RNA Regulation in Cell-Type Development and Disease

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 December 2021) | Viewed by 355

Special Issue Editor

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
Interests: RNA regulation; alternative splicing; myogenesis; developmental biology; RNA-binding proteins; Drosophila genetics; confocal microscopy; transcriptomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The wide variety of cell and tissue types found in multicellular organisms are defined by distinct patterns of gene expression. In muscles or neurons, for example, transcriptional differences drive the development of distinct cell types with unique connectivities and functional properties. Beyond transcription, we have begun to realize that different cell and tissue types employ divergent patterns of RNA regulation directed by RNA-binding proteins. This results in distinct patterns of alternative splicing, mRNA localization, and transcript stability that ultimately fine tunes cell-type-specific protein expression. The disruption of RNA regulation, notably of alternative splice isoform expression, leads to a wide variety of diseases from cardiomyopathy to myotonic dystrophy and spinal motor atrophy, highlighting the importance of this cellular process.

There are, unfortunately, vast gaps in our understanding of RNA regulation. Only a small portion of RNA-binding proteins are characterized in an organism, and a wide array of proteins without canonical RNA-binding domains may in fact bind to RNA. We do not understand the mechanistic details of exon definition and alternative exon selection, despite advances in our understanding of spliceosome structure and function. We do not know the isoform-specific functions for the majority of alternative regulatory events or how they impact development and cell-type-specific function. This Special Issue welcomes the submission of articles and reviews exploring the role of RNA regulation in tissue and cell-type-specific development and providing insight to any of the above issues.

Dr. Maria Spletter
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • RNA processing
  • alternative splicing
  • mRNA trafficking
  • RNA stability
  • RNA-binding proteins
  • tissue morphogenesis
  • cell-type-specific development
  • spliceopathy
  • RNA disease
  • transcriptome alteration

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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