Anczukow Laboratory
The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT
RNA splicing – Cancer, Aging, and Rare Disease – RNA-based therapeutics
The Anczukow Laboratory focuses on understanding alternative RNA splicing, investigating how errors in this process can lead to cancer and rare diseases, and developing strategies to correct these mistakes.
Alternative RNA splicing is like the editing process of a movie. Just as a film is composed of scenes that can be rearranged, added, or removed, our genetic instructions contain sequences that must be carefully edited to create a continuous, usable message. This editing process, known as RNA splicing, ensures that the final “script” is clear and functional. Depending on how the different parts of a gene are spliced together, the final RNA—and thus the resulting protein—can be dramatically different.
Alternative RNA splicing is essential for regulating gene expression during normal development and in disease. By studying how RNA splicing works, we aim to gain insights into normal cell function, understand how errors in splicing contribute to diseases, and explore new ways to develop more targeted and effective treatments.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to uncovering how disruptions in RNA splicing fuels disease and leading the development of RNA-targeting therapies for transformative healthcare solutions.
Our Targets
We aims to provide innovative therapeutic solutions and novel biomarkers for breast cancer, lung cancer and brain cancer patients as well as for patients with rare diseases associated with a cancer risk, such as Neurofibromatosis Type I.
Our approach
We apply our unique expertise in RNA, aging and cancer biology and cutting-edge technologies in molecular and cellular biology, functional genomics, and disease modelling.
Our targets
We aims to provide innovative therapeutic solutions and novel biomarkers for breast cancer, lung cancer and brain cancer patients as well as for patients with rare diseases associated with a cancer risk, such as Neurofibromatosis Type I.
Our recent work
Brittany Angarola’s paper entitled ‘Comprehensive single-cell aging atlas of healthy mammary tissues reveals shared epigenomic and transcriptomic signatures of aging and cancer’ is published in Nature Aging.
This collaborative work with the Ucar lab at JAX reveals how aging rewires the cellular composition of mouse mammary tissues and impacts the transcriptomic and epigenomic programs of mammary epithelial, fibroblast, and immune cells, identifying shared signatures of aging and cancer.
Nathan Leclair’s paper entitled ‘The RNA-binding protein IGF2BP1 regulates stability of mRNA transcribed from FOXM1 target genes in Hypermitotic meningioma’ is published in Acta Neuropathologica.
In collaboration with the Raleigh Lab at USCF we show that the RNA binding protein IGF2BP1 regulates meningioma cell growth, and that its expression stratifies patient outcomes and may be utilized as a risk marker. Read the full story
Our Roadmap Article entitled ‘Steering research on mRNA splicing in cancer towards clinical translation’ is published in Nature Review Cancer.
This multi-institutional white paper which stemmed from a Forbeck Forum discusses the current technological challenges, lingering misconceptions, and outstanding questions that hinder clinical translation of the splicing vulnerabilities that exist in tumors. Read the full story.
Nathan Leclair’s paper entitled ‘RNA splicing as a biomarker and phenotypic driver of meningioma DNA methylation groups’ is published in Neuro-Oncology.
This collaboration with the Raleigh Lab at USCF uncovers that RNA splicing is an important driver of meningioma phenotypes that can be useful in prognosticating patients and as a potential exploit for therapeutic vulnerabilities. Read the full story.