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Diana P. Bratu, Professor Lab Web Site:https://bratulab.wordpress.com Faculty Web Site:https://bratu.bioweb.hunter.cuny.edu |
Education:
- PostDoc. Fellow, Cell Dynamics, 2006, U.Mass. Med. School
- PostDoc. Fellow, Molecular Genetics, 2004, Public Health Research Institute
- Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology, 2003, Sackler Institute, NYU Med. School
- M.S., Molecular and Cell Biology, 2000, Sackler Institute, NYU Med. School
- B.A., Chemistry and Mathematics, 1995, NYU
Research Interest:
Biophotonics
My laboratory focuses on unveiling mechanisms through which RNA orchestrates gene expression, including translational repression, RNA interference, and RNA storage and turnover in living cells. We employ a comprehensive array of methodologies spanning from molecular, genetic, biochemical, biophysical and advanced imaging techniques to conduct developmental studies using Drosophila melanogaster, our model system. Our ongoing studies are geared towards refining our understanding of the roles played by processing bodies (P-bodies), biomolecular condensates that form via liquid-liquid phase separation, in conjunction with mRNA fate during development. Though previously perceived as sites of mRNA turnover, recent research demonstrates P-bodies are in fact also storage hubs for translationally silenced mRNAs, which are subsequently released into the cytoplasm in response to developmental cues or due to disruption in condensate organization.
I continue to decipher such intricate events occurring throughout the RNA lifecycle, endeavoring to comprehensively characterize these dynamic processes within living cells at the single-molecule level. Given the highly dynamic and transient nature of interactions between mRNAs-and-proteins (mRNPs), they are best studied via visualization of individual mRNP complexes in living cells. Recent advancements in high-resolution imaging technologies have significantly enhanced the precision of single-molecule tracking and analysis, thus elucidating the dynamic range of mRNP complexes implicated in post-transcriptional regulation.
Having access to state-of-the-art TIRF/SIM and DLS/STED systems at Hunter College, I have redirected my research focus towards investigating the intricate associations of mRNAs with effector proteins, spawning several new projects within the lab. In addition, my endeavors persist in pioneering new fluorescent probe methodologies to unveil the spatial and temporal localization of gene products—both mRNAs and proteins simultaneously—essential for processes like growth and differentiation, long-term memory formation and the establishment of metazoan body axes during early development.
Selected Publications:
- Bayer LV, Milano SN, Bratu DP. The mRNA dynamics underpinning translational control mechanisms of Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis. Biochem Soc Trans. 2024 Sep 12;. doi: 10.1042/BST20231293. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 39263986.
- Milano SN, Bayer LV, Ko JJ, Casella CE, Bratu DP. The role of ER exit sites in maintaining P-body organization and transmitting ER stress response during Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis. bioRxiv. 2024 Jul 5;. doi: 10.1101/2024.07.03.601952. PubMed PMID: 39005311; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11245038.
- Bayer LV, Milano S, Formel SK, Kaur H, Ravichandran R, Cambeiro JA, Slinko L, Catrina IE, Bratu DP. Cup is essential for oskar mRNA translational repression during early Drosophila oogenesis. RNA Biol. 2023 Jan;20(1):573-587. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2023.2242650. PubMed PMID: 37553798; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10413924.
- Catrina IE, Bayer LV, Omar OS, Bratu DP. Visualizing and Tracking Endogenous mRNAs in Live Drosophila melanogaster Egg Chambers. J Vis Exp. 2019 Jun 4;(148). doi: 10.3791/58545. PubMed PMID: 31233020.
- Bayer LV, Omar OS, Bratu DP, Catrina IE. PinMol: Python application for designing molecular beacons for live cell imaging of endogenous mRNAs. RNA. 2019 Mar;25(3):305-318. doi: 10.1261/rna.069542.118. Epub 2018 Dec 20. PubMed PMID: 30573696; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6380279.
- McLaughlin JM, Bratu DP. Drosophila melanogaster Oogenesis: An Overview. Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1328:1-20. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2851-4_1. Review. PubMed PMID: 26324426.
- Bayer LV, Batish M, Formel SK, Bratu DP. Single-Molecule RNA In Situ Hybridization (smFISH) and Immunofluorescence (IF) in the Drosophila Egg Chamber. Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1328:125-36. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2851-4_9. PubMed PMID: 26324434.
- Bratu DP, Catrina IE and Marras SAE. 2010 'Tiny molecular beacons for in vivo mRNA detection' RNA Visualization: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, Humana Press (in press)
- Mhlanga MM*, Bratu DP*, Genovesio A, Rybarska A, Chenouard N, Nehrbass U, Olivo-Marin JC. 2009 'In vivo colocalisation of oskar mRNA and trans-acting proteins revealed by quantitative imaging of the Drosophila oocyte' PLoS One 4(7): e6241. (*equal contribution)
- Kattenhoff CK, Bratu DP, McGinness-Schultz N, Kopetsch BS, Cook HA and Theurkauf WE. 2007 ‘Drosophila rasiRNA pathway mutations disrupt embryonic axis specification through activiation of an ATR/Chk2 DNA damage response’ Developmental Cell 12, 45-55.
- Theurkauf WE, Klattenhoff C, Bratu DP, McGinnis-Schultz N, Koppetsch BS, Cook HA. 2006 'rasiRNAs, DNA Damage, and Embryonic Axis Specification' Cold Spring Harbor Symposia Quant Biol. 71, 171-80.
- Forstemann K, Tomari Y, Du T, Vagin VV, Denli AM, Bratu DP, Klattenhoff C, Theurkauf WE, and Zamore PD. 2005 ‘Normal microRNA maturation and germ-line stem cell maintenance requires Loquacious, a double-stranded RNA-binding domain protein’, PLOS Biology Vol. 3(7), e236, pages 1187-1201
- Bratu DP, Cha B-J, Mhlanga MM, Kramer FR, and Tyagi S. 2003 ‘Visualizing the distribution and transport of mRNAs in living cells’, PNAS USA Vol. 100 (23), pages 13308-13.
- Bratu DP. 2003 ‘Molecular beacons light the way: Imaging native mRNAs in living cells’, Discovery Medicine Vol. 3 (19), pages 44-47.
- Tyagi S, Bratu DP, and Kramer FR. 1998 ‘Multicolor molecular beacons for allele discrimination’, Nature Biotechnology Vol. 16, pages 49-53.