Suchita Nety (ZHANG LAB)

Characterizing the RNA-guided Endonuclease Activity of TnpB

CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems constitute one prominent class of RNA-guided functions observed in the natural world, but the evolutionary origins of the RNA-guided property of Cas enzymes remain mysterious. The probable ancestor of the Cas12 effector nuclease is TnpB, a transposon-encoded protein that is widespread in prokaryotes. Here we investigate the biochemical activity of TnpB, revealing that this protein is an RNA-guided endonuclease and ultimately emblematic of a new class of programmable RNA-guided systems.

Russell Walton (BLAINEY LAB)

Profiling Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity in Cancer

Cancer cells heterogeneously exhibit epithelial, mesenchymal, or intermediate properties. Intermediate phenotypes are associated with increased tumor initiating capacity and chemotherapeutic resistance. How subsets of cancer cells acquire intermediate properties and whether those phenotypes exist as stable states or transient transitions remain unknown. We aim to profile epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in cancer using microscopy-based phenotyping and in situ genetic lineage tracing.