# Regulation and Functions of 3'UTRs in Cellular Stress

> **NIH NIH R01** · WISTAR INSTITUTE · 2020 · $365,020

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Environmental changes and exposure to toxins lead to cellular stress of different kinds, such as oxidative
stress, heat shock, cold shock, hypoxia, nutritional stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, etc. Cellular stress
has been implicated in many human diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders,
diabetes, and various forms of cancer. A number of stress response mechanisms at both transcriptional and
post-transcriptional levels help cells survive under stress and restore homeostasis during recovery from
stress. We recently found that arsenic stress (AS), a commonly used stress model, elicits global shortening
of 3’UTR through alternative polyadenylation, a widespread post-transcriptional mechanism in eukaryotes.
Our long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms and consequences of 3’UTR regulation in cellular
stress. In this proposal, we plan to 1) elucidate the mechanism(s) behind 3’UTR shortening in AS, 2)
examine the consequences of AS-induced 3’UTR shortening for mRNA metabolism, and 3) analyze stress-
induced 3’UTR changes in different cell contexts and by different stressors. The result of this project will
elucidate a novel adaptive stress response mechanism, and help understand the etiology of human
ailments associated with cellular stress.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10238313
- **Project number:** 5R01GM129069-04
- **Recipient organization:** WISTAR INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** BIN TIAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $365,020
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10238313

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10238313, Regulation and Functions of 3'UTRs in Cellular Stress (5R01GM129069-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10238313. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*