Our Science

We are interested in how cells in the nervous system make decisions to turn genes on or off, and how those decisions are remembered in processes such as development or plasticity, and in injury or disease.  The goal of the Meffert lab is to gain a mechanistic understanding of how selective gene programs are recruited and maintained.  Rather than focusing on single genes, we investigate the upstream processes that allow coordinate regulation of many genes to achieve biological impact.  We uncover dynamic molecular mechanisms for spatial control of gene programs at cellular and subcellular levels, with a focus on the roles played by non-coding RNA and RNA-binding proteins.  Understanding how genes can be co-regulated post-transcriptionally to produce concerted programs is a fundamental biological question that is also attractive to our laboratory because of its particular relevance for compartmentalized responses in the nervous system, such as in synaptic plasticity.  

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We are highly collaborative and have pioneered multi-disciplinary approaches in molecular diagnostics, biochemistry, high resolution cellular imaging, mouse genetics and behavior, and computational analysis. Discovery-based sequencing strategies have been developed to reveal in vivo small RNA targets through the production of small RNA: target chimeric molecules. The Meffert lab leverages an understanding of basic gene control mechanisms to illuminate potential therapeutic targets in both nerve injury and the development of cognitive disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, such as Fragile X Syndrome, in which disrupted growth and function of synaptic connections is a central component. Ongoing studies use mouse models and human samples to test how translation, miRNA biogenesis and miRNA:target interactions, may be pathologically regulated to produce phenotypes associated with disease.