Using $1.8 million in federal funding, a biologist at the University of Texas at Arlington is heading up a project that could lead to improved genetic knowledge that may aid in the development of synthetic therapies to prevent or treat diseases, including cancer.
The research team is studying molecular processes affecting gene regulation to better understand how small genetic pathways called RNAi (ribonucleic acid interference) impact human health, UTA said.
“Defects in RNAi cause devastating gene dysregulation, allowing some genes to wreak havoc on the genome, resulting in the onset of cancers, infertility, neurodegenerative disorders and many other diseases,” Assistant Professor of Biology Alicia Rogers, lead investigator, said in a statement. “It’s critical we learn how balancing between the interdependent RNAi pathways is maintained and how RNAi homeostasis is impacted by real-world stresses to advance our understanding of RNAi in human health and disease.”
Rogers’ grant from the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, builds upon data from her recently published study in Nucleic Acids Research on small RNA pathway function, UTA said. A doctoral student in Rogers’ lab, Trilotma Sen, and Cara McCormick, a former research technician there, were co-authors on that paper, UTA said.

From left: Rogers Lab members include Ha Meem, Saima Akhter, Alicia Rogers (lead investigator on the project), Trilotma Sen, Favour Nwose, and Rhiannon Maddock. [Photo: University of Texas at Arlington]
According to the university, RNA is found in all living cells and is involved in protein synthesis, the process of turning genetic instructions into proteins in cells. UTA said that while some types of RNA provide the template for protein sequences, other non-coding types are involved in regulating gene expression, which in turn affects many biological processes.
RNAi is a cellular mechanism that uses small RNA complementary to the gene’s DNA sequence to regulate the gene. Scientists call that process silencing, UTA said.
The project’s focus is to study how small RNA pathways regulate genes and protect them from stressors, the university said. Rogers, Sen, and doctoral student Ha Meem want to gain a fundamental understanding of that process, with the long-term goal of harnessing that knowledge to find ways to prevent and treat diseases in humans.
The researchers will carry out their work using the microscopic worm C. elegans as their model system because it’s where small RNA pathways were first discovered.
“It’s a beautiful model system where we have a lot of genetic control,” Rogers said. “The animal is transparent so we can image and use microscopy to study these pathways in conjunction with molecular biology and genetics. Even though it’s a microscopic worm, because these pathways are evolutionarily conserved, the principles that we’re going to hopefully uncover will be applicable to the way that the pathways work in humans.”
UTA said the researchers have three main areas of emphasis in the study: the mechanisms of target transcript sorting among distinct RNAi branches; how RNAi pathways are temporally regulated throughout development; and the molecular and physiological consequences of disrupting RNAi homeostasis.
“Addressing these fundamental questions is critical for our understanding of small RNAs in human health,” Rogers said. “This knowledge is important for the development of bioengineering techniques that harness the power of our own regulatory networks for use in therapeutic synthetic gene regulation.”
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