POWRE: RNA Editing in Drosophila 4f-rnp

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH

Investigators

Abstract

0074877 Petschek--This project focuses on developing a system to study the mechanism of the presumed A-to-I base modification RNA editing in messenger RNA molecules expressed by the Drosophila 4f-rnp gene. 4f-rnp is the first example of a gene in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster to exhibit editing of its messenger RNA molecules. RNA editing is a process that alters the sequence of an RNA molecule from that encoded in the genomic DNA by the insertion, deletion and/or substitution of nucleotides. In other systems where RNA editing occurs, these nucleotide changes serve to increase the variety of protein products encoded by a gene. The significance of this discovery in Drosophila is that it is a model organism where genetic analysis can be applied to study the mechanism that carries out RNA editing, and how this process is regulated. Further, because many genes and cellular processes that occur in Drosophila are conserved in humans and other higher organisms, knowledge gained about editing in Drosophila can be applied to other more complex eukaryotes. The specific objectives of the research are (1) to document the presence of inosine in edited 4f-rnp transcripts expressed in the Drosophila nucleus, (2) to physically map the limits of potential antisense RNA molecules expressed by the complementary DNA strand of 4f-rnp that could direct editing of 4f-rnp, and (3) to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of 4F-RNP protein products during fly development. The principal investigator will use this POWRE award to learn new methodologies to advance her research program, and to make her more competitive for a faculty or research-related position as an independent scientist.