EAGER: Small RNAs as hormones

University Of California-San Francisco, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

The central question that will be investigated in this project is whether a small RNA produced by one cell can influence gene expression in a different cell. Recently, small RNAs have been described that have the potential to specifically turn off their own genes. To date, this gene-silencing activity has only been observed within the cell that produces the RNA. The Principal Investigator proposes the very novel idea that small RNAs produced in odor-adapted neurons may act as hormones to elicit responses in the gonads. The expectation is that odor sensory neurons will adapt to odors by producing small RNAs that shut down neuron genes that respond to odors and, subsequently, these small RNAs will be released from neuronal cells and traffic to the gonad where they will induce changes that preempt expression of specific genes. The transparent nematode C. elegans with its powerful cell biology and genetics will serve as the model for these studies. Genetic disruption of small RNA secretion and signaling will be carried out to determine the effect of these small RNAs on tissues distant from the site of their production. The finding of such high content messengers would impact all aspects of biology as it would reveal for the first time that RNA can act as a hormone, and with such a capacity, could provide unprecedented specificity to the process of wide-spread down regulation of genes. The broader impacts of this work will involve training high school and Masters students, including students from underpriveleged families, in state of the art research. Specifically, students will be trained in a one-on one setting to design, execute, document and ultimately publish their work. This highly innovative and original research has great potential to add another dimension to our understanding of cell-cell communication networks that influence gene regulation in multicellular organisms.