The RNA Transcript, July 27, 2020
The  RNA Skill Share  is a publicly accessible directory of researchers who have knowledge and expertise they are willing to share, free of charge, to enhance research efforts across the RNA scientific community.

Current Skill Share Topics

The University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine regroups over 150 faculty members and their labs across seven Schools and Colleges on the Ann Arbor campus. We're pleased to feature these outstanding scientists and colleagues in our weekly news.
Assistant Professor
Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics
and Human Genetics, Medical School
Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 4:00–5:00 pm | RNA Collaborative Seminar Series

Prospects for hyper-individualized RNA medicines

A specialized post-transcriptional program in chemoresistant, quiescent cancer cells

Moderator: Frank Slack, Ph.D. 
July 29–30, 2020, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm EDT | The International Society of RNA Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine (ISRNN)
invites you to attend a two-day online webinar series from Wednesday, July 29 to Thursday, July 30, 2020, led by Dr. Peixuan Guo and Dr. Kirill Afonin of ISRNN. The series will host presentations from lead researchers around the world on their latest findings in nucleic acid nanotechnology and nanomedicine.
We aim for this series to communicate the latest approaches in the field, drive productive and novel collaborations, and serve as an accessible learning opportunity for any who may be interested.

All attendance is welcome, even if just for a topic of your interest. The talks will be hosted on Webex under meeting number 120 507 4052, or you can click here to join in at the set time.
Friday, August 8, 2020, 11:00 am–12:00 noon CST | MD Anderson Center

Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis of Tumor Immune Microenvironment
Linghua Wang, Ph.D., Genomic Medicine


Our members' publications are available through Altmetric. Five queries are currently available: "RNA," "microRNA," "Transcriptome," "Translation," and "Molecule." Please make sure to have at least one of these key words in your title or abstract. Below are highlights from the last four weeks.
Identification of the initial nucleocapsid recognition element in the HIV-1 RNA packaging signal
Pengfei Ding, Siarhei Kharytonchyk, Alexis Waller, Ugonna Mbaekwe, SapnaBasappa, Nansen Kuo, Heather M. Frank, Christina Quasney, Aaron Kidane, Canessa Swanson, Verna Van, 
Mitali Sarkar, Emily Cannistraci, RidhiChaudhary, Hana Flores, Alice Telesnitsky, Michael F. Summers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Jul 2020, 202008519; 

Our findings suggest a sequential NC binding mechanism for Gag-genome assembly and identify a potential RNA Achilles’ heel to which HIV therapeutics may be targeted.
Coupling of translation quality control and mRNA targeting to stress granules

Using single mRNA imaging, we discovered ribosomes stall on some mRNAs during arsenite stress, and the release of transcripts from stalled ribosomes for their partitioning into stress granules requires the activities of VCP, components of the ribosome-associated quality control (RQC) complex, and the proteasome. This is an unexpected contribution of the RQC system in releasing mRNAs from translation under stress, thus identifying a new type of stress-activated RQC (saRQC) distinct from canonical RQC pathways in mRNA substrates, cellular context, and mRNA fate.
Next-generation RNA Sequencing–based Biomarker Characterization of Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma and Related Oncocytic Neoplasms
Stephanie L. Skala, Xiaoming Wang, Yuping Zhang, Rahul Mannan, Lisha Wang, Sathiya P. Narayanan, Pankaj Vats, Fengyun Su, Jin Chen, Xuhong Cao, Javed Siddiqui, Pedram Argani, Marcin P. Cieslik, Thomas J. Giordano, Arul M. Chinnaiyan, Saravana M. Dhanasekaran, Rohit Mehra, 0302-2838/© 2020 European Association of Urology,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2020.03.003  

Conclusions: We demonstrate a pipeline for the identification and validation of RCC subtype– specific biomarkers that can aid in the confirmation of cell of origin and may facilitate accurate classification and diagnosis of renal tumors. 
Postdoctoral and Staff Scientist Positions at the Alumkal Lab at the University of Michigan
Joshi Alumkal's lab is recruiting a post-doc and a staff scientist focused on transcriptional regulation and lineage plasticity/drug resistance in prostate cancer. The positions are intended for highly-motivated individuals with an M.D. and/or Ph.D. with expertise in cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, or epigenetics. Experience with cancer research is preferred.
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