Ross Buchan

Photo of Ross Buchan

Ross Buchan

Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Associate Professor, Cancer Biology - GIDP
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Department Affiliations
Molecular and Cellular Biology
BIO5 Institute
Contact
(520) 626-1881
rbuchan@arizona.edu

Work Summary

The Buchan lab studies how cells regulate gene expression at the level of cytoplasmic messenger RNA (mRNA), the templates of protein synthesis. Areas of particular interest include mRNA-protein bodies called stress granules and P-bodies, which regulate mRNA function, cell signaling, and are implicated in the pathology of viral replication, various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.

Research Interest

The control of gene expression is critical to nearly all aspects of cellular biology, from maintaining basic cell function and identity, to the ability of cells to respond to numerous signals that arise during processes such as development, exposure to pathogens or changes in the cellular environment. A key means by which all cells enact appropriate gene expression responses is to alter the function of messenger RNAs (mRNAs). mRNAs exist in different functional states, dependent upon the proteins bound to them. These states include translation (protein synthesis), repression (off state) and decay. The localization of an mRNAs can also affect its function, thus cells are offered an array of spatial and temporal mechanisms for gene expression control at the mRNA level. mRNAs can also cycle between these different functional states. For example, mRNAs exiting translation often accumulate in distinct mRNA-protein (mRNP) assemblies known as P-bodies and stress granules, from which they may ultimately return to translation again or possibly undergo mRNA decay. Dr Buchan (Ph.D, B.S.) and his lab are particularly interested in the study of P-bodies and stress granules. These conserved, mRNA-protein (mRNP) bodies contain important protein regulators of mRNA decay and translation, as well as signaling proteins, and thus affect gene expression control and cell signaling pathways. In addition, they strongly resemble other important mRNP granules that function in embryogenesis (maternal granules) and memory formation (neuronal transport granules). Finally, stress granules and P-bodies have numerous connections to disease, such as an involvement in RNA viral replication, elevated levels in certain cancer types, as well as the formation of aberrant stress granules in neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The Buchan lab uses yeast and cell line models to study the assembly, disassembly and function of stress granules and P-bodies, and how aspects of stress granule and P-bodies contribute to ALS and forms of cancer

Publications

Liu, G., Coyne, A. N., Pei, F., Vaughan, S., Chaung, M., Zarnescu, D. C., & Buchan, J. R. (2017). Endocytosis regulates TDP-43 toxicity and turnover. Nature communications, 8(1), 2092.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron degenerative disease. ALS-affected motor neurons exhibit aberrant localization of a nuclear RNA binding protein, TDP-43, into cytoplasmic aggregates, which contributes to pathology via unclear mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that TDP-43 turnover and toxicity depend in part upon the endocytosis pathway. TDP-43 inhibits endocytosis, and co-localizes strongly with endocytic proteins, including in ALS patient tissue. Impairing endocytosis increases TDP-43 toxicity, aggregation, and protein levels, whereas enhancing endocytosis reverses these phenotypes. Locomotor dysfunction in a TDP-43 ALS fly model is also exacerbated and suppressed by impairment and enhancement of endocytic function, respectively. Thus, endocytosis dysfunction may be an underlying cause of ALS pathology.

Liu, G., Pei, F., Yang, F., Li, L., Amin, A. D., Liu, S., Buchan, J. R., & Cho, W. C. (2017). Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. International journal of molecular sciences, 18(2).

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes 85% of all lung cancers, and is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The poor prognosis and resistance to both radiation and chemotherapy warrant further investigation into the molecular mechanisms of NSCLC and the development of new, more efficacious therapeutics. The processes of autophagy and apoptosis, which induce degradation of proteins and organelles or cell death upon cellular stress, are crucial in the pathophysiology of NSCLC. The close interplay between autophagy and apoptosis through shared signaling pathways complicates our understanding of how NSCLC pathophysiology is regulated. The apoptotic effect of autophagy is controversial as both inhibitory and stimulatory effects have been reported in NSCLC. In addition, crosstalk of proteins regulating both autophagy and apoptosis exists. Here, we review the recent advances of the relationship between autophagy and apoptosis in NSCLC, aiming to provide few insights into the discovery of novel pathogenic factors and the development of new cancer therapeutics.

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