Miles F. Wilkinson, Ph.D. 1984, University of Warwick, England The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Contact Information

Research Interests:

• Gene regulation
• RNAi
• microRNAs
• RNA surveillance
• Developmental biology
• Reproductive biology
  

The primary interests of my laboratory are: (1) transcriptional regulatory pathways that control embryonic stem-cell and germ-cell development in vivo, and (2) RNA surveillance pathways that serve as quality-control mechanisms to degrade or “correct” aberrant transcripts that would otherwise express truncated proteins causing developmental defects and cancer.

The Rhox homeobox genes . We recently discovered the largest known cluster of homeobox genes (containing at least 33 genes) in the mouse genome. We are studying the regulation and function of these Rhox genes in normal development and malignancy. Our goal is to understand how their transcription is controlled, to identify their downstream target genes, and to elucidate their biological functions in mice. To address these questions, we are using a variety of techniques, including a conditional in vivo RNA interference (RNAi) approach that we recently developed.

Nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) . Nonsense and frameshift mutations are present in about 1/3 of disease-causing genes. Transcripts containing such mutations are degraded by NMD. We are studying the underlying molecular mechanism for NMD, its regulation by microRNAs, and its physiological role in vivo. We are also studying other phenomena triggered by such mutations, including alterations in mRNA export and mRNA splicing.

Publications

Program Affiliations:

Program in Immunology

Program in Genes and Development