Profile
Back to DirectoryPh.D. – (Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 2011) Yale University
M.S. – (Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 2007) Yale University
B.S. – (Biochemistry, 2005) Brigham Young University
Regulation of Gene Expression
BIOL 111 (Introductory Molecular Biology), 221 (Genetics), 406 (Biochemistry II), 420 (Molecular Biology), 520 (Molecular Genetics)
My laboratory has focused on the regulation of gene expression that is mediated by small RNA molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs). The miRNA family of genes function by base-pairing with messenger RNA (mRNA) targets and preventing those targets from being translated into protein. This process results in the silencing of target genes, and has been demonstrated in most eukaryotic organisms.
The base-pairing of miRNAs to target mRNAs is typically imperfect in nature, a phenomenon that allows a single miRNA to silence many targets of similar (albeit not identical) sequence. However, this imperfect base-pairing between miRNAs and their targets makes computational predictions of miRNA:target interactions based soley on sequence very undependable. As such, computer-generated predictions of miRNA:target interactions must be validated experimentally.
We are trying to develop a complete, C. elegans miRNA:target “interactome” that fully maps and accurately accounts for all of the miRNA:target interactions in this simple organism. We hope that by doing so, we will come to fully understand the role of miRNAs in regulating gene expression systemically and the cellular and physiological effects of miRNA-mediated regulation on development and homeostasis.
Turner, M.J.; Slack, F.J. Transcriptional control of microRNA expression in C. elegans: promoting better understanding. RNA Biol., 6, 2009, pg. 49-53.
Inukai, S.; Turner, M.J.; de Lencastre, A.; Slack, F.J. Novel MicroRNAs Differentially Expressed during Aging in the Mouse Brain. PloS One, 7, 2012, e40028
Turner, M.J.; Jiao, A.L.; Slack, F.J. Autoregulation of lin-4 microRNA transcription by RNA activation (RNAa) in C. elegans. Cell Cycle, 13(5), 2014, pg. 772-781.
Turner, M.J.; Cox, J.K.; Spellman, A.C.; Stahl, C.; Bavari, S. Avoidance Behaviors Independent of Innate-Immune Signaling Seen in C. elegans Challenged with Bacillus anthracis. Dev. Comp. Immunol., 2019, Epub ahead of publication, doi:10.1016/j.dci.2019.103453.