Ule Lab
Snapshot of a circos plot showing the diverse types of RNA duplexes in mRNAs
For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things brought together.
Vincent Van Gogh
We are interested in the myriad of links that bring together the strands of RNA molecules, their links with proteins, and how these little links make life happen.
In particular, we focus on the roles of dynamic protein-RNA condensates, which form through large numbers of weak links. We wish to understand how these links enable selective RNA regulation, how they are rapidly modulated in response to cellular signals, how cross-regulation between proteins and RNAs in condensates contributes to cellular homeostasis, and how loss of such homeostasis contributes to neurodegenerative diseases.
We also study transposable elements, genetic migrants with a vast potential for evolutionary innovations. Over a million of sequences derived from such elements are transcribed as part of our genes, and they bind to proteins that shape the gradual emergence of innovations in our RNAs through many small steps.
Inspired by insights gained from RNA, we migrate and collaborate across research fields, backgrounds, and nationalities. We like to bring together our different perspectives, as it is the spirit of connecting and sharing that counts the most.
Primary collaborators
RNA Biology of Neurodegeneration
Andrea Serio - The Francis Crick Institute & KC
Sonia Gandhi - The Francis Crick Institute & UCL
Rickie Patani - The Francis Crick Institute & UCL
Pietro Fratta - UCL Institute of Neurology
Karen Duff - UK DRI at UCL
Marc-David Ruepp - UK DRI at KCL
Chris Shaw - UK DRI at KCL
Gianpietro Schiavo - UCL Institute of Neurology & UK DRI at UCL
Giovanna Malucci - UK DRI at Cambridge
Nicholas L Fawzi - Brown University, USA
Related questions in RNA biology
Sila Ultanir - The Francis Crick Institute, London
Ben Blencowe - University of Toronto, Canada
Helen H. Fielding - Department of Chemistry, UCL
Dalibor Blazek - CEITEC, Brno, Czech Republic
Andrés Aguilera - Cabimer, Sevilla, Spain
Eugene Makeyev - King's College London
Kathryn S Lilley - University of Cambridge
Michael Kiebler - Department of Cell Biology, LMU Munich
Andrzej Dziembowski - Warsaw University, Poland
Computational RNA Biology
Nicholas Luscombe - Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Goodwright, London - a company developing iMaps v2
Our work is supported by the generous funding of the following agencies:
Primary funding:
1/2020 – 12/2024 Wellcome Trust; Senior Investigator Award, jointly with Nicholas Luscombe
10/2019 – 9/2024 European Research Council; ERC Advanced Grant
2014 – 2019 Wellcome Trust; Senior Investigator Award, jointly with Nicholas Luscombe
2014 – 2019 European Research Council; ERC Consolidator Grant
2008 – 2013 European Research Council; ERC Starting Grant
2006 - 2013 Medical Research Council (MRC); LMB core funding
Other funding:
2015 – 2017 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Paulo Gameiro
2015 – 2017 European Commission; EMBO postdoctoral fellowship to Cristina Militti
2014 – 2016 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Lorea Blazquez
2013 – 2015 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Lilach Soreq
2012 – 2015 European Commission; FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) (16 groups)
2011 – 2013 Swiss National Foundation; Synergia grant supporting collaboration between 3 groups
2010 – 2013 Wellcome Trust/MRC; Strategic Award supporting collaboration between 16 groups
2008 – 2011 Human Frontiers Science Program, HFSP Program Grant supporting collaboration between 4 groups