Cell Renewal

In order for researchers to understand the biology of living organisms, they must consider what is happening across the size scale. Interactions between molecules drive interactions between cells that affect traits and behaviors. Experiences and decisions made by the organism can lead to changes at the cellular and molecular level. In order to understand the full picture, Whitehead Institute researchers study everything from molecules to cells to whole organisms.

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel and colleagues uncovered how small changes in the molecular machines that carry out RNA interference can lead to big differences in the efficacy of gene silencing. Their findings have implications for the design of gene-silencing therapeutics.

Whitehead Institute Director and Member Ruth Lehmann and colleagues have found that membrane-less compartments, called condensates, within germ cells not only store but also play an active role in the translation of specific mRNAs. This finding uncovers the possibility that other RNA-protein condensates can actively regulate protein production.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and colleagues used large-scale systematic genetic screens to identify the molecules and pathways that populate the mitochondrial surface with important and diverse signaling proteins. They deciphered the logic by which the cell ensures the proper delivery of these proteins. These findings may have important implications for understanding the impact on health and disease when these processes go awry.

Whitehead Institute Member Jonathan Weissman and collaborators developed a tool to reconstruct the family trees and individual states of cells in humans, revealing how blood cell production changes in old age.

Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and colleagues found that the key factor in determining the assembly location of the kinetochore—a cellular machine that helps distribute chromosomes during cell division—is the local concentration of kinetochore proteins.

Transcription factors bind DNA and protein. Now, researchers in Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab find that many transcription factors can also bind RNA, which fine tunes their regulation of gene expression, suggesting new therapeutic opportunities.

How do cells decide how long to pause division after they detect errors? Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and colleagues identified that the key player is a previously undiscovered protein that was hiding in plain sight. Read more and also check out our Behind the Science podcast looking at the unexpected nature of this discovery.

Clumps of abnormal RNA are known to build up in some neurological disorders including Huntington’s disease and ALS. New research from Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain shows that these clumps can form outside of the cell’s nucleus, becoming more toxic to cells.

Whitehead-Broad team harnesses new pooled, image-based screening method to probe the functions of over 5,000 essential genes in human cells.