Paul J. Anderson, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
K. Frank Austen Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Messenger RNA is in constant flux between different locations and states -- the nucleus and cytoplasm, activation silencing, transition and decay. Classical nuclear bodies such as nucleoli and nuclear speckles are self-generated RNA structures whose morphology and function are inextricably linked: altered morphology reflects altered function. Cytoplasmic RNA structures such as stress granules (SGs) and processing bodies (PBs) have been revealed as functional byproducts of mRNA metabolism. SGs and PBs share substrate mRNA, dynamic properties and many proteins, but also house separate components and independent functions. Each can exist without the other, but when coordinately induced they are often tethered together in a systolic dance.
Work in the laboratory is focused on understanding the role of subcellular localization in the control of mRNA translation/decay. The Anderson Lab is in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. We are located on the sixth floor of the Smith Building, One Jimmy Fund Way, Boston, MA.
