Probing the orthogonality and robustness of the mammalian RNA-binding protein Musashi-1 in Escherichia coli.

RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) are widespread RNA-binding protein domains in eukaryotes, which represent promising synthetic biology tools due to their compact structure and efficient activity. Yet, their use in prokaryotes is limited and their functionality poorly characterized. Recently, we repurposed a mammalian Musashi protein containing two RRMs as a translation regulator in Escherichia coli.

On the ever-growing functional versatility of the CRISPR-Cas13 system.

CRISPR-Cas systems evolved in prokaryotes to implement a powerful antiviral immune response as a result of sequence-specific targeting by ribonucleoproteins. One of such systems consists of an RNA-guided RNA endonuclease, known as CRISPR-Cas13. In very recent years, this system is being repurposed in different ways in order to decipher and engineer gene expression programmes.

Repurposing the mammalian RNA-binding protein Musashi-1 as an allosteric translation repressor in bacteria.

The RNA recognition motif (RRM) is the most common RNA-binding protein domain identified in nature. However, RRM-containing proteins are only prevalent in eukaryotic phyla, in which they play central regulatory roles. Here, we engineered an orthogonal post-transcriptional control system of gene expression in the bacterium with the mammalian RNA-binding protein Musashi-1, which is a stem cell marker with neurodevelopmental role that contains two canonical RRMs.

Experiences with a training DSW knowledge model for early-stage researchers.

: Data management is fast becoming an essential part of scientific practice, driven by open science and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) data sharing requirements. Whilst data management plans (DMPs) are clear to data management experts and data stewards, understandings of their purpose and creation are often obscure to the producers of the data, which in academic environments are often PhD students. : Within the RNAct EU Horizon 2020 ITN project, we engaged the 10 RNAct early-stage researchers (ESRs) in a training project aimed at formulating a DMP.

Gene regulation by a protein translation factor at the single-cell level.

Gene expression is inherently stochastic and pervasively regulated. While substantial work combining theory and experiments has been carried out to study how noise propagates through transcriptional regulations, the stochastic behavior of genes regulated at the level of translation is poorly understood. Here, we engineered a synthetic genetic system in which a target gene is down-regulated by a protein translation factor, which in turn is regulated transcriptionally.