Interrogating the RNA to find new cancer treatments
Our lab uses high-throughput sequencing data and experimental validations to find RNA variations involved in normal tissue development or in cancer.
Using variations in RNA splicing patterns, it is possible to discover molecular
signals missed with other approaches. Over the years, transcriptomic analyses
have provided key insight on questions encompassing the fields of
autism spectrum disorders and cancer. For example, we have:
- Surveyed all alternative splicing events occuring in 86 normal human tissues and 41 cancer datesets - see Quesnel-Vallières et al. 2024
- A large array of diverse tumour types share common molecular patterns characterized by the deregulation of RNA processing - see Jha, Quesnel-Vallières et al. 2022
- A program of alternative RNA splicing events is causally linked to a large fraction of autism spectrum disorder cases - see Irimia et al. 2014, Quesnel-Vallières et al. 2016
Vision
The lab officially launched in September 2023. Our research is driven by a combination of computional analyses to generate hypotheses and experimental work to describe biological functions. We believe that studying RNA splicing will uncover new therapeutic avenues for cancer. We also believe that the role of RNA-binding proteins is heavily underestimated in immune cell development and function.
News
01/2024 Emma and Nassima join the lab for their grad studies
01/2024 Virginie and Mathieu join the lab for a 4-month COOP internship
11/2023 MAJIQlopedia is published in Nucleic Acids Research
11/2023 The lab is awarded the Early Career Researchers Award in Genomics – Human
Health by Génome Québec
09/2023 MQV lab officially opens at Université de Sherbrooke
Funding
The lab is supported by a Next Generation of Scientists Award from the Cancer Research Society, an Early career researchers competition in genomics – human health Award from Génome Québec, a Research Scholars Junior 1 scholarship from FRQS, as well as startup funds from the Université de Sherbrooke and CRCHUS.
