| Faculty and Research
Mariano Garcia-Blanco, MD, PhD
Professor
My research group studies the connected processes of RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase II and of RNA splicing by spliceosomes. We have focused on early splicing complexes particularly on the mechanism of splice site pairing, which is at the heart of fidelity and regulation of pre-messenger RNA processing. This work will take us to the details of the interactions that mediate recognition during assembly of the splicing enzyme. Recently, we began an examination of regulated alternative splicing of the FGFR2 receptor. We are also developing a collaborative effort to connect this project to the study of progression in prostate cancer; the alternative splicing of FGFR2 transcripts is altered during this process. My hope is to nucleate the formation of a group that would be able to translate our basic studies into inventions for use in the clinic.
My laboratory also studies the regulation of HIV-1 gene expression. This work has led us to the study of RNA polymerase II elongation in eukaryotes. I have a new initiative in the laboratory that involves connections between our work on the early events of splicing and transcript elongation. It has long been thought that in living cells intron removal, or at the very least intron marking, occurs co-transcriptionally, usually during elongation. I have plans to develop a program of study that will study the interactions between these processes both in vitro and in vivo. |
