Rafal Ciosk
Academic interests
I have been interested in gene regulation, particularly posttranscriptional. 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 (a genetically tractable model, use the link below to learn more about it) and mammalian cells, which we study using genetics, genomics, biochemistry, and cell biology.
In future research, we will continue investigating novel mechanisms of mRNA regulation. Additionally, we will study molecular mechanisms facilitating cold survival, with exciting biomedical implications.
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)
2012-18 Senior group leader, Friedrich Miescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland)
2006-12 Junior group leader, Friedrich Miescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland)
2000-05 Postdoc, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Res. Center (Seattle, USA)
1998-99 Postdoc, Inst. of Molecular Pathology (Vienna, Austria)
1995-98 Ph.D. studies, Inst. of Molecular Pathology (Vienna, Austria)
1990-95 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 signalling antagonizes PRC2-mediated silencing to promote reprogramming of germ cells into neurons. eLife 5: e15477.