PRBB-CRG Sessions Andrea Pauli

26/10/201812:00MARIE CURIEPRBB-CRG SessionsAndrea PauliResearch Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, AT"Small proteins with big roles – from coordinating cell migration to mediating species-specific fertilization"Host: Verena Ruprecht (CRG)Abstract:Many transcripts have recently been found to contain short translated open reading frames that had been missed in previous gene annotations. A main focus of the Pauli lab is the identification of novel functional short proteins, using zebrafish as a model system. The Pauli lab has discovered two essential short proteins which differ in their biological functions: Toddler/Apela/ELABELA is a secreted peptide that signals via a GPCR to promote gastrulation movement during zebrafish embryogenesis. More recently, the Pauli lab discovered Bouncer, a GPI-anchored, short membrane protein that functions as the gate-keeper of the oocyte: Bouncer is not only essential for sperm entry into the egg, but also mediates species-specificity of fertilization. These findings have firmly established short proteins as an exciting new research area.