# Assembly Mechanisms of RNA-Protein Complexes for Genetic Control

> **NIH NIH R35** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $598,763

## Abstract

Non-coding RNA forms the cell’s machineries for protein synthesis and splicing, and acts during
all stages of gene expression. All RNAs must begin to fold and interact with their protein partners
as they are being synthesized. Improper expression, assembly and localization of non-coding
RNA has been linked to cancer, neurodegeneration and developmental abnormalities. Although
thousands of new non-coding RNAs have been discovered, we know little about how they
physically carry out their functions. The goal of this research program is to define principles of
RNA-protein assembly and dynamics that can predict how large RNA-protein complexes are
formed and how small non-coding RNAs rapidly search out their regulatory targets. These
concepts will be addressed using two model systems: ribosome biosynthesis and post-
transcriptional regulation by bacterial small RNA and Hfq. Ribosomes are an important example
of co-transcriptional assembly because ribosomes are continually synthesized in growing cells
and tightly regulated by growth rate and by stress response pathways. New single molecule
fluorescence and in-cell RNA structure probing approaches will be used to visualize how RNA
folding and protein binding is coupled to transcription. Small non-coding RNAs base pair with
mRNA to control mRNA expression, and are a ubiquitous form of RNA-based regulation. Single
molecule fluorescence, native mass spectrometry and bacterial reporter assays will reveal how
the Hfq RNA chaperone recycles small non-coding RNA in bacteria, and increases the rate at
which these RNAs find their proper targets. The results of this research will lead to new concepts
related to how RNA-protein complexes assemble faithfully during normal growth and why certain
RNAs are vulnerable to mutation, stress, or competition from foreign RNA.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10835906
- **Project number:** 5R35GM136351-05
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SARAH A. WOODSON
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $598,763
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-05-15 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10835906

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10835906, Assembly Mechanisms of RNA-Protein Complexes for Genetic Control (5R35GM136351-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10835906. Licensed CC0.

---

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