Centre for Cancer Research

RNA-binding proteins

Scientists in the Centre for Cancer Research are studying the innate immune response to RNA from exogenous sources, indicative of a viral infection, and endogenous sources occurring as part of normal cell metabolism or disease processes.  Proteins that encode RNA-binding motifs mediate the cells response to RNA.  Scientists are focusing on four RNA receptors: the serine / threonine protein kinase PKR, and three helicases RIG-I, IFIH1, and RHA that make up just a small part of the proteins encoded in the human genome. These intracellular sensors bind to RNA, are activated, then trigger cell signaling pathways that elicit transcriptional responses to regulate cell proliferation and cell death (apoptosis). 

These responses are crucial to combat viral infection as well as to modulating subsequent adaptive immune responses important in autoimmune diseases and other inflammatory conditions that are pivotal in, among many conditions, cancer development and progression.

Scientists are also conducting structural and functional studies of RNA-binding proteins to decipher their role in the response to stress and disease processes.