糖心原创

School of Pharmacy

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Catherine Jopling

Associate Professor, Head of Division of Molecular Therapeutics and Formulation, Faculty of Science

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Biography

I carried out my PhD from 1998-2001 with Professor Anne Willis at the University of Leicester on internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation. Following my PhD I obtained a Wellcome Trust International Research Fellowship, which provided funding for me to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Peter Sarnow at Stanford University, USA from 2002-5. At Stanford, I worked on a liver-specific microRNA, miR-122, and demonstrated that it interacts directly with hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and has an essential positive role in HCV replication. I spent the final year of my fellowship in Professor Richard Jackson's group at the University of Cambridge, where I continued with my previous research. In 2007 I came to Nottingham as part of the RNA Biology Group, and was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship to start my own research group, with a focus on understanding miRNA regulation of viral replication. This ran from September 2008 to August 2013. In September 2013 I was appointed Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy. I was promoted to Associate Professor in August 2020.

Teaching Summary

I teach gene therapy and RNA therapeutics as part of the Future Medicines module in year 4 of the MPharm course, PHAR4014.

I convene the Infection and Immunity module in year 2 of the MSci course, PHAR2031. I also teach the virology content on this module.

I also supervise undergraduate research projects, contribute to the Patient Leadership and Management module simulations and OSCEs, and act as a personal tutor.

Research Summary

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 21-23 nucleotide (nt) single-stranded RNA molecules that are important regulators of gene expression in a broad range of eukaryotic organisms. They are encoded as part of… read more

Recent Publications

  • ZHUANG X, MAGRI A, HILL M, LAI AG, KUMAR A, RAMBHATLA SB, DONALD CL, LOPEZ-CLAVIJO AF, RUDGE S, PINNICK K, CHANG WH, WING PAC, BROWN R, QIN X, SIMMONDS P, BAUMERT TF, RAY D, LOUDON A, BALFE P, WAKELAM M, BUTTERWORTH S, KOHL A, JOPLING CL, ZITZMANN N and MCKEATING JA, 2019. Nature communications. 10(1), 377
  • AHMED CS, WINLOW PL, PARSONS AL and JOPLING CL, 2018. Nucleic acids research. 1-14
  • DHIR A, DHIR S, PROUDFOOT NJ and JOPLING CL, 2015. Nature structural & molecular biology. 22(4), 319-327
  • ROBERTS APE, DOIDGE R, TARR AW and JOPLING CL, 2014. Nucleic acids research. 42, 1257-1269

School of Pharmacy Building, East Drive, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Current Research

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 21-23 nucleotide (nt) single-stranded RNA molecules that are important regulators of gene expression in a broad range of eukaryotic organisms. They are encoded as part of longer transcripts that undergo successive nuclear and cytoplasmic processing steps to yield a mature miRNA, which functions in association with a complex of proteins known as the miRNP. In animals most miRNAs have been found to function by associating with imperfect complementarity with sites in the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNA targets. This results in the repression of gene expression by a process that is not yet fully understood, although inhibition of translation and RNA degradation are both implicated.

Mammalian miRNAs show a high degree of specificity of expression, both by developmental stage and by tissue type. miR-122 is a highly liver-specific miRNA that accounts for 70% of the total miRNA content of the liver. My postdoctoral research showed that miR-122 binds directly to two adjacent sites in the 5'UTR of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, and that this binding is required for viral replication, a novel mode of action for a miRNA. miR-122 also has biologically important roles in cholesterol and iron metabolism in the liver, and functions as a tumour suppressor.

miRNA and CCR4-NOT function at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)

As part of a BBSRC-funded grant with Martin Bushell at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute, we are investigating how miRNAs and the CCR4-NOT complex work together to regulate gene expression in the cytoplasm and at the ER. To do this, we have generated cell lines which allow targeted protein degradation of CCR4-NOT components by the dTAG method.

miR-122 biogenesis

We are also interested in understanding the biogenesis of miR-122 and other miRNAs. We recently investigated the interplay between splicing and miRNA biogenesis and found that disruption of splicing leads to a broad reduction in miRNA production. We are now investigating the underlying mechanisms.

miRNA function in the inflammatory response

Our third area of research, in collaboration with Dr Cornelia de Moor and Dr Anna Piccinini at the University of Notitngham, focuses on understanding miRNA regulation of mRNAs that are induced at the level of transcription and undergo rapid changes in poly(A) tail length during the inflammatory response.

Therapeutic RNA delivery

In collaboration with Professor Snow Stolnik and Dr Naoto Hori at the 糖心原创, and Professor Helen Hailes at UCL, we are using state-of-the-art molecular biology approaches to investigate factors that influence efficient RNA delivery into cells for therapeutic purposes.

Group members

Current

Postdoc

Angela Downie (BBSRC-funded)

PhD students

Alfredo Smart (EPSRC CDT)

Merryn Hughes (EPSRC CDT)

Sabesan Anandavijayan (School of Pharmac)

Past

PhD students

Athena Martin

Poppy Winlow

Aimee Parsons

Shoaib Ahmed

Andrew Lewis

Postdocs

Ashley Roberts

Rachel Doidge

  • ZHUANG X, MAGRI A, HILL M, LAI AG, KUMAR A, RAMBHATLA SB, DONALD CL, LOPEZ-CLAVIJO AF, RUDGE S, PINNICK K, CHANG WH, WING PAC, BROWN R, QIN X, SIMMONDS P, BAUMERT TF, RAY D, LOUDON A, BALFE P, WAKELAM M, BUTTERWORTH S, KOHL A, JOPLING CL, ZITZMANN N and MCKEATING JA, 2019. Nature communications. 10(1), 377
  • AHMED CS, WINLOW PL, PARSONS AL and JOPLING CL, 2018. Nucleic acids research. 1-14
  • DHIR A, DHIR S, PROUDFOOT NJ and JOPLING CL, 2015. Nature structural & molecular biology. 22(4), 319-327
  • ROBERTS APE, DOIDGE R, TARR AW and JOPLING CL, 2014. Nucleic acids research. 42, 1257-1269
  • JOPLING CL, 2014. eLife. 3, e04300
  • FLETCHER, N.F., WILSON, G.K., MURRAY, J., HU, K., LEWIS, A., REYNOLDS, G.M., STAMATAKI, Z., MEREDITH, L.W., ROWE, I.A., LUO, G., LOPEZ-RAMIREZ, M.A., BAUMERT, T.F., WEKSLER, B., COURAUD, P.O., KIM, K.S., ROMERO, I.A., JOPLING, C., MORGELLO, S., BALFE, P. and MCKEATING, J.A., 2012. Gastroenterology. 142(3), 634-643.e6
  • JOPLING C, 2012. Liver-Specific Microrna-122: Biogenesis And Function. RNA Biology. 9(2), 137-142
  • ROBERTS, A.P.E., LEWIS, A.P. and JOPLING, C.L., 2011. Nucleic Acids Research. 39(17), 7716-7729
  • ROBERTS AP, LEWIS AP and JOPLING CL, 2011. Progress in molecular biology and translational science. 102, 101-39
  • LEWIS, ANDREW P and JOPLING, CATHERINE L, 2010. Regulation and biological function of the liver-specific miR-122. Biochemical Society transactions. 38(6), 1553-7
  • JOPLING CL, 2010. Viruses. 2(7), 1382-93
  • ROBERTS AP and JOPLING CL, 2010. Genome biology. 11(1), 201
  • JOPLING, C.L., 2008. Biochemical Society Transactions. 36, 1220-3
  • JOPLING, C.L., SCH脺TZ, S. and SARNOW, P., 2008. Cell Host & Microbe. 4(1), 77-85
  • GRIMM, DIRK, STREETZ, KONRAD L, JOPLING, CATHERINE L, STORM, THERESA A, PANDEY, KUSUM, DAVIS, CORRINE R, MARION, PATRICIA, SALAZAR, FELIX and KAY, MARK A, 2006. Nature. 441(7092), 537-41
  • JOPLING, C L, NORMAN, K L and SARNOW, P, 2006. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology. 71, 369-76
  • SARNOW, PETER, JOPLING, CATHERINE L, NORMAN, KARA L, SCH脺TZ, SYLVIA and WEHNER, KAREN A, 2006. MicroRNAs: expression, avoidance and subversion by vertebrate viruses. Nature Reviews: Microbiology. 4(9), 651-9
  • JOPLING, CATHERINE L, YI, MINKYUNG, LANCASTER, ALISSA M, LEMON, STANLEY M and SARNOW, PETER, 2005. Modulation of hepatitis C virus RNA abundance by a liver-specific MicroRNA. Science. 309(5740), 1577-81
  • JOPLING, C.L., SPRIGGS, K.A., MITCHELL, S.A., STONELEY, M. and WILLIS, A.E., 2004. RNA. 10(2), 287-298
  • JOPLING, C.L. and WILLIS, A.E., 2001. Oncogene. 20(21), 2664-2670
  • STONELEY M, SUBKHANKULOVA T, LE QUESNE JP, COLDWELL MJ, JOPLING CL, BELSHAM GJ and WILLIS AE, 2000. Nucleic acids research. 28(3), 687-94
  • STONELEY M, CHAPPELL SA, JOPLING CL, DICKENS M, MACFARLANE M and WILLIS AE, 2000. Molecular and cellular biology. 20(4), 1162-9

School of Pharmacy

糖心原创
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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