Angus M Macnicol
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR·Physiology
The anterior pituitary is a small gland at the base of the brain that acts as the body's hormone control center. Its hormone-making cells can change their identity when the body's needs shift, for example during breastfeeding or when the thyroid is underactive.
- Fields
Physiology
Biochemistry
Genetics
- Topics
anterior pituitary
pituitary plasticity
cell fate
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2029
What they work on
- Determine how the RNA-binding protein Musashi selectively controls the translation of distinct target mRNAs in hormone-producing cells of the adult anterior pituitary.
- Define how Musashi-dependent translational control contributes to changes in pituitary cell fate as hormonal demands shift, and test its relevance to human pituitary mRNAs in health and disease.
- Compare transcriptional and post-transcriptional control without prior assumptions during hypothyroidism and lactation, two drivers of pituitary cell lineage plasticity, considering sex as a variable.
More about the research
How they make these switches is unknown. This project tests whether control of mRNA translation is a key part of the answer. mRNA translation is the step in which cells read messenger RNA (mRNA) to build proteins.
Why it matters
The pituitary hormones that govern fertility and metabolism decline with conditions such as combined pituitary hormone deficiency and with falling estrogen. Falling estrogen contributes to infertility, premature menopause and higher metabolic and cardiovascular risk. Identifying the molecules that control pituitary cell flexibility could provide diagnostic and therapeutic tools, including sex-specific treatments and strategies for pituitary tissue repair.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael D Sheets
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Biology
Define how Bicaudal-C (Bicc1), an RNA-binding protein, selects its target mRNAs, testing whether multiple independent RNA-binding surfaces in its binding domain determine specificity, using RNA-protein biochemistry and genome-wide approaches.
Sohail Khoshnevis
Emory University, GA·Biochemistry
Define the composition and interacting partners of eIF3, a translation-starting protein complex, in different cell types of Candida albicans using biochemical assays and proteomics.
Rachel Niederer
University of Michigan, MI·Biochemistry·Early-career
Directly measure ribosome recruitment on thousands of 5′-UTR sequences, the leader regions of mRNAs, that are used differently in cancer cells, to identify functional RNA elements.
The school
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: 7 labs on PI Pages, $227M a year on research, 40 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.