Molecular Genetics of Translation Elongation

Overview

Our group is interested in regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and the implications of this for disease. If you look at the transcriptome (population of mRNA molecules) in a particular cell type and compare that to the proteome (population of protein molecules) of the same cells, the two populations differ significantly. This means that the cell is exerting an additional level of control after transcription; this is true in normal conditions but is even more marked in disease states such as cancer.

There are many factors that regulate protein synthesis; we work mainly on those that are involved in translation elongation. These factors can play a key role in different diseases- if we take eEF1A2 as an example, inappropriate expression (i.e. in cell types where it is not normally found) can give rise to cancer, whereas loss of expression can trigger motor neuron degeneration and other hallmarks of motor neuron disease. We are using a variety of systems to understand the biology that underlie these disease states.

Key Publications

Soares, D. C., Barlow, P. N., Newbery, H. J., Porteous, D. J., and Abbott, C. M. (2009) PLoS One 4(7), e6315
Newbery, H. J., Loh, D. H., O'Donoghue, J. E., Tomlinson, V. A., Chau, Y. Y., Boyd, J. A., Bergmann, J. H., Brownstein, D., and Abbott, C. M. (2007) J Biol Chem 282(39), 28951-28959
Tomlinson, V. A., Newbery, H. J., Wray, N. R., Jackson, J., Larionov, A., Miller, W. R., Dixon, J. M., and Abbott, C. M. (2005) BMC Cancer 5, 113

	Introduction Projects Links Publications Contact	Molecular Genetics of Translation Elongation Overview Our group is interested in regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and the implications of this for disease. If you look at the transcriptome (population of mRNA molecules) in a particular cell type and compare that to the proteome (population of protein molecules) of the same cells, the two populations differ significantly. This means that the cell is exerting an additional level of control after transcription; this is true in normal conditions but is even more marked in disease states such as cancer. There are many factors that regulate protein synthesis; we work mainly on those that are involved in translation elongation. These factors can play a key role in different diseases- if we take eEF1A2 as an example, inappropriate expression (i.e. in cell types where it is not normally found) can give rise to cancer, whereas loss of expression can trigger motor neuron degeneration and other hallmarks of motor neuron disease. We are using a variety of systems to understand the biology that underlie these disease states. Key Publications Soares, D. C., Barlow, P. N., Newbery, H. J., Porteous, D. J., and Abbott, C. M. (2009) PLoS One 4(7), e6315 Newbery, H. J., Loh, D. H., O'Donoghue, J. E., Tomlinson, V. A., Chau, Y. Y., Boyd, J. A., Bergmann, J. H., Brownstein, D., and Abbott, C. M. (2007) J Biol Chem 282(39), 28951-28959 Tomlinson, V. A., Newbery, H. J., Wray, N. R., Jackson, J., Larionov, A., Miller, W. R., Dixon, J. M., and Abbott, C. M. (2005) BMC Cancer 5, 113
	Updated: Wed, 22nd September, 2010