Investigating how RNA binding proteins recognise and chaperone RNA in health and disease. From mRNA that encodes protein to catalytic RNA at the heart of machines such as the ribosome, the single stranded nature of RNA is fundamental to its versatility. However, this also renders RNA susceptible to misfolding. We use nuclear magnetic resonance and other biophysical techniques to study the detailed mechanisms by which proteins bind and guide RNA structures. Understanding these fundamental properties can lead to new insights into how aberrant RNA-protein interactions contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Fionna Loughlin is a research associate in the Wilce laboratory at Monash University. She obtained her PhD from the University of Sydney following and was awarded an ETH fellowship to undertake postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Her work probes the biomolecular mechanisms of RNA binding proteins within the life cycle of RNA during development and disease including cancer and neurodegeneration. Biochemistry and NMR spectroscopy are her main tools, and her work has been published in PNAS, NSMB and Mol Cell.