| Our laboratory studies the
organisation of the cell nucleus, using fluorescently-tagged
proteins and antibodies to "map" specific regions
and structures. We are also purifying many of these structures
in order to identify as many of their protein components as
possible, which will give us important clues to the functions
of these structures within the cell. |
|
Cell |
Nucleus |
Subnuclear
Bodies Studied in our Lab |
|
|
Nucleolus |
|
Cajal Body |
|
Gem |
|
PML Body |
|
Speckle |
|
Paraspeckle |
|
| Many complicated cellular functions are carried
out in the nucleus, and the substructures shown above are known
in some cases to be sites where these functions actually occur,
and in other cases to be "storage depots" for particular
proteins required by these processes. By keeping the proteins
in particular regions of the nucleus, they can be recruited
quickly as needed. To carry out complicated functions, proteins
are organised into "machines," often involving ten
or more different components. Each component of a particular
machine has a specific function, and the entire structure is
under tight control. |
|
One such protein machine is
part of the assembly line that carries out the process of
gene expression in the cell. This process starts with DNA
transcription (reading the "blueprint" for a protein
on a particular gene) and carries through to production of
that protein by ribosomes in the cytoplasm. |
|
| The stepwise production of a protein begins with
an RNA copy of the DNA blueprint. This RNA cannot be translated
into protein by the cells until certain stretches of information
which are not required to make the protein are cut or "spliced"
out of it. Splicing is performed by a protein machine termed
the "spliceosome", a complex of more than 50 proteins
acting together to catalyse this multi-step reaction. One of
our main research goals is to shed further light on the organisation
of this structure and its regulation within the cell nucleus.
Until we understand how it functions normally, we cannot understand
what has gone wrong in disease states which affect this particular
cellular process. |
