סמינר מחלקתי בהנדסה ביו רפואית - גב' רננה סבי תלמידת המחלקה לתואר שלישי

Computational modeling and systems biology of
mRNA translation
Renana Sabi
PhD student
Gene expression is a fundamental process in all living systems by which information inscribed in the DNA is used to produce functional proteins. A major stage of gene expression is translation, an iterative process of translating mRNA codons into amino acids by the ribosome. Having substantial effects on protein folding, protein production rate and efficiency, translation is an important aspect to be considered when engineering synthetic intracellular systems. 
The first part of my thesis is focused on translation regulation by ribosome stalling. During translation, the nascent peptide departs out from the ribosome through the ribosomal exit tunnel. By performing genome-wide computational analyses of genomic data and experimental measurements of in vivo translation, we identified dozens of short peptides suspected to undergo stalling interactions with the ribosomal tunnel. Our findings suggest that the biophysical properties of stalling peptides significantly affect and constrain the evolution of genomes.
The second part of my thesis aims at understanding the unique regulatory role of the elongation phase of translation on a large scale. By extensively analyzing translational signatures sampled throughout the baker’s yeast meiosis, we demonstrated for the first time that translation elongation plays a significant and functional role in controlling gene expression. Using a stochastic model to simulate translation, we also determined the rate of initiation for some genes. Importantly, our results had not been captured by previous studies analyzed mRNA translation as a whole, thus, providing a higher-resolution view into gene expression regulation. 
Taken together, our findings open the door to various biomedical and biotechnological applications based on gene expression engineering and protein levels optimization. 
 Thesis was done under the supervision of Prof. Tamir Tuller

 14:00  בשעה25.3.18ההרצאה תתקיים ביום ראשון
, הבניין הרב תחומי, אוניברסיטת תל אביב315בחדר