Rafal Ciosk
Academic interests
I am interested in gene regulation, particularly post-transcriptional. Whether a specific mRNA is translated, repressed, or degraded, depends on its interactions with RNA-binding proteins and regulatory RNAs. My laboratory studies how these interactions determine mRNA fate and how posttranscriptional mechanisms control fundamental biological processes. Our main experimental models are the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and mammalian cells, which we study using genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and cell biology.
Teaching
BIOS2910 Molecular biology (organizer)
MBV4030 Methods in cell biology (contributor)
MBV4010 Methods in molecular biology and biochemistry I (contributor)
BIOS3601 Genetics and developmental biology (contributor)
Higher education and appointments
2018-now Professor, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
2020-now Associate Investigator, Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (Oslo)
2017-now Associate Professor, Inst. of Bioorganic Chemistry (Poznan, Poland)
2012-2018 Senior group leader, Friedrich Miescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland)
2006-2012 Junior group leader, Friedrich Miescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland)
2000-2005 Postdoc, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Res. Center (Seattle, USA)
1998-1999 Postdoc, Inst. of Molecular Pathology (Vienna, Austria)
1995-1998 Ph.D. studies, Inst. of Molecular Pathology (Vienna, Austria)
1990-1995 M.Sc. studies, University of Szeged (Hungary)
Selected recent publications
(2021) End-of-life targeted auxin-mediated degradation of DAF-2 Insulin/IGF-1 receptor promotes longevity free from growth-related pathologies. eLife 10: e71335.
Kumari P, Aeschimann F, Gaidatzis D, Keusch JJ, Ghosh P, Neagu A, Pachulska-Wieczorek K, Bujnicki JM, Gut H, Großhans H, and Ciosk R. (2018) Evolutionary plasticity of the NHL domain underlies distinct solutions to RNA recognition. Nature Commun 9(1): 1549.
Fassnacht C, Tocchini C, Kumari P, Gaidatzis D, Stadler MB, and Ciosk R (2018). The CSR-1 endogenous RNAi pathway ensures accurate transcriptional reprogramming during the oocyte-to-embryo transition in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS Genet 14(3): e1007252.
Aeschimann F, Kumari P, Bartake H, Gaidatzis D, Ciosk R, and Großhans H (2017). LIN41 post-transcriptionally silences mRNAs by two distinct and position-dependent mechanisms. Mol Cell 65, 476-89.
Habacher C, Guo Y, Venz R, Kumari P, Neagu A, Gaidatzis D, Harvald E, Færgeman N, Gut H, and Ciosk R (2016). Ribonuclease-mediated control of body fat. Dev Cell 39, 359-69.
Seelk S, Kalchhauser I, Hargitai B, Hajduskova M, Gutnik S, Tursun B, and Ciosk R (2016). Increasing Notch signaling antagonizes PRC2-mediated silencing to promote reprogramming of germ cells into neurons. eLife 5: e15477.