Nucleic Acids and Nucleic-acid Recognition Proteins

The last thirty years have witnessed exciting discoveries of diverse functions carried out by non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), ranging from enzymatic catalysis to gene regulation. We are a young group of biophysicists and biochemists seeking to understand the structural and dynamic properties of nucleic acids and nucleic acid-protein complexes that underlie the molecular basis for many vital RNA and protein functions. We integrate state-of-the-art solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), X-ray crystallography, computational and biochemical approaches to illuminate functional and regulatory mechanisms of diverse dynamic processes, including ribozyme catalysis, riboswitch-based gene regulation, microRNA biogenesis, co-transcriptional RNA folding, RNA-dependent viral genome stability, and cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) mediated innate immune response. The principles deduced from these studies will provide atomic basis for design of nucleic acid-based regulatory devices and development of small molecules to target specific RNA and protein signals in cancer and other human diseases.

Areas of Interests

• Tech development: Visualizing conformational ensembles of biomolecules
• Gene regulation: RNA-dependent regulation of transcription and translation
• Innate immunity: DNA/RNA-dependent immune response and regulation
• Drug discovery: Targeting disease-linked RNA and RNA-protein interfaces