NCI RNA Biology Initiative
NCI RNA Biology Initiative
About
The mission of the NCI RNA Biology Initiative is to create an interdisciplinary environment to facilitate the rapid exchange of information and expertise on the structure, function and biological roles of RNA and to apply our collective knowledge to develop new diagnostics and therapies. To achieve our mission, we work to foster synergistic interactions amongst NCI and NIH intramural investigators and between our investigators and the larger RNA Community. The RNA Biology Initiative is open to all NCI investigators with an interest in the biology of RNA.
Activities of the RNA Biology Initiative include:
- development of technology resources for the RNA community
- organization of scientific meetings to promote interactions within NCI, NIH and with the extramural community
- development and implementation of collaborative projects and new research directions
- training and supporting the next generation of NCI RNA biologists
Publications
Selected Research Publications by Members
2023
- Sala L, Kumar M, Prajapat M, Chandrasekhar S, Cosby RL, La Rocca G, Macfarlan TS, Awasthi P, Chari R, Kruhlak M, Vidigal JA. AGO2 silences mobile transposons in the nucleus of quiescent cells. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2023 Dec;30(12):1985-1995. doi: 10.1038/s41594-023-01151-z. Epub 2023 Nov 20. PMID: 37985687.
- Luo X, Zhang A, Tai CH, Chen J, Majdalani N, Storz G, Gottesman S. An acetyltranferase moonlights as a regulator of the RNA binding repertoire of the RNA chaperone Hfq in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Dec 5;120(49):e2311509120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2311509120. Epub 2023 Nov 27. PMID: 38011569; PMCID: PMC10710024.
- Rosati M, Terpos E, Homan P, Bergamaschi C, Karaliota S, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Devasundaram S, Bear J, Burns R, Bagratuni T, Trougakos IP, Dimopoulos MA, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. Rapid transient and longer-lasting innate cytokine changes associated with adaptive immunity after repeated SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinations. Front Immunol. 2023 Nov 27;14:1292568. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1292568. PMID: 38090597; PMCID: PMC10711274.
- Majerciak V, Zhou T, Kruhlak MJ, Zheng ZM. RNA helicase DDX6 and scaffold protein GW182 in P-bodies promote biogenesis of stress granules. Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Sep 22;51(17):9337-9355. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad585. PMID: 37427791; PMCID: PMC10516652.
- Gasparski AN, Moissoglu K, Pallikkuth S, Meydan S, Guydosh NR, Mili S. mRNA location and translation rate determine protein targeting to dual destinations. Mol Cell. 2023 Aug 3;83(15):2726-2738.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.036. Epub 2023 Jul 27. PMID: 37506697; PMCID: PMC10530421.
- Majdalani N, Chattopadhyay M, Keller C, Gottesman S. Lack of polyamines leads to cotranslational degradation of the general stress factor RpoS in Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 2023 Aug;299(8):104943. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104943. Epub 2023 Jun 19. PMID: 37343699; PMCID: PMC10372455.
- Yakhnin AV, Bubunenko M, Mandell ZF, Lubkowska L, Husher S, Babitzke P, Kashlev M. Robust regulation of transcription pausing in Escherichia coli by the ubiquitous elongation factor NusG. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jun 13;120(24):e2221114120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2221114120. Epub 2023 Jun 5. PMID: 37276387; PMCID: PMC10268239.
- Nikolaitchik OA, Islam S, Kitzrow JP, Duchon A, Cheng Z, Liu Y, Rawson JMO, Shao W, Nikolaitchik M, Kearney MF, Maldarelli F, Musier-Forsyth K, Pathak VK, Hu WS. HIV-1 usurps transcription start site heterogeneity of host RNA polymerase II to maximize replication fitness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jun 6;120(23):e2305103120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2305103120. Epub 2023 May 30. PMID: 37252967; PMCID: PMC10266039.
- Chen X, Wolin SL. Transfer RNA halves are found as nicked tRNAs in cells: evidence that nicked tRNAs regulate expression of an RNA repair operon. RNA. 2023 May;29(5):620-629. doi: 10.1261/rna.079575.122. Epub 2023 Feb 13. PMID: 36781286; PMCID: PMC10159003.
- Devasundaram S, Terpos E, Rosati M, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Bear J, Burns R, Skourti S, Malandrakis P, Trougakos IP, Dimopoulos MA, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. XBB.1.5 neutralizing antibodies upon bivalent COVID-19 vaccination are similar to XBB but lower than BQ.1.1. Am J Hematol. 2023 May;98(5):E123-E126. doi: 10.1002/ajh.26887. Epub 2023 Mar 7. PMID: 36810791; PMCID: PMC10116518.
- Muys BR, Shrestha RL, Anastasakis DG, Pongor L, Li XL, Grammatikakis I, Polash A, Chari R, Gorospe M, Harris CC, Aladjem MI, Basrai MA, Hafner M, Lal A. Matrin3 regulates mitotic spindle dynamics by controlling alternative splicing of CDC14B. Cell Rep. 2023 Mar 28;42(3):112260. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112260. Epub 2023 Mar 15. PMID: 36924503; PMCID: PMC10132239.
- Kim J, Kim H, Lee MS, Lee H, Kim YJ, Lee WY, Yun SH, Kim HC, Hong HK, Hannenhalli S, Cho YB, Park D, Choi SS. Transcriptomes of the tumor-adjacent normal tissues are more informative than tumors in predicting recurrence in colorectal cancer patients. J Transl Med. 2023 Mar 21;21(1):209. doi: 10.1186/s12967-023-04053-2. Erratum in: J Transl Med. 2023 May 5;21(1):304. PMID: 36941605; PMCID: PMC10029176.
- Renner N, Kleinpeter A, Mallery DL, Albecka A, Rifat Faysal KM, Böcking T, Saiardi A, Freed EO, James LC. HIV-1 is dependent on its immature lattice to recruit IP6 for mature capsid assembly. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2023 Mar;30(3):370-382. doi: 10.1038/s41594-022-00887-4. Epub 2023 Jan 9. PMID: 36624347; PMCID: PMC7614341.
- Yu L, Majerciak V, Jia R, Zheng ZM. Revisiting and corrections to the annotated SRSF3 (SRp20) gene structure and RefSeq sequences from the human and mouse genomes. Cell Insight. 2023 Feb 26;2(2):100089. doi: 10.1016/j.cellin.2023.100089. PMID: 37193066; PMCID: PMC10134197.
- Olenginski LT, Kasprzak WK, Attionu SK, Shapiro BA, Dayie TK. Virtual Screening of Hepatitis B Virus Pre-Genomic RNA as a Novel Therapeutic Target. Molecules. 2023 Feb 14;28(4):1803. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041803. PMID: 36838792; PMCID: PMC9963113.
- Tagawa T, Oh D, Dremel S, Mahesh G, Koparde VN, Duncan G, Andresson T, Ziegelbauer JM. A virus-induced circular RNA maintains latent infection of Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Feb 7;120(6):e2212864120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2212864120. Epub 2023 Feb 1. PMID: 36724259; PMCID: PMC9963958.
- Chung C, Verheijen BM, Zhang X, Huang B, Coakley A, McGann E, Wade E, Dinep-Schneider O, LaGosh J, Anagnostou ME, Simpson S, Thomas K, Ernst M, Rattray A, Lynch M, Kashlev M, Benayoun BA, Li Z, Strathern J, Gout JF, Vermulst M. The fidelity of transcription in human cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 31;120(5):e2210038120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2210038120. Epub 2023 Jan 25. PMID: 36696440; PMCID: PMC9945944.
- Schneider TD. Generalizing the isothermal efficiency by using Gaussian distributions. PLoS One. 2023 Jan 10;18(1):e0279758. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279758. PMID: 36626367; PMCID: PMC9831307.
Other Member Publications
Job Vacancies
CCR has opportunities for those interested in pursuing a career in RNA biology research, including laboratory-based fellowships for postbaccalaureate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. CCR fellows and faculty have access to unique resources, including cutting-edge technologies and cores, a highly collaborative environment of top researchers, awards for outstanding postdocs and scientific symposia and lectures featuring world renowned experts.
News
Awards
Congratulations to the 2023 NCI RNA Biology Initiative Retreat Poster Award Winners:
- Christina Fitzsimmons (Batista Lab, Laboratory of Cell Biology)
- Yannis Grammatikakis (Lal Lab, Cancer Genetics Branch)
- Xing Luo (Gottesman Lab, Laboratory of Molecular Biology)
Tom Misteli received the 2023 E.B. Wilson Medal from the American Society of Cell Biology
Sandra Wolin has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.
The NCI RNA Biology Initiative received the 2022 NCI Director's Champion Award "for creating an environment that facilitates the exchange of information on the biological and therapeutic roles of RNA and supports tenure-track and trainee RNA scientists."
Sandra Wolin received the 2021 Sandra K. Masur Senior Leadership Award from the American Society of Cell Biology
Wei-Shau Hu received the 2021 Distinguished Career Award from the Ohio State University Center for Retrovirus Research
Jordan Meier received the 2021 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry
Wei-Shau Hu was elected 2021 Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology
Eric Freed received the 2020 Distinguished Career Award from the Ohio State University Center for Retrovirus Research
Events
2024 NCI RNA Biology Initiative Workshop: RNA Therapeutics
This one-day workshop will bring together leaders from industry, academia, and government with expertise in therapeutic oligonucleotides, delivery, small molecules, and preclinical development of novel RNA-based and RNA-targeted therapies.
NCI Shady Grove Campus
https://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/events/conferences/2024NCIRNAWORKSHOP
2025 RNA Biology Symposium
This two-day symposium is hosted by the NCI RNA Biology Initiative and will include internal and external speakers. It offers the opportunity to hear the latest RNA research, to interact with leading figures in the field, and to discuss the use and implications of these advances for clinical applications.
Natcher, NIH campus
https://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/events/conferences/2025NCIRNA
Gallery
The NCI RNA Biology Retreat "Best Poster Award" winners with the Retreat organizers
The NCI RNA Biology Retreat Keynote given by Kate Meyer, Ph.D.
The 2023 RNA Day Picnic hosted by the NCI RNA Biology Initiative
The NCI RNA Biology Initiative 2023 Symposium
The NCI RNA Biology Initiative 2023 Symposium
The NCI RNA Biology Initiative 2023 Symposium
Contacts
Interesting in Joining?
If you are an NCI Principal Investigator and are interested in joining the NCI RNA Biology Initiative, or have questions about the site, please contact Sandra Wolin, Meredith Metzger or any member of the Steering Committee.
All others are welcome to join the NCI RNA Biology listserv. Submit your subscription request here.
