During her PhD studies, Britt K. Ardal studied gene expression in human cells. Genes are localized in the cell nucleus, where it is copied to RNA molecules and transported to the cellular facilities where conversion of the genetic code into proteins takes part. Britt has studied a specific type of “parasitic” genes, encoding the so called snoRNAs, which play important roles in the regulation of their host genes.

When in association with specific snoRNA proteins, snoRNAs are known to mediate vital modifications of other types of RNA. Hence, regulation of their presence has to be strictly controlled by the cell. Britt has found a novel and surprising function of a specific snoRNA, which is located in a gene encoding a snoRNA binding protein. This snoRNA turns out to be a key sensor and master switch, controlling the protein expression of its own host gene, which ultimately plays a crucial role for the overall snoRNA levels within the cell. These novel results have contributed to the understanding of how snoRNA function is regulated within human cells and have opened up a whole new research field where other snoRNA-regulated cellular mechanisms might be identified.

The PhD study was completed at Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Monday 19 October 2020 at 09:00
Place: The PhD defence will be held online. To receive a link to the event, please send an e-mail to Helle Homann, heho@mbg.au.dk 
Title of PhD thesis: NOP56 - a Hub for Box C/D snoRNP Autoregulation and Nucleolar Maintenance
Contact information: Britt Kidmose Ardal, e-mail: ardal@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 28 34 53 86
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Anders Henrik Lund, Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Copenhagen University, Denmark Professor Ling-Ling Chen, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, SIBS, CAS, China
Professor Ernst-Martin Füchtbauer, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University (chair) Denmark
Main supervisor:
Professor Torben Heick Jensen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Søren Lykke-Andersen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.

Due to the coronavirus situation, the PhD thesis will not be available for reading at the offices of the PhD administration. Instead, interested parties may send an e-mail to gradschool.nat@au.dk to receive a digital copy of the PhD thesis. Please note, it may in certain cases be necessary to make an individual arrangement to read the PhD thesis.