Imaging the life and death of mRNAs in single cells

Jeffrey Chao PhD
Senior Group Leader
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Basel, Switzerland

This conference is organized by Éric Lécuyer. It is part of the 2021-2022 IRCM conference calendar. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference series will be presented on Zoom.

Zoom Link : https://zoom.us/j/95269762104
ID : 952 6976 2104
Code : 476372

About the conference:
The relationship between mRNA translation and decay is incompletely understood, with conflicting reports suggesting that translation can either promote decay or stabilize mRNAs. The effect of translation on mRNA decay has mainly been studied using ensemble measurements and global inhibitors of transcription and translation, which can mask the underlying mechanisms. We developed a single-molecule imaging approach to control the translation of a specific transcript that enabled simultaneous measurement of translation and mRNA decay. Our results demonstrate that mRNAs undergoing translation are degraded faster than non-translating ones, although with slower kinetics than degradation of transcripts targeted by NMD. Furthermore, our results indicate that miRNAs mediate efficient degradation of both translating and non-translating target mRNAs. Single-molecule measurements of translation and decay reveal a predominant role of mRNA decay in miRNA-mediated regulation. Simultaneous visualization of translation and decay on single mRNAs provides a framework to study how these processes are interconnected in cells.

About Jeffrey Chao:
Dr. Jeffrey A. Chao pursued his postdoctoral training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and then joined, in 2013, the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research. His work as a senior group leader aims to describe the dynamics and molecular underpinnings of mRNA regulation, using novel imaging techniques. Dr. Chao became an EMBO Young Investigator in 2017 and is a member of the RNA Society. His research has been published in Cell, Science, Nature Communications, and several other high calibre journals.

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