PIPages
Labs

Marino Resendiz

University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Biochemistry

Oxidative stress chemically damages RNA, the molecule that carries genetic messages and does many jobs in cells. The most prominent damage mark is 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoG), an oxidized form of the RNA building block guanosine.

Fields

Biochemistry

Chemistry

Topics

RNA oxidation

8-oxoG

8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine

Grants
1 known grant, through May 2029

What they work on

  1. Establish how the oxidative lesion 8-oxoG changes the structure of ubiquitous RNA folding motifs that mediate recognition of and by other biomolecules, combining experiments with computational modeling to seek generalizable rules.
  2. Complete the oxidized RNA conjugate aptamer (ORCA) platform of RNA and DNA constructs, and use oxidized and canonical RNA to discover metabolites with high affinity for RNA structural motifs of interest.
  3. Explore the reactivity and interactions between oxidized RNA and RNase R, a ribonuclease conserved across all kingdoms of life, to identify factors needed for intracellular handling of damaged RNA.

More about the research

It is widely used as a biomarker of neurodegeneration and disease progression, and has been suggested to play roles in cell signaling and in normal RNA turnover. Decades of work examined this lesion in DNA, but far less is known about it in RNA. This project asks how 8-oxoG changes RNA's shape, function and chemical behavior.

Why it matters

RNA oxidation has been linked to disease development and progression, yet its basic effects on RNA remain poorly defined. Describing how 8-oxoG reshapes RNA folds and how cells process damaged RNA could help researchers interpret this widely used biomarker of oxidative stress. The aptamer platform could also yield molecules that bind RNA selectively, with possible uses in biosensing and in identifying therapeutic targets.

Known grants

From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.

Establishing the impact of 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoG) on the structure and function of RNA. Part III

NIH · Jun 2019 – May 2029

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The school

University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus: 41 labs on PI Pages, $766M a year on research, 205 research doctorates a year.

More about University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus

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