"The immune system is an ideal model for studying all sorts of biochemical processes - development, the regulation of gene expression, alternative splicing and cellular stress responses, to mention only a few." - Anjana Rao, Ph.D.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Rao received her undergraduate and master's degrees from Osmania University in India and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.  After many years as a faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and the Immune Disease Institute in Boston, she will join the La Jolla Institute in 2010.  She has worked on signaling and gene transcription for many years, is a member of numerous advisory panels, and has received several major awards.

   Anjana Rao, Ph.D., studies one of life's greatest molecular mysteries: How do the more than 20,000 genes that make up every human being actually function?  Genes are the blueprint of every individual.  They determine the color of your eyes and other physical traits, and also have a strong influence on the diseases you may develop in your lifetime.  Dr. Rao heads the Institute's new Division of Signalling and Gene Expression.  "The Human Genome Project gave the world the entire nucleotide sequence of every human gene.  While this was monumental, we still know little about how genes work individually, and collectively, to affect disease processes."  Dr. Rao is using RNA interference screens, mice with targeted alterations of individual genes, high-throughput sequencing and other state-of-the-art technologies to analyze how genes are regulated, how the proteins they encode maintain the proper functioning of the body, and how loss of function of certain proteins leads to human diseases such as autoimmunity, immune deficiencies, developmental defects and cancer.  "We can apply these technologies to study the functions of virtually any gene," said Dr. Rao. The result will be powerful information that could lead to new therapies based on altering gene function.

Pore architecture of the ORAI1 store-operated calcium channel. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
2010

STIM1 gates the store-operated calcium channel ORAI1 in vitro. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 2010

RNAi screening: Tips and techniques. Nature Immunol. 2009

Halofuginone inhibits TH17 cell differentiation by activating the amino acid starvation response. Science. 2009 

Conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mammalian DNA by MLL partner TET1. Science. 2009 

Runx3 and T-box proteins cooperate to establish the transcriptional program of effector CTLs. J Exp Med. 2009 

Regulation of CD45 alternative splicing by heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein, hnRNPLL. Science. 2008  

Mouse Eri1 interacts with the ribosome and catalyzes 5.8S rRNA processing. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2008

Dual functions for the endoplasmic reticulum calcium sensors STIM1 and STIM2 in T cell activation and tolerance. Nat Immunol. 2008

Transcription factors T-bet and Runx3 cooperate to activate Ifng and silence Il4 in T helper type 1 cells.. Nature Immunol. 2007

FOXP3 controls T regulatory function through cooperation with NFAT. Cell. 2006

A genome-wide Drosophila RNAi screen identifies DYRK-family kinases as regulators of NFAT. Nature. 2006

A mutation in Orai1 causes immune deficiency by abrogating store-operated Ca2+ entry and CRAC channel function. Nature. 2006

Deletion of a conserved Il4 silencer impairs T helper type 1-mediated immunity. Nature Immunol. 2004

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