# Molecular mechanisms of nucleic acid recognition and maintenance in meiosis and innate immunity

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2022 · $66,850

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Molecular mechanisms of nucleic acid recognition and maintenance in meiosis and innate immunity
 I am a biochemist and structural biologist with a strong interest in the molecular mechanisms of genome
maintenance. Since starting my own laboratory in 2011, I have made major contributions in the areas of
chromosome organization and recombination in eukaryotic meiosis, in particular defining the molecular
architecture and assembly mechanisms of the meiotic chromosome axis. My laboratory also determined the
structure and mechanism of TRIP13, an ATPase regulator of HORMA domain signaling proteins in mitosis,
meiosis, and DNA repair. As an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the UC San Diego Biomedical Sciences
graduate program, I contribute significantly to graduate teaching and advising. I am also active in the broader
scientific community, having participated in grant review for NIH, graduate fellowship review for NSF, and
having served on an NIH Center for Scientific Review workgroup in 2019-2020.
 My laboratory's work over the next five years will focus on a diverse but conceptually related set of
questions in genome maintenance and protein-nucleic acid recognition. Our primary interest is in meiosis, the
specialized two-stage cell division program that gives rise to haploid gametes and is crucial for sexual
reproduction in eukaryotes. Building off our work defining the architecture of the chromosome axis, we will
determine how the axis interacts with and controls the activity of DNA-binding cohesin complexes, and how the
axis recruits and controls recombination proteins to drive the formation of inter-homolog crossovers. Next, we
are pursuing collaborative projects to understand the structural basis for sequence- and structure-specific RNA
recognition in two contexts. With Gene Yeo (UCSD), we are developing a new generation of programmable
sequence-specific RNA binding proteins to target and degrade disease-associated mRNAs in diverse diseases
from cancer to neurodegeneration. With Matt Daugherty (UCSD), we are determining how IFIT proteins in the
mammalian innate immune system cooperate to specifically recognize viral RNAs and inhibit their translation.
Finally, my laboratory has begun a new effort aimed at determining the molecular mechanisms of novel
bacterial defense systems in which canonical genome-maintenance machines have adapted to new roles. In
our first work in this area, we have found that the condensin/cohesin-like MksBEFG system protects its
bacterial hosts from plasmid transformation by specifically recognizing and cleaving closed-circular DNA.
 I am fascinated by molecular machines, particularly those that maintain genome integrity in the face of
constant internal and external assault. My research program is aimed at understanding the molecular basis for
genome maintenance in diverse contexts, and in exploring how the proteins responsible for genome
maintenance have adapted to new roles throughout evolution.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10579158
- **Project number:** 3R35GM144121-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Kevin Daniel Corbett
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $66,850
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-01-01 → 2026-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10579158

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10579158, Molecular mechanisms of nucleic acid recognition and maintenance in meiosis and innate immunity (3R35GM144121-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10579158. Licensed CC0.

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