{"id":2,"date":"2021-08-03T22:32:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T22:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab2\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:53:26","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"RESEARCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nThe central question of the Pawlica Lab is how viruses use noncoding RNAs, structured RNA elements, and small RNAs to redirect host RNA regulatory pathways. We focus on post-transcriptional control of gene expression, including mRNA stability and translation, which is regulated by RNA-RNA interactions, RNA-protein interactions, microRNAs, and RNA-binding proteins.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis approach provides insight into host RNA biology and into RNA regulatory mechanisms relevant to persistent infections and cancer.\n<\/p>\n

\nHerpesviral noncoding RNAs and PUMILIO-mediated regulation<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n

\nWe are interested in oncogenic gammaherpesviruses that express regulatory noncoding RNAs during latency. A classic example is herpesvirus saimiri, which expresses abundant small nuclear RNAs called HSURs during latency. HSURs are among the best-characterized viral noncoding RNAs and provide a tractable system to study how viral RNAs manipulate host post-transcriptional regulation in T cells.\n<\/p>\n

\nOur recent work identified conserved PUMILIO-response elements in HSUR1 and HSUR2 and showed that these viral RNAs bind PUM1 and PUM2 to regulate host transcripts in a PRE-dependent manner.\n<\/p>\n

\nViral RNA elements and host RNA-binding proteins<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n

\nRNA-binding proteins determine the fate of cellular and viral RNAs by controlling splicing, localization, translation, stability, and decay. During infection, they also play crucial roles in innate immunity, such as viral RNA sensing. We study how viral RNAs recruit, inhibit, or redirect host RNA-binding proteins. We are particularly interested in PUMILIO proteins and ILF3\/NF90-family proteins.\n<\/p>\n

\nMicroRNA regulation during viral infection<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n

\nMicroRNAs control gene expression through partial base-pairing with target mRNAs. We study how viruses manipulate this pathway by encoding microRNA targets, producing viral microRNAs, altering microRNA stability, or using host microRNA-associated machinery to target host mRNAs.\n<\/p>\n

\nSARS-CoV-2 RNA regulation<\/strong>
\n<\/h3>\n

\nWe also study how SARS-CoV-2 RNA elements interact with host post-transcriptional regulatory pathways. SARS-CoV-2 produces highly abundant viral RNAs with structured regions and protein-binding sites that can affect host gene expression. Current projects test how SARS-CoV-2 RNA elements interact with host RNA-binding proteins and how these interactions affect antiviral transcripts, such as interferon-stimulated genes.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The central question of the Pawlica Lab is how viruses use noncoding RNAs, structured RNA elements, and small RNAs to redirect host RNA regulatory pathways. We focus on post-transcriptional control of gene expression, including mRNA stability and translation, which is regulated by RNA-RNA interactions, RNA-protein interactions, microRNAs, and RNA-binding proteins. This approach provides insight into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":818,"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.icahn.mssm.edu\/pawlicalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}