Splicing and Transcription

Dr. Mukulika Ray

Diversity in RNA molecules shape the tissue and sex specific variation in a living organism. It is intriguing to know how RNA diversity is initiated during early embryonic development and later maintained as well as modified. Maternal transcription factors are most likely to play an important role in shaping the early embryonic transcriptome. In the Larschan Lab, we study one such maternal transcription factor CLAMP which is a chromatin binding protein acting as a pioneer factor involved in opening of closed chromatin and activating transcription. I am focusing on its role in regulating RNA processing during the earliest stages of embryonic development. Since post transcriptional modification to the RNA transcripts is often thought to go hand in hand with transcription, I am trying to figure out how different transcription factors and associated proteins and RNA interact to bring about this diversification.

RNA processing plays a vital role not only during development for proper biological functions but is also involved in many disease pathogenesis especially those related to the nervous system.  Brain is a hub for wide range of RNA processing events that show cell, stage and sex specific variation. I am interested to study specially how sex specific variation is regulated in the CNS since many neurological disorders show difference in severity between the sexes.

How cellular changes and environmental cues bring about chromatin modification and these changes in turn manifest into physiological changes in an organism are certain intriguing questions in the field of epigenetics and chromatin biology. One of the projects I am involved in at Larschan lab aims towards answering questions related to changes in chromatin after heat stress conditions that help the organism to adapt to adverse conditions like thermal stress.