Assistant Professor

Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD)

Structure based functional studies of ribosome processing factors

Cancer cell proliferation cannot occur in the absence of ribosome biogenesis. This is supported by an increase in the size of nucleoli in cancer cells and the upregulation of ribosome biogenesis by several oncogenes. Therefore, modulating the rate of ribosome synthesis could provide a means of blocking cancer progression. Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), which comprises most of the ribosome, are matured in a complex, stepwise process in the nucleoli. This involves several processing factors which are still poorly understood at the molecular level. The large number of required factors and the requirement of new ribosome synthesis in highly proliferative cells make ribosome biogenesis an attractive target for drug development. My laboratory is focused on the study of ribosome biogenesis, primarily on the functional interactions and catalytic activity of two groups of proteins required for the last maturation step of the small subunit.