Shu-Bing Qian
Cornell University, NY·Biochemistry
In cells with a nucleus, genes are copied into messenger RNA (mRNA) inside the nucleus, and the mRNA is read to build proteins out in the cytoplasm. These two steps, transcription and translation, happen at different times and places, and they are usually thought to work largely on their own.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
ribosome
mRNA translation
transcription
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Identify and map ribosome footprints, short mRNA fragments shielded by ribosomes, that bind chromatin, using the lab's Ezra-seq sequencing method to reveal how translation communicates with transcription in the nucleus.
- Test whether chromatin-associated ribosome footprints change gene activity in a sequence-dependent way, acting as a new type of RNA-based epigenetic regulator.
- Determine whether this ribosome-formed genetic circuit supports genetic robustness and stress adaptation, such as during amino acid starvation when ribosomes pause on mRNAs.
- Design artificial ribosome footprints and test whether they can be used to control gene expression on demand.
More about the research
Yet recent evidence shows that when cells translate faulty mRNAs, they quickly turn up other genes with similar jobs, a backup response called genetic compensation. How the protein-building machinery in the cytoplasm sends a message back to the nucleus is unknown.
Why it matters
Errors in coordinating gene expression can contribute to diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Understanding how stalled ribosomes signal back to the nucleus could reveal a new layer of gene regulation, and designed ribosome footprints may eventually offer a tool for controlling gene expression and new routes toward therapeutics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Fadia Ibrahim
Thomas Jefferson University, PA·Biochemistry
Measure how cellular conditions that stall ribosomes change the mRNA fragments produced by ribothrypsis, using transcriptome-wide sequencing methods that capture both ends of each mRNA.
Crystal Conn
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Biochemistry
Map the post-transcriptional layer of gene expression missing from annotated genomes by cataloging alternative ribosome initiation sites, combining unbiased ribosome sequencing with proteomic profiling to define the full oncogenic proteome including unannotated micropeptides.
Jeffery Coller
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Biochemistry
Determine how the mRNA degradation complex senses ribosome speed as it changes with codon optimality.
The school
Cornell University: 37 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 537 research doctorates a year.
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