Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025

non-coding RNA regulation in cancer and neuronal diseases

Name:
Dr. mingyi xie

Email
mingyi.xie@ufl.edu

Phone
(602) 503-3613

Faculty Department/Division
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

This project is primarily:
Basic

Research Project Description:
microRNAs are the shortest non-coding RNAs that can negatively impact gene expression. microRNAs affect diverse cellular pathways critical to human development and disease, underscoring the need to understand how their levels are regulated. Recent efforts from my lab have focused on how the microRNAs can be specifically degraded. Degradation is conferred by one microRNA binding with another RNA sequence, called a “trigger” sequence. Using bioinformatics and machine learning, we searched in various cancer cell lines, and identified hundreds of potential trigger sequences. We are now investigating microRNA degradation in the context of colorectal cancer and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Future efforts in our lab and in the field will focus on precisely mapping triggers in diverse biological systems and determining their functional importance.

Does this project have an international component or travel?
No