Congratulations to 2018 in Biochemistry Graduates!
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Pictured are Anne Cheng, Venice Magunga, and Anmol Almast following the Arts, Sciences & Engineering commencement ceremony Sunday. Photo reproduced from 5-21-18 issue of @Rochester
The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics congratulates the 20 young men and women who received their B.S. in Biochemistry this weekend. We look forward to their continued success in their future training and careers! In addition to the University-wide celebration, these graduates received their diplomas at a ceremony in The Class of ’62 Auditorium, attended by their families, friends, and faculty from the many departments involved in their training. The ceremony was officiated by Beth Grayhack, Ph.D., Director of the Undergraduate Program (Biochemistry and Biophysics), and was enriched by addresses from Sina Ghaemmaghami, Ph.D. (Biology) and Mark Dumont (Biochemistry and Biophysics).
Friday, March 23, 2018
Cancer is a group of diseases in which the body’s cells divide uncontrollably and invade nearby tissues. Scientists at Wilmot Cancer Institute and the University of Rochester’s Center for RNA Biology are working to understand more about how and why this happens.
One piece of the puzzle they’re studying is ribonucleic acid, or RNA, which is found in all cells. RNA is made in the nucleus of a cell from our DNA, which holds the instruction manual for life. RNA puts those instructions into action.
RNA comes in many forms. One form, called messenger RNA (mRNA), carries those instructions out of the nucleus to the ribosomes, where proteins are made. These proteins are essential for functions ranging from digestion to protecting us from disease. If the mRNA has a bad copy of instructions, then either a faulty protein or no protein is created, leading to diseases like cancer.
Understanding the quality-control system
Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D., director of the Center for RNA Biology, studies a quality control process that blocks cells from making faulty proteins. Called nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), this process comes into play when mRNA has a set of instructions with a mistake that will lead to short or incomplete proteins. NMD acts like a set of factory inspectors that find and destroy this mRNA before the faulty proteins can be made.
Sometimes, though, NMD doesn’t catch the mistakes and harmful proteins are made. This process plays a part in one-third of all inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, and one-third of all acquired diseases, including a number of cancers.
One reason is that tumors can influence how these inspectors work. Maquat and her team are looking for ways to stop tumors from interfering with NMD with the goal of finding new ways to treat cancer.
Slowing cancer’s growth
A team from Maquat’s lab has also identified a protein called Tudor-SN that is important as cells prepare to divide. This protein controls many microRNAs, molecules that are very small RNAs that control the expression of tens of thousands of genes.
The scientists found that when Tudor-SN is removed from human cells, levels of hundreds of microRNAs go up, putting the brakes on genes that encourage cell growth. This slows down the process of cell division known as the cell cycle, which goes awry in cancer.
Maquat and Reyad A. Elbarbary, Ph.D., a former post-doctoral fellow in Maquat’s lab, have filed a patent application for methods that target Tudor-SN for the treatment and prevention of cancer. They continue to study how Tudor-SN works in concert with other molecules and proteins so that scientists can identify the most appropriate drugs to target it.
Other avenues
Scientists at the Center for RNA Biology are also looking at RNA’s other roles in cancer to find new treatment strategies. For example, Mitchell O’Connell, Ph.D., is studying how microRNAs can interfere with the way genes are expressed and lead to cancer. He and his team are using the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR, which he has adapted to edit RNA, to learn more about the proteins involved in this process.
Yi-Tao Yu, Ph.D., and his team are studying various ways to modify mRNA so that it can override mistakes in genetic instructions. Sometimes there’s a premature stop signal that orders a cell to stop reading the genetic instructions in mRNA partway through the process, resulting in an incomplete protein. The Yu lab is working to alter mRNA in ways that turn “stop” signals into “go” signals, creating full length proteins and preventing diseases like cancer.
The study of RNA biology is allowing scientists and physicians to explore entirely new treatment strategies for cancer and a wide range of other genetic and acquired disorders.
Learn more about the work being done at the Center for RNA Biology.
By Lydia Fernandez
Read More: Looking to RNA for Answers
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
The Wiley Foundation today announced the 17th annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences will be awarded to Lynne E. Maquat for elucidating the mechanism of nonsense-mediated messenger RNA decay, a fundamental process whereby cells remove defective transcripts that can encode toxic proteins.
Dr. Maquat is a Professor at the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Founding Director of the Center for RNA Biology: From Genome to Therapeutics, the Founding Chair of the University of Rochester Graduate Women in Science, and the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.
“The 2018 Wiley Prize honors Dr. Maquat, whose work illuminated how our cells prevent production of toxic proteins by removing defective messenger RNAs," said Dr. Titia de Lange, chairperson of the awards jury for the Wiley Prize at the Rockefeller University in New York City.
“The Wiley Foundation honors research that champions novel approaches and challenges accepted thinking in the biomedical sciences. The work of the 2018 Wiley Prize recipient Lynne Maquat truly upholds this mission,” said Deborah Wiley, Chair of the Wiley Foundation. “We are pleased to highlight the impact that her research on messenger RNA decay pathways has had in advancing our knowledge of the cellular cause of many human diseases.”
Read More: Maquat Wins 17th Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical SciencesNew Issue of Opportunities to Explore - February 12-16, 2018
Friday, February 9, 2018
This week there is a workshop on Navigating a career fair/expo, the PDA monthly meeting, a career expo on river campus and workshops from Future Faculty, CIRTL and GWIS. The week ends with a PONS luncheon and a Thinkers and Drinkers meeting
Looking further ahead, Stephen Tajc provides a look at his career in URBEST's series. Workshops on job descriptions and handling difficult conversations are available and CIRTL provides several events throughout the month. All this and more in the latest issue of OTE!
Latest Issue of Opportunities to Explore - February 12-16, 2018