Dr. Auinash Kalsotra
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
“Functional impact of post-transcriptional gene networks in health and disease”
For many genes, steady state messenger (m)RNA levels provide an inaccurate reflection of the extent to which they are translated into proteins. This seminar will focus on two separate post-transcriptional mechanisms that affect the “quality” and “quantity” of mRNAs produced in a cell-type-specific manner. First, I will describe identification of a conserved alternative postnatal splicing program that supports terminal differentiation, functional competence, and postnatal maturation of hepatocytes. Second, I will define a new gene regulatory mechanism in cardiomyocytes controlling polyadenylation and translation of an RNA binding protein that serves a central role in stimulating cardiac hypertrophy, a condition involved in number of heart diseases.
