Analysis of endogenous small RNA pathways in C. elegans

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Units of DNA, genes, are the blueprints that encode for proteins, which are the building blocks and machinery of the cell. Messenger RNA (mRNA) relays the genetic information from gene to protein. Not all genes and their corresponding proteins are active in all cells, rather different cells "express" a different array of genes and proteins. The activity of a particular gene can be regulated at the level of mRNA production or at the level of protein production. It has recently become apparent that new mechanisms involving small RNAs function to regulate gene activity at both the level of mRNA production and mRNA stability. We are just beginning to understand the various mechanisms by which small RNAs can regulate gene activity. We have uncovered a role for small RNAs in regulating a cellular process often disrupted in human cancers, the Ras signal transduction pathway. However, we do not know the target or the mechanism of this small RNA. Our lab will determine how theses small RNAs regulate Ras signaling, as well as potential identify new proteins important for small RNA function and uncover the potentially novel mechanism by which these small RNAs regulate gene activity.