Seminar Abstract: Gene expression is regulated at the RNA level in many ways expanding the proteome and its temporal and spatial expression.

Using a combination of functional genomics, phylogenomics, structural biology, in vitro RNA binding studies and in vivo transgene analysis we study the function ELAV/Hu RNA binding proteins in neuronal development, and how they can cause neurodegeneration and cancer. A main focus of these structure- and phylogenomic-guided studies is to elucidate how ELAV/Hu RNA binding proteins generate specificity from binding to short and redundant motifs abundantly present in the genome. Our recently obtained structure of the ELAV complex provides insights into how multimerization is required for decoding a seemingly degenerate sequence space. Recently, we expanded our studies of gene expression at the RNA level to the role of epitranscriptomic modifications. We describe essential roles for dynamic mRNA methylation in tuning gene expression essential for neuronal functions. Our most recent work includes discovery of methylation readers important for local mRNA translation underpinning synaptic functions.

Biosketch: Professor Matthias Soller is a leading researcher in RNA biology at the University of Manchester. He received his PhD from the University of Zurich in 1997 and conducted postdoctoral work at Brandeis University, Boston, studying RNA-binding proteins and their role in alternative splicing during neuronal development and plasticity. In 2006, he established his independent research group at the University of Birmingham, focusing on post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in the brain, immunity, cancer, and behaviour. His laboratory has been pioneering in uncovering biological functions of mRNA methylation, including essential roles of m⁶A modification in sex determination and dosage compensation. Recently, his group generated the first animal knock-out for methylation of mRNA cap-adjacent nucleotides, revealing a critical role in local translation at synapses relevant to reward learning.