About his PhD project

Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) are known as gene expression cis-regulatory elements. In half of eukaryotic mRNAs, one or more uORFs precede the initiation codon of the main coding region. By reducing the efficiency of translation initiation of the main downstream ORF or by triggering mRNA decay, uORFs participate to the translation regulatory mechanisms, notably during stress. However, translation of small peptides encoded by uORFs led to the assumption that they may play additional functional roles in trans beside their regulatory functions, calling for further studies. In this context, the CIML and the TAGC will combine their efforts in an interdisciplinary project aiming at understanding the nature, the regulation and the functions of uORFs in the context of dendritic cells development and activation, in the light of a thorough computational predictive analysis of their pattern of expression and macromolecular interactions. The project will require developing computational biology approaches and analyses, complemented with experimental biology to identify uORFs and predict their expression and function in dendritic cells (DC), an important professional antigen presenting cell type that orchestrates both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Whereas the CIML brings the expertise in regulation of protein expression by uORFs in stress and pathogenic conditions, the TAGC provides the network computational biology skills and the experience in protein multifunctionality analysis necessary to the project.