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 Intron Removal, Alternative Splicing, and Genomics
Manuel Ares, Jr., MCD Biology
Work in the Ares laboratory centers on the mechanisms and regulation of splicing. Splicing is required to remove intron sequences from pre-mRNA and create coding sequences for translation. The lab studies yeast, mouse and human tissues and cells, which share many fundamental features but also have distinct and important differences from each other. They are generally interested in the structure and function of RNAs that play important regulatory and catalytic roles. [More] |
 Structure and Functional Analysis of Spliceosomes
Melissa Jurica, MCD Biology
The Jurica lab uses the tools of structural biology and biochemistry to investigate the cellular machinery responsible for editing the information contained in the RNA transcripts of nearly all of human genes. This machinery, called the spliceosome, splices out intron sequences that interrupt gene transcripts and joins exon sequences to make messenger RNAs that correctly encode for proteins. The goal of Jurica's research is to understand how the spliceosome is assembled and how it catalyzes the splicing reaction, but this is ..... [More]
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Structure and Function of the Ribosome
Harry Noller, MCD Biology
Ribosomes are RNA-based molecular machines that are responsible for synthesis of proteins. Researchers in the Noller laboratory were the first to solve the complete structure of a ribosome using X-ray crystallography. Besides the importance of protein synthesis to understanding the molecular basis of cellular function, research on ribosomes promises to improve the design of new antibiotics. Many of today's most effective anti-microbial drugs work by targeting bacterial ribosomes. As pathogenic bacteria continue to develop resistance to commonly used antibiotics, clarification of the structure and molecular mechanisms of bacterial ribosomes will be critical for the design of new drugs that will keep pace with rapidly evolving bacteria. [ More] |
 Post Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression
Jeremy Sanford , Dept. of MCD Biology
Our work attempts to dissect the myriad roles of RNA binding proteins in mammalian gene expression. RNA processing reactions such as pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA export, translation and mRNA decay are influenced by the interplay of trans-acting proteins with their cognate cis-acting RNA elements. We believe that by elucidating the cis-acting RNA elements recognized by specific RNA binding proteins it will be possible to gain a better understanding of both the physiological relevance and mechanisms of action for these critical regulators of gene expression.
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 Regulation of Germ Cell Development in C. elegans
Professor Susan Strome, MCD Biology
Germ cells (the cells that give rise to eggs and sperm) have special properties. Their immortality allows them to be perpetuated from generation to generation, and their totipotency allows them to generate all of the diverse cell types of the body in each generation. The Strome lab investigates the molecular mechanisms used by germ cells to establish and maintain their identity, immortality, and totipotency. They study germ cells in the model organism C. elegans using a wide variety of approaches, including forward genetics, RNAi, imaging, molecular biology, biochemistry, and whole genome microarray-based ..... [More]
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 Regulation of Pre-mRNA Splicing and Post-Transcriptional Regulation by Micro RNAs
Alan Zahler, MCD Biology
The human genome carries the blueprint for the creation of proteins, the molecular machines that carry out most of the work in the body. However, the diversity of the pool of available proteins is greatly enhanced by alterative splicing of our genes. The Zahler laboratory examines the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in order to understand the regulatory mechanisms of this alternative splicing.. [More]
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RNA Catalysis
William Scott, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ribozmes are RNA-based enzymes whose comparatively recent discovery came as major surprize to the scientific community, as it has always been assumed that only proteins could be enzymes. Researchers in the Scott laboratory are trying to understand how ribozymes work, using X-ray crystallography and other biochemical and biophysical techniques. The potential use of ribozymes as therapeutic agents that target RNA viruses (such as HIV) and pathological mRNAs (such as oncogene transcripts) is well-documented. Although the primary motive for our research is to answer questions of a fundamental scientific nature, it is hoped that the results of these studies will provide practical information to the scientific and medical communities to enable more potent and effective ribozyme-based pharmaceuticals to be developed by others. [More] |
 Genome Bioinformatics: Comparative Sequence Analysis of Mammalian Genomes
David Haussler, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Dr. Haussler's research lies at the interface of mathematics, computer science, and molecular biology. He has focused on computational analysis and classification of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. As a collaborator on the public Human Genome Project, his team posted the first publicly available computational assembly of the human genome sequence on the Internet, and it now maintains UCSC's Genome Browser, which is used extensively in biomedical research. [More]
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 Large Scale Approaches to Study Whole-Genome Biology
Todd Lowe, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Todd Lowe's research group uses a mixture of computational and experimental genomics to identify and characterize non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes and to study the unique biology of Archaeal “extremophiles” – microbes that live at the edge of the limits of life. His team has created several classes of non-coding RNAs gene-finders, and has created full-genome DNA microarrays for two different hyperthermophile species to study ancient forms of respiration and strategies for thermo-tolerance. The group has also created a genome browser and functional genomics resource for all archaeal and extremophile species (archaea.ucsc.edu), now funded by the NSF. [More]
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