Page 26 - IBRO_RNA School_Abstract Book

TRAPping RNAs to study brain development

Vatsala Thirumalai

National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore,

Karnataka, India

Ribosomes, macromolecules that are sites of protein synthesis in cells,
determine whether a pool of transcripts expressed from corresponding genes
are translated into proteins and regulate the rate at which this occurs in
any cell type. Neurons have a remarkable ability to spatio-temporally

regulate the translation of mRNAs into proteins through ribosomes located
even on distal neurites to support local synapses and neurodevelopment.
However, how and why ribosomes are designated to certain locations on
neurites and its impact on the development and function of neurons is poorly
understood. To understand the rules of ribosomal distribution on neurites and
their influences on local or global translation and ultimately how it affects
neuronal function, it is important to have an in vivo system to track and pull-
down ribosomes in a cell-type specific manner.

In my talk, I will discuss our recent efforts to label ribosomes
using the translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) approach.

This tool aids in tracking neuronal ribosomes and in cataloging the
translatomic changes occurring in Purkinje neurons in response to
various conditions. In addition, we can track ribosomes on developing
dendrites allowing us to probe the role of ribosomes in dendrite growth and
synapse formation.