Main Focus

The mechanisms through which post-transcriptional ribonucleic acid (RNA) modifications regulate the RNA metabolism have attracted increasing attention in recent years. RNA modifications induce structural and functional changes in different RNA species and so far, over 100 different biochemical modifications have been identified. Among their various roles, RNA modifications are thought to fine tune gene-expression by changing splicing events and modifying the translation efficiency of messenger RNA (mRNA). Despite the rapid advances in understanding the role of RNA-modifications in regulating cellular processes, our insight into how RNA modifications affect organisms on a systems level is still very limited.

My research aims to understanding the role that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant RNA modification, plays in regulating the central stress response in health and psychopathology.  In order to address this question experimentally, I combine various biomedical research methods including next-generation sequencing, viral vectors, electrophysiology and genetically engineered mouse models. By targeting specific regulators of m6A and manipulating their abundance in defined regions of the mouse brain, I am able to look at the causality between m6A, neural processes and complex behaviours. Ultimately, our goal is to translate our findings from animal models to humans and investigate the role of m6A in stress-related psychopathologies.

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