Postdoc: Relevance of alternative processing of highly expressed miRNAs and 5’isomiRs in different cancer entities

Postdoc: Relevance of alternative processing of highly expressed miRNAs and 5’isomiRs in different cancer entities

Field: Bioinformatics

• Description: The advent of high-throughput RNA sequencing has opened novel perspectives for both research and clinical routines. One of the novel findings is the discovery and validation of 5’isomiRs which differ from their canonically annotated counterparts due to alternative processing. They possess shifted seed sequences resulting in different target spectra and different phenotypic implications. The advertised, DFG-funded project will be performed in collaboration with the Division of Applied Bioinformatics and aims to investigate the relevance of alternative processing of a number of highly expressed miRNAs and 5’isomiRs in different cancer entities along with the underlying molecular mechanisms. For that purpose, in-depth analysis of publicly available miRNA-seq data of different cancer patient cohorts from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) will be performed. Preliminary data indicates that specific miRNAs are processed non-stochastically to generate isomiRs at different rates in certain patients. Based on this, this project aims to computationally predict potential causes and consequences of alternative processing. These predictions will then be tested experimentally with molecular and cell biology methods by members of the division.
• Place: Department of Molecular Genome Analysis - German Cancer Research Centre, Heideberg
• Telephone n°: +49 (0)6221/42-4718 (Dr. Cindy Körner)
• Website: here