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Overview
Richard Maraia, who heads the Section of Molecular and Cell Biology, studies RNA metabolism, with continued interest in tRNA biogenesis. Efforts focus on RNA 3′-end formation by RNA polymerase III and the RNA 3′-end–stabilizing protein La. The Section's recent data suggest that La-related protein-4 (LARP4) binds to 3′ poly(A) and stabilizes mRNAs. Another focus is on Tit1p, an anticodon loop–modification enzyme that modifies a small subset of tRNAs, and its effects on the subset of mRNAs with cognate codon bias. The Section uses genetics coupled with genome-wide profiling and this-generation sequencing, cell and structural biology, and biochemistry in model systems that include yeast, mammalian cultured cells, and gene-altered mice.