Cells in tissues exert forces as they squeeze, stretch, flex and pull on each other. A key protein responsible for sensing and withstanding mechanical force are the cadherin family of cell-cell adhesion proteins. Cadherins are essential for the formation and maintenance of tissue and disruption in adhesion result in severe diseases like cancer. My group's research focuses on developing and using ultrasensitive tools to tune cadherin adhesion and to resolve cadherin binding partners. In my talk, I will first describe how biophysical principles can be used to engineer monoclonal antibodies that finetune cadherin adhesion. I will then describe an optogenetic method that we have recently developed for high precision mapping of cadherin interactions in cells.
The role of non-coding small RNAs in physiology and diseases has been studied for decades. In the current project, we explored a group of novel non-coding small RNAs in the setting of myocardial infarction. Small RNA sequencing revealed that a group of non-coding small RNA was highly upregulated in infarct zone of the hearts. Biochemical analysis demonstrated the potential regulatory factor of this upregulation. In addition, tissue specific gene knockout transgenic mice and CRISPR/Cas 13 based RNA editing were used to study the role of these non-coding small RNAs in vitro and in vivo. We hope that our research will shed light on our understanding of molcular events that are associated with myocardial infarction and developing potential treatments for this disease.
Last update: 11/1/2024, Ralf Bundschuh