Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression following toxic injury

Ribosomes—the cell's protein-building machines—can crash into each other when they try to read damaged messenger RNA, and this project aims to work out exactly how cells detect those pile-ups and trigger a stress response. The problem is that while scientists know ribosome collisions happen after exposure to toxic chemicals or certain drugs, the precise molecular signals that alert the cell to the damage remain unclear. Without that knowledge, it is impossible to predict how cells will react to synthetic mRNA—the kind used in COVID-19 vaccines and other advanced therapeutics. The cell might misinterpret a deliberately modified mRNA as damaged cargo, activating stress pathways that could reduce the vaccine's effectiveness or cause unintended side effects. This is fundamental science: the researchers are not developing a product or testing a treatment. They are mapping a core surveillance mechanism that cells use to monitor the quality of protein production. If successful, the work will provide a clear molecular picture of how ribosome collisions trigger the stress response. That understanding could then guide the design of future mRNA therapeutics—helping engineers avoid sequences or modifications that accidentally mimic damage, and ensuring synthetic mRNAs slip past the cell's quality-control systems without raising an alarm.