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Staff Profile

Professor David Elliott

Professor of Genetics

  • Email: david.elliott@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 241 8694
  • Fax: +44 (0) 191 241 8666
  • Address: Newcastle University Biosciences Institute
    The International Centre for Life
    Central Parkway
    University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
    NE1 3BZ
Background
I run a lab investigating RNA biology in development and disease, particularly the control of RNA splicing. Before setting up my group at Newcastle University, I was a Royal Society of Edinburgh  fellow at the Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, and previously at postdoc at Brandeis University in the USA.                                     
Research

Research Interests

We use a combination of molecular and cellular biology, mouse genetics and bioinformatics to understand how gene expression is controlled at the RNA level. We are particularly interested in splicing - the process that converts precursor RNAs made from often massive human genes into smaller protein coding mRNAs.

Splicing is critical in normal development. We recently found that an RNA binding protein called RBMXL2 prevents mistakes being made in splicing during male meiosis - a special form of cell division that makes sperm. We made knockout mice who were infertile because of an arrest in meiosis. When we analysed gene expression from these mice we discovered that cells were making mistakes that would scramble mRNAs and poison gene expression.

Splicing is also important in disease. We recently have been investigating how the male hormone testosterone controls splicing in prostate cancer. We found that testosterone controls expression of a key splicing factor called ESRP2. This is important for prostate cancer development which is driven by testosterone, and also for therapy. Treatment of prostate cancer cells with a drug that interferes with testosterone function switched patterns of splicing in important genes.


Publications