How triadin and junctin communicate with ryanodine receptors deep within a calcium store to determine skeletal muscle contraction

MicroRNAs have recently emerged as critical repressors of gene expression causing cancers and other diseases when dysregulated, but the mechanisms that regulate their function are largely unknown. Focusing on the novel protein Roquin, which uniquely binds both microRNAs and target mRNAs, and alters their decay when mutated, we aim to investigate the mechanisms that direct binding of microRNAs to their targets and regulate their half-life and function. This will be achieved using novel genome wide approaches to investigate protein/RNA interactions combined with structure-function studies. It is expected this will lead to the discovery of laws that govern microRNA actions and may help us understand how cancers and autoimmune diseases emerge.