RNA methylation and human brain function

A major goal of biological sciences is to identify and characterise events that influence health across the lifespan. Epigenomic modifications are factors which influence gene expression underlying both health and disease states. Such epigenomic features show intra- and inter- tissue variation in modification profiles and changes in patterns are indicated to be central mechanisms in development, some disease processes and cellular senescence in multi cellular organisms.

Internal messenger RNA modifications are commonly found in eukaryotes. The proposed molecular functions of such mRNA modification include RNA stability, mRNA splicing and regulation of translation status. Whilst the cellular function of such RNA modification remains unclear, modification is essential for cell viability, differentiation and developmental decisions in some biological systems. We hypothesise that specific RNA modifications are involved in synaptic plasticity processes underlying neuronal function. The proposed project is focused on studies which map RNA modifications in human tissue from specific brain regions and neuronal/synaptic populations.