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Samuel I. Gunderson
Associate Professor
Rutgers University
Mol. Bio. & Biochemistry
Nelson Lab. Room A320
Piscataway. NJ 08854
(732) 445-1016. 1017
FAX - 4213
gunderson@biology.rutgers.edu |
Regulation of polyadenylation and splicing
of mRNA. RNA-protein interactions. bioinformatics of gene
expression
Our goal is to understand the basic machinery
which processes pre-mRNA in the nucleus and apply that understanding towards
analysis of how pre-mRNA processing is regulated. Unlike initiation of
transcription. which is essentially an on-off type of switch. post-transcriptional control of gene expression allows mammalian cells to
produce. from a single transcription event. an enormous variety of protein
products. This is because a single pre-mRNA transcript can be alternatively
spliced and/or polyadenylated resulting in different combinations of exons being
assembled into a mature mRNA. Additional levels of control are also possible
since alternative processing of pre-mRNAs can exclude or include RNA sequence
elements which differentially regulate mRNA stability. localization and
translational efficiency. Alterations and errors of pre-mRNA processing can lead
to aberrant gene expression and disease. Both pre-mRNA and mRNA have been the
primary targets for therapeutic methods based on antisense RNA and ribozyme
technologies. By understanding the mechanisms underlying these processes we will
contribute towards improving these therapies.
Because lower. single-cell eukaryotes rarely regulate or alternatively process
their pre-mRNAs we focus nearly exclusively on mammalian systems. Methodologies
include both biochemical. bioinformatic and reconstitution analysis coupled with
studies in tissue culture cells. The goal is to identify both cis-acting RNA
sequence elements as well as trans-acting protein factors and understand how
they combine to result in regulated pre-mRNA processing. Additionally. we
perform extensive biochemical analysis of RNA-protein interactions.
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