J. Ross Buchan, PhD

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Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Biography
My research interests center on regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) function, particularly in the context of cytoplasmic mRNA bodies termed stress granules and P-bodies. These biomolecular condensates are implicated in stress responses by reprogramming of the a cell's transcriptome, as well as in the alteration of stress-responsive signaling pathways due to kinase sequestration. Mutations that dysregulate stress granule or P-body assembly are also linked to pathogenic mechanisms of cancer and various neurodegenerative disease. I obtained my PhD in Ian Stansfield’s lab in 2006, at the University of Aberdeen, and completed a post-doc with Roy Parker in 2013. My lab at Arizona opened in 2014.
Cancer Focus
Various types of cancer exhibit an aberrant, and constitutive presence of stress granules. It is thought this may help cancers survive stressful and normally apoptosis-inducing environments by re-programming translation of the transcriptome, and downregulating pro-apoptotic cell signaling pathways. We are exploring the potential role of P-bodies in a similar context. Finally, numerous chemo-therapies are known to induce stress granules and P-bodies, with evidence suggesting that stress granules and P-bodies may thus affect chemo-therapeutic efficacy.
Selected Publications
Fernandes, N., and R. J Buchan, "RPS28B mRNA acts as a scaffold promoting cis-translational interaction of proteins driving P-body assembly.", Nucleic Acids Res, vol. 48, issue 11, pp. 6265-6279, 2020 06 19. PMCID: PMC7293044 PMID: 32396167
Liu, G., A. N. Coyne, F. Pei, S. Vaughan, M. Chaung, D. C. Zarnescu, and R. J Buchan, "Endocytosis regulates TDP-43 toxicity and turnover.", Nat Commun, vol. 8, issue 1, pp. 2092, 2017 12 12. PMCID: PMC5727062 PMID: 29233983
Liu, G., F. Pei, F. Yang, L. Li, A. Dipak Amin, S. Liu, R. J Buchan, and W. C. Cho, "Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.", Int J Mol Sci, vol. 18, issue 2, 2017 Feb 10. PMCID: PMC5343902 PMID: 28208579
J Buchan, R., "mRNP granules. Assembly, function, and connections with disease.", RNA Biol, vol. 11, issue 8, pp. 1019-30, 2014. PMCID: PMC4615263 PMID: 25531407
J Buchan, R., and R. Parker, "Eukaryotic stress granules: the ins and outs of translation.", Mol Cell, vol. 36, issue 6, pp. 932-41, 2009 Dec 25. PMCID: PMC2813218 PMID: 20064460