Description:

RNA modification control protein synthesis in position-specific manners

With more than 150 ribonucleotide modifications in all classes of RNA, the epitranscriptome has become a crucial regulatory layer of gene expression regulation. Although the vast diversity of RNA modifications entails an immense regulatory potential, the physiological function of most RNA modifications remains unknown. The Arango lab works to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which post-transcriptional modifications of RNA regulate mRNA processing, stability, and translation and how this interplay affects cell fate decisions in homeostasis and disease. This seminar will focus on our recent findings that acetylation of cytidines in RNA regulates translation in a position-specific manner and the Arango’s lab ongoing studies to harness the epitranscriptome to control protein synthesis in transcript-specific manners for biotechnological and therapeutic applications.

Dr. Daniel Arango is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. His research program investigates how chemical modifications of RNA regulate protein synthesis and how this interplay affects cell fate decisions such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell death in cancer. Dr. Arango received a B.S. in Biology from Universidad de Antioquia – Colombia, obtained a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from The Ohio State University, and conducted postdoctoral training in RNA biology at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.