MAURER LAB @ CRG

06/2021

Elsa and Julia heroically dug through decades of primary literature on mammalian neuronal mRNA transport to generate a concise overview on how mRNAs are possibly coupled to motor proteins: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2021.692948.

We also connected minimal mRNA-transport subnetworks with information about motor selectivity for specific neurites (axon/dendrites) to develop ideas which motors and adaptors might be required for different transport steps:

09/2020

New preprint from our lab! To probe the potential for complex formation among RBPs, we assembled a library of 978 mammalian RBPs and used rec-Y2H screening to detect direct interactions between RBPs, sampling > 600 K interactions. We discovered 1994 new interactions and demonstrate that our screen detects interactions between RBPs that bind RNAs adjacently. We further find that the mRNA binding region preferences of an RBP can deviate depending on its adjacently binding interaction partner. Finally, we reveal novel RBP interaction networks among major RNA processing steps and show that RBP mutations observed in cancer rewire spliceosomal interaction networks.

Oh yes – and of course we found a number of interesting new links between mRNA binding proteins and kinesins & dynein.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.14.296160v1

03/2020

We built a first minimal axonal mRNA transport system: Reconstituted APC-kinesin-2 complexes selectively transport G-motif containing mRNAs with mostly two mRNAs per complex. Yellow: beta-actin mRNA, cyan: mutated beta-actin mRNA. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/11/eaaz1588

09/2019

Elsa (re-) joined our lab as PhD student and she managed to obtain a LaCaixa INPhINIT PhD fellowship. Congratulations Elsa and welcome back!

07/2019

The first reconstitution of a mammalian mRNA transport system done by Sebastian Bauman is online:

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/701250v1

In the movie below we see beta2B-tubulin RNA (red) transported by a reconstituted APC-kinesin-2 complex on microtubules (grey). The lower panel shows single-particle tracking of the transported RNAs (circle color around spots: total spot intensity). We used intensity measurements to show that one kinesin transports dimeric APC which binds one RNA per APC monomer.

03/2019

Stay tuned for news on the first reconstituted axonal mRNA transport system

11/2018

We are looking for PhD students to work with systems and biochemical approaches to understand how RBPs work together and how neurons can generate their mRNA distribution patterns. Please check out the Jobs-Section. And apply through CRG’s PhD Fellowship programme.

09/2018

Our new paper describing two new matrix screening techniques is out !

We can now do many cool things as simultaneous interaction-domain determination and many-by-many protein-RNA interaction screening!

03/2018

Julia Grawenhoff got a Severo-Ochoa FPI PhD fellowship to join our lab in spring 2018. Welcome Julia !

01/2017

Sebastian Baumann got a Juan de la Cierva postdoc fellowship to continue his promising work in our lab. Congratulations Sebastian!

06/2016

Artem joined the lab. He won a LaCaixa-PhD fellowship and he will focus on developing ex-vivo tools to understand mRNP dynamics and function. Welcome, Artem !