Apoptosis regulation by RNA binding proteins

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All cells have the ability to self-destruct, a process called apoptosis. Apoptosis is controlled by various cellular factors, termed proteins, that are produced when needed - for instance when cells are starved of the nutrients upon which they depend for survival. These apoptosis-related proteins work in many different ways to shrink the cell, break it into pieces and ensure that the remnants are recycled by neighbouring, healthy cells. How the apoptosis-related proteins are triggered to carry out these tasks is an active area of research within the scientific community, and although many mechanisms have been identified, new ones are regularly emerging. We are interested in investigating how one potential apoptosis-controlling protein, RBM10, works. We propose that RBM10 is capable of boosting apoptosis and that it does this by changing the structure of various cellular factors, thereby changing their function. We plan to examine if and how RBM10 controls apoptosis, in the hopes of better understanding how cells, in general, regulate this very important process. Since the control of cell death is fundamental to many - if not all - other processes within living organisms, the results of the proposed work have the potential to impact on a wide range of research areas.