Dr. Patricia Thibault Publishes Review Article on hnRNP A/B Proteins

Congratulations to our Research Assistant, Dr. Patricia Thibault, who recently published a review article titled, "hnRNP A/B Proteins: An Encyclopedic Assessment of Their Roles in Homeostasis and Disease" in Biology!

Our lab studies hnRNP A1 and here we sought to examine hnRNP A1's function in comparison to its cousins A2/B1, A3, and A0. Together, they comprise the hnRNP A/B family of proteins: RNA binding proteins that regulate aspects of every step of cellular RNA metabolism and have some DNA binding functions as well. Each of these proteins is highly conserved within mammals, and vertebrates in general, but each protein is also highly similar to its cousins, leading researchers to assume that the proteins carry out similar roles. We propose that the high evolutionary conservation of each protein is indicative of how each protein has a distinct role to play in the cell and combed the literature to identify where their functions differed. Along the way, we found that A3 and A0 are relatively poorly-understood and that all of these proteins each likely behave differently (in expression, isoform abundance, and function) in different tissues. We hope this review provides other RNA binding protein researchers with a jumping-off point for deeper examination of all the A/B proteins - we know it did for us!

This review marks the early work of an exciting collaboration between the Levin Lab and the labs of Dr. Aravindhan Ganesan and Dr. Subha Kalyaanamoorthy at the University of Waterloo, supported in part by funding from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF). Dr. Levin, Dr. Ganesan, et Dr. Kalyaanamoorthy est financé en partie par le fonds Nouvelles frontières en recherche du gouvernement du Canada. Stay tuned for exciting work from our team and **get in touch if you want to be a part of it!**