Introduction of Research

The transport of specific mRNAs and local control of translation in neuronal dendrites represent an important gene expression system that controls the location at which neurites will connect to each other, thereby forming neural networks. “RNA granules” play essential roles in these processes. We are researching RNA granule factors regulating mRNA transport and local translation, their target mRNAs, their physical properties that cause liquid-liquid phase separation and condensation, and the mechanisms of localized protein synthesis using mice in order to better understand their relation to the formation of synapses and neural networks, memory, learning, and behavior.