The RNA Transcript, June 29, 2020
One of the hallmarks of ovarian cancer is genomic instability resulting in gain and loss of DNA throughout the entire genome, including many microRNAs (miRNA).  Dr. DiFeo, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor of Pathology and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Michigan Medicine, Member of the Center for RNA Biomedicine, and her team, research which miRNAs are involved in the early stages of ovarian cancer. “A lot of research has looked at microRNAs in late stages of cancer, and we’re interested in what happens at the early stages of ovarian cancer,” explains DiFeo.

Their results, published in  Nature Communications, show hope that microRNAs could be used as biomarkers for tumor development. If a miRNA regulates several significant pathways involved in ovarian cancer, it could make a great biomarker to detect early stages of ovarian cancers as well as a therapeutic target to treat recurrent disease. Currently, because the symptoms are vague, 85% of ovarian cancers are detected at stage 3 and 4 while early detection is essential to cure success.

 
Above: This photograph shows the nuclei of normal fallopian tube cell (left) and miR-181a expressing fallopian tube cell (right), highlighting that the expression of miR-181a converts the normal circular nuclei to a abnormal non-circular nuclei that is prone to nuclear rupture and hallmark of cancer.
The University of Michigan Center for RNA Biomedicine regroups over 150 faculty members and their labs across seven Schools and Colleges on the Ann Arbor campus. We're pleased to feature these outstanding scientists and colleagues in our weekly news.
Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Pediatric Research and Professor of Human Genetics, U-M Medical School; Research Professor, U-M Life Sciences Institute;
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Tuesday, June 30, 2020, 3:00–4:00 pm | Harvard Medical School Initiative for RNA Medicine Seminar
ZOOM , password: 759932 

"Exploring the dark matters in the human brain neurons"
Xianjun Dong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Director,  Genomics and Bioinformatics Hub; Director of Computational Neuroscience, Precision Neurology Program; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital
Wednesday, July 1, 2020, 4:00–5:00 pm | RNA Collaborative Seminar Series
Host:  MD Anderson

“ncRNAs: ‘inside out’ cancer regulomers”
Simone Anfossi, Instructor and Fellow of the MDACC ncRNA Center

“Therapeutic Targeting of ncRNAs in Cancer”

Moderator: George Calin
Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 4:00 pm | Taubman Tech Talk

"Next Generation Sequencing: The Long and the Short of it"
Olivia Koues, Ph.D., Managing Director, Advanced Genomics Core

Our members' publications are now available through Altmetric. Six queries are currently available: "RNA," "microRNA," "Transcriptome," "Translation," "Molecule," and "CRISPR." Please make sure to have at least one of these key words in your title or abstract. Here is a highlight from this month:
miR-181a initiates and perpetuates oncogenic transformation through the regulation of innate immune signaling
Knarr, M., Avelar, R.A., Sekhar, S.C.  et al., Nat Commun  11, 3231 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17030-w

Translational Opportunities for Microfluidic Technologies to Enable Precision Epigenomics
Yi Xu, Steven R. Doonan, Tamas Ordog, and Ryan C. Bailey,  Anal. Chem.   2020, 92, 12, 7989–7997, June 4, 2020,  doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01288
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