subpopulation of an RNA Binding protein and its associated RNA and protein counterparts, and aim to study their function in context of their encompassing compartment, whether it be the function it fulfills or the molecular signals within it.
To do this we combine:
Cell biology and quantitative viewpoints
Diverse bioinformatic data analyses
Molecular, biochemical, and genetic tools
Advanced transcriptomics (RNA sequencing, ribosome footprinting, PAR-CLIP, Proximity-CLIP)
