Cornelia de Moor

Contact

• workRoom C94 Centre for Biomolecular Sciences
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 9515041
• fax0115 8468002
• Cornelia.De_moor@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

I have worked in RNA biology for many years and published 6 reviews and 15 research papers on the subject in internationally recognised journals. As a postgraduate student I studied the translational control of insulin like growth factor by its alternative 5' UTRs in human tissues. During my postdoctoral research, I investigated the role of translational control in Xenopus oocyte maturation and made significant contributions to the elucidation the translational repression of cyclin B1 and its activation by cytoplasmic polyadenylation. My work was instrumental in formulating the first molecular model for translational control by a 3' untranslated region, the maskin model.

In 2000, I stared my own laboratory in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Nottingham. My current work is on the role of the 3' end of the mRNA, especially synthesis and degradation of the poly(A) tail of the mRNA and its role in gene expression. We are using mathematical modelling, standard molecular biology techniques, as well as a number of novel techniques developed in our laboratory, such as poly(A) size fractionation and mRNA synthesis and decay modelling using multiple thiouridine labelling. My laboratory has contributed to 7 scientific papers since 2008 (march 2012).

In September 2005 I moved my laboratory from the School of Biomedical Sciences to the newly founded RNA Biology Group in the School of Pharmacy. This new environment is proving very beneficial to my research, both because of the improved research environment and the smaller teaching commitment.

Teaching Summary

I am especially interested in teaching how molecular biology research contributes to the development of new medicines.

Teaching:

B31A02 Introductory Biochemistry and Cellular Microbiology: Structural and Molecular Biology B33E12 Drugs from Bench to Bedside: Sterile Production B34H09 Research Project: Introduction to the Molecular and Cellular Sciences Projects

Deputy Head of the Pharmacology and Biology Teaching Group

My laboratory takes 2 work experience students every summer.

Research Summary

The research in my laboratory focuses on post-transcriptional gene regulation of mRNA and protein expression, especially by sequences downstream of the stop codon of the protein coding region. This… read more

Recent Publications

• MEIJER, HEDDA A and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2011. Fractionation of mRNA based on the length of the poly(A) tail. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 703, 123-35
• EDWARDS, JOHN, MALAURIE, EMILIE, KONDRASHOV, ALEXANDER, LONG, JED, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, SEARLE, MARK S and EMSLEY, JONAS, 2011. Sequence determinants for the tandem recognition of UGU and CUG rich RNA elements by the two N--terminal RRMs of CELF1. Nucleic Acids Research. 39, 8638-8650
• JAMES, VICTORIA, ZHANG, YINING, FOXLER, DANIEL E, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, KONG, YI WEN, WEBB, THOMAS M, SELF, TIM J, FENG, YUNGFENG, LAGOS, DIMITRIOS, CHU, CHIA-YING, RANA, TARIQ M, MORLEY, SIMON J, LONGMORE, GREGORY D, BUSHELL, MARTIN and SHARP, TYSON V, 2010. LIM-domain proteins, LIMD1, Ajuba, and WTIP are required for microRNA-mediated gene silencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107(28), 12499-12504
• WONG, YING YING, MOON, ALICE, DUFFIN, RUTH, BARTHET-BARATEIG, ADELINE, MEIJER, HEDDA A, CLEMENS, MICHAEL J and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2010. Cordycepin inhibits protein synthesis and cell adhesion through effects on signal transduction. The Journal of biological chemistry. 285(4), 2610-21

• View all publications

Current Research

The research in my laboratory focuses on post-transcriptional gene regulation of mRNA and protein expression, especially by sequences downstream of the stop codon of the protein coding region. This type of gene regulation is much more common than previously thought, and includes modulation of mRNA stability, translational control, mRNA localisation and changes in nuclear polyadenylation. The regulation is generally mediated by RNA binding proteins, microRNAs and/or polyadenylation and deadenylation. We study these processes in cell lines during cell adhesion and proliferation, during the inflammatory response and in human embryonic stem cells. Our work has potential applications in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancer and regenerative medicine.

Cornelia de Moor says "I am very excited about our recent advances in the understanding of post-transcriptional control of gene expression, we are now combining our fundamental work on how genes control the production of proteins with possible applications in the treatment of disease such as asthma and cancer."

For more information about our research, please visit the RNA Biology Group pages.

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

• Member of the RNA Society
• Member of the Biochemical Society
• Member of the editorial advisory board of The Biochemical Journal

• MEIJER, HEDDA A and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2011. Fractionation of mRNA based on the length of the poly(A) tail. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 703, 123-35
• EDWARDS, JOHN, MALAURIE, EMILIE, KONDRASHOV, ALEXANDER, LONG, JED, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, SEARLE, MARK S and EMSLEY, JONAS, 2011. Sequence determinants for the tandem recognition of UGU and CUG rich RNA elements by the two N--terminal RRMs of CELF1. Nucleic Acids Research. 39, 8638-8650
• JAMES, VICTORIA, ZHANG, YINING, FOXLER, DANIEL E, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, KONG, YI WEN, WEBB, THOMAS M, SELF, TIM J, FENG, YUNGFENG, LAGOS, DIMITRIOS, CHU, CHIA-YING, RANA, TARIQ M, MORLEY, SIMON J, LONGMORE, GREGORY D, BUSHELL, MARTIN and SHARP, TYSON V, 2010. LIM-domain proteins, LIMD1, Ajuba, and WTIP are required for microRNA-mediated gene silencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107(28), 12499-12504
• WONG, YING YING, MOON, ALICE, DUFFIN, RUTH, BARTHET-BARATEIG, ADELINE, MEIJER, HEDDA A, CLEMENS, MICHAEL J and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2010. Cordycepin inhibits protein synthesis and cell adhesion through effects on signal transduction. The Journal of biological chemistry. 285(4), 2610-21
• KONG, YI WEN, CANNELL, IAN G, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, HILL, KIRSTI, GARSIDE, PAUL G, HAMILTON, TIFFANY L, MEIJER, HEDDA A, DOBBYN, HELEN C, STONELEY, MARK, SPRIGGS, KEITH A, WILLIS, ANNE E and BUSHELL, MARTIN, 2008. The mechanism of micro-RNA-mediated translation repression is determined by the promoter of the target gene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105(26), 8866-71
• DOBBYN,, HILL,, HAMILTON,, SPRIGGS,, PICKERING,, COLDWELL,, DE MOOR,, BUSHELL, and WILLIS,, 2008. Regulation of BAG-1 IRES-mediated translation following chemotoxic stress. Oncogene. 27, 1167-1174
• COBBOLD, LAURA C, SPRIGGS, KEITH A, HAINES, STEPHEN J, DOBBYN, HELEN C, HAYES, CHRISTOPHER, DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, LILLEY, KATHRYN S, BUSHELL, MARTIN and WILLIS, ANNE E, 2008. Identification of internal ribosome entry segment (IRES)-trans-acting factors for the Myc family of IRESs. Molecular and cellular biology. 28(1), 40-9
• RADFORD, HELOIS E, MEIJER, HEDDA A and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2008. Translational control by cytoplasmic polyadenylation in Xenopus oocytes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 1779(4), 217-29
• MEIJER, H.A., RADFORD, H.E., WILSON, L.S., LISSENDEN, S. and DE MOOR, C.H., 2007. Translational control of maskin mRNA by its 3' untranslated region Biology of the Cell. 99(5), 239-250
• MEIJER, HEDDA A, BUSHELL, MARTIN, HILL, KIRSTI, GANT, TIMOTHY W, WILLIS, ANNE E, JONES, PETER and DE MOOR, CORNELIA H, 2007. A novel method for poly(A) fractionation reveals a large population of mRNAs with a short poly(A) tail in mammalian cells. Nucleic Acids Research. 35(19), e132
• DE MOOR, C.H., MEIJER, H. and LISSENDEN, S., 2005. Mechanisms of translational control by the 3' UTR in development and differentiation. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 16(1), 49-58
• DE MOOR, C.H. and RICHTER, J.D., 2001. Translational control in vertebrate development. International Review of Cytology. 203, 567-608
• DE MOOR, C H and RICHTER, J D, 1999. Cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements mediate masking and unmasking of cyclin B1 mRNA. EMBO Journal. 18(8), 2294-303
• STEBBINS-BOAZ, B, CAO, Q, DE MOOR, C H, MENDEZ, R and RICHTER, J D, 1999. Maskin is a CPEB-associated factor that transiently interacts with elF-4E. Molecular Cell. 4(6), 1017-27
• DE MOOR, C H and RICHTER, J D, 1997. The Mos pathway regulates cytoplasmic polyadenylation in Xenopus oocytes. Molecular and Cellular Biology. 17(11), 6419-26