Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Martha L. Peterson,  Ph.D.

Associate Professor

E-mail: mlpete01@uky.edu
Telephone:   (859) 257-5478
Fax:   (859) 323-2094
Campus Address:  Microbiology & Immunology, 107 Combs Cancer Building, 0096

We are interested in mechanisms of gene regulation at the post-transcriptional level. As a model system, we have been studying the developmentally regulated expression of the mRNAs encoding the secreted and membrane-associated forms of IgM. These two mRNAs, µs and µm, are produced from a common precursor RNA that is differentially processed at it's 3' end; the relative amounts of µs and µm mRNA varies during B cell maturation. The regulation of these mRNAs requires a competition between two mutually exclusive RNA processing reactions: cleavage-polyadenylation and RNA splicing. We are using tissue culture cell lines, transgenic mice, and in vitro processing systems to learn more about these reactions and how they are regulated. We are also interested in the developmentally regulated termination of transcription, which serves to regulated IgM and IgD expression, and may also contribute to µs and µm regulation. Specifically, we are exploring the relationship between polyadenylation efficiency and transcriptional termination.