Dimitris Kontoyiannis Research Group

The complexity of reactions displayed by living cells relies on the proper functioning of intracellular “machines” affecting the biosynthesis and use of coding and non-coding/regulatory RNAs. These machines include the collection of ribonucleocomplexes (RNPs) where RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) cluster RNAs and determine their maturation, movement, stability and translation. We focus on RBPs targeting RNAs of biomedical significance and seek to identify (a) their biological functions as epigenetic determinants of specific cellular processes; (b) their effects in signal-dependent re-organization of RNPs; (c) the effect of their dysfunction in life-threatening pathologies like chronic inflammation, tissue degeneration and cancer; and (d) their efficacy as targets for disease monitoring & treatment. To address these issues we integrate tissue specific transgenic mutagenesis protocols and models of human disease to molecular and systems platforms for the analysis and targeting of RNP networks.