Gene Regulation by Small RNAs

Gene expression controls the spatial and temporal aspects of the specific cell and tissue identity and hence it is a tightly regulated process. Most of the research in the past was focused on the transcriptional regulation. In the recent years a surprising new role for small RNAs called microRNAs was identified as they were found to be key components for post-transcriptional regulation. These small RNAs can bind to the complementary mRNAs by silencing or transcript degradation. microRNAs have been found to be play key roles in several biological processes including adipogenesis, cell differentiation and even cancer. My research is focused on studying the co-expression patterns of mRNA and miRNA in cattle tissues for identification of specific patterns and regulatory control mechanisms.