Skip to content

Narrow screen resolution Wide screen resolution Increase font size Decrease font size Default font size
You are here: Home arrow Research arrow Transcriptomics arrow RNA Biology
RNA Biology

Approximately 50 years have passed since the establishment of the central dogma of genetic code - the concept of information flow of DNA→ RNA→ protein. During this period, the partial modification of the flow has been requested such as due to the discovery of reverse transcriptase. Nontheless, RNA is mostly regarded as the information transmitter and it is considered that the rough scheme of the concept of the central dogma has remained unchanged. However, subsequent to the genome project, the elucidation of non-coding RNA (untranslated RNA) during these 5 years has seemingly entrenched the concept of RNA as more active and functional molecules.

We are focused on three major topics: (1) Study on non-coding RNAs such as small RNAs and microRNAs, (2) Study on novel RNA-binding proteins and RNA-related enzymes, and (3) Molecular evolutionary analysis of non-coding RNAs, regulatory sequences in certain mRNAs or RNA-related proteins. We are investigating these studies both experimentally (Molecular biology) and theoretically (Bioinformatics).

Because many of reports suggested that regulations at the RNA level involved in cell growth and development, we believe that our study will provide not only fundamental findings in basic science but also applications on medical sciences, including studies on cancer and leukemia, RNA viruses such as HIV and HCV, and Human growth and ageing.

Image

Fig. An example of RNA-protein interaction. Pf-Thy1is a heatstable RNA-binding protein. Ref: Kanai, A. et al.Biochemical Journal (2006).