Can Cenik, PhD
Assistant Professor, UT Austin Molecular Biosciences
Former RTI Lab: Postdoctoral Fellow, Moore Lab
Training Period: 2010 - 2012
Prior Academic Degree Institution: Harvard Medical School
Protein abundance is governed by the complex interplay between RNA expression and post-transcriptional processes including translation. In a typical eukaryotic cell, a particular gene might be expressed at an absolute mRNA copy number of a single molecule to ~1000 molecules. Yet, the dynamic range of proteins in individual cells is ~100 – 1,000,000 copies. Translation efficiency, i.e. the number of proteins synthesized per mRNA, is a major contributor to determining protein abundance. Our long-term goal is to develop the necessary computational and experimental framework that will enable quantitative and reproducible determination of translational control.