Research Group RNA-Protein Complexes and Cell Proliferation

Once per cell cycle, cells face the challenging task of accurately segregating their chromosomes into two sets that will be passed on to their daughter cells. Although cell division is highly regulated, errors may occur, leading to either cell death or the genome instability that underlies many human diseases. Despite significant advances in cell biology, the complex processes that regulate and drive cell division are still not fully understood, creating opportunities for discoveries related to the causes and vulnerabilities of highly proliferative diseases such as cancer.
RNA-protein complexes have emerged as critical regulatory elements in multiple key cellular processes with significant relevance to health and disease, making them attractive targets for research. Our current projects address the pivotal role of RNA and RNA-protein complexes in orchestrating the functional assembly of critical mitotic structures for the error-free completion of cell division. By integrating the RNA component, our approach adds a new level of complexity to the analysis of key events in this fundamental phase of the cell cycle.
Our approach is characterized by its interdisciplinary and collaborative nature, encompassing a diverse spectrum of methodologies. These include immunoprecipitation to probe protein-protein interactions, UV crosslinking and immunoprecipitation (iCLIP)-based approaches to investigate protein-RNA interactions, high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic analyses to identify interacting RNA transcripts, and confocal microscopy imaging to localize proteins, RNAs and their interactions.
In addition to the impact on our basic understanding of cell division, the newly acquired knowledge has great potential to be translated into innovative cancer therapy strategies by targeting yet unexplored cellular functions associated with specific RNA-protein interactions.