Protein-mRNA interactions and their role in post-transcriptional regulation

This proposal is to investigate the molecular basis of mRNA sequence recognition by a set of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. These proteins include AUF1 and TTP, involved in mRNA degradation, HuR and PCBP that provide mRNA stability and TIA proteins that transiently repress translation. Their mRNA targets will be directly compared using an integrated in vivo, in vitro, structural and bioinformatic approach to delineate the rules of mRNA recognition. This study will contribute to our understanding of molecular recognition and ultimately allow us to predict the occurrence RBP regulation impacting on protein production, given a particular mRNA sequence.