{"id":84013,"date":"2015-05-13T07:14:22","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T04:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/learning-the-language-of-proteins\/"},"modified":"2015-05-13T07:14:22","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T04:14:22","slug":"learning-the-language-of-proteins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/learning-the-language-of-proteins\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning the Language of Proteins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\u201cScience leads you in directions you hadn\u2019t thought of, and you have to navigate your way through it.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/header>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\"Assistant<\/a>
Assistant Professor Reut Shalgi in the laboratory.
Photos: Shitzu; Technion Press Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Assistant Professor Reut Shalgi returned from MIT to Israel thanks to the Technion, where she currently investigates regulatory mechanisms of protein synthesis at the Rapapport Institute of Medical Research.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a scientist, I have access to an endless world of research topics. Science leads you in directions you hadn\u2019t initially thought of, and you have to navigate your way through it, but at the same time to let it lead you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant Professor Reut Shalgi, who this week was awarded the prestigious Alon Fellowship for Outstanding Young Faculty, joined the ranks of the Technion faculty last year. Currently, as a member of the team at the Technion\u2019s Rapapport Institute of Medical Research, she investigates the mechanisms of translational control by the ribosomes.<\/p>\n

She graduated cum laude from Tel Aviv University in 2002, with a double major in Biology and Computer Science. Her final project explored what was back then the emerging field of Bioinformatics, which applies tools from statistics and computer science to biological and pharmacological research.<\/p>\n

Thanks to her computer science skills Prof. Shalgi began, while still an undergraduate, to work in the hi-tech company of RadVision. But the search for new challenges led her to enroll in the Life Sciences Master\u2019s degree program at the Weizmann Institute. With the guidance of Prof. Yitzhak Pilpel and Prof. Ron Shamir she used bioinformatical methods to study mechanisms that regulate gene expression \u2013 and was captivated by the world of scientific research. \u201cDuring my Masters I realized I wanted to be a scientist \u2013 to understand how cells function, investigate the ways in which they can malfunction and find ways of correcting them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work in the new and fascinating field of systems biology, increasingly integrating biology and computer science, and using genome-wide data and bioinformatical tools,\u201d Assistant Professor Shalgi explains. \u201cSystems biology gives us an broad view of the biological processes taking place inside the cell, whereas classic biology examines these processes in depth.\u201d She went on to undertake her PhD at the Weizmann Institute, with Prof. Pilpel and Prof. Moshe Oren as her advisors. \u201cMy research focused then on the regulation mechanisms of micro-RNA \u2013 small molecules that are genes but that do not encode proteins. Every stage in protein synthesis is controlled by numerous factors inside the cell. I investigated the interrelationships and the coordination between different levels in this network.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2009, after she completed her Ph.D., Assistant Professor Shalgi went to pursue her post-doctoral studies at MIT. Under bioinformatics expert Prof. Chris Burge and Prof. Susan Lindquist, a world leader in the field of \u00a0chaperones (specialized proteins that facilitate the correct folding of other cellular proteins, which is essential for their proper function), Shalgi studied translation control mechanisms in cells under stress, as well as the interrelationship between chaperones and the ribosome. It was at this time that she discovered a previously unknown mechanism of translation control: chaperone-mediated ribosome pausing during the translation process. She continues to research this mechanism in her own lab.<\/p>\n

The pausing occurs in response to extreme environmental conditions, and is mediated by the chaperones and their interaction with the ribosome. Upon relief from stress, the essential process of protein synthesis resumes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that this mechanism is also involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinson\u2019s and Huntington\u2019s diseases, among others,\u201d she adds, \u201cconditions in which proteins misfold and aggregate [accumulate and clump together]. We are currently studying how ribosome pausing is linked to these pathologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Assistant<\/a>
Assistant Professor Reut Shalgi. Photos: Shitzu; Technion Press Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She has very good memories of her five post-doctoral years in Boston, during which her first daughter was born \u2013 but \u201cI really wanted to come back to Israel, to my family and friends. The Technion gave me a very warm welcome, and last October we returned to Israel \u2013 thanks to the Technion. I came back from MIT with several cutting-edge research methodologies, which I brought with me to my new lab at the Faculty of Medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of these methods involves high throughput screening of protein-protein interactions performed by a robot, which can screen thousands of protein pairs per day and produce quantitative information on the interactions between each pair of proteins. Assistant Professor Shalgi analyses this data using bioinformatics tools, and maps the control network that governs the cell\u2019s translation system and the interactions among the proteins: \u201cThe robot enables me to map out entire protein networks rapidly, and I use bioinformatics tools to analyze the cross-talk between the components in this network, and translation regulators.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my lab we integrate biology with genome-wide methodologies and bioinformatics to study the cell as a system. Our unique approach is to look at the cell as a system in which every component must not only function properly on its own but also be coordinated with all other components.\u201d<\/p>\n

She never felt that she had to compromise her scientific or research excellence with the move from MIT to the Technion. \u201cThe Faculty and the Technion offer me the highest standards possible. It\u2019s a very diverse faculty with a good, strong interface between clinical and scientific research. The Technion\u2019s new major in Medical Sciences offers the Faculty\u2019s students an opportunity to get to know the science and possibly become researchers. Everyone knows what a medical doctor does, but not everyone understands what it means to be a researcher, what it is that researchers actually do on a day-to-day basis. An M.D. treats patients with the tools available to them, but the development of a new drug or treatment requires in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the disease, and that\u2019s what we as researchers aim for. Some medical doctors manage to do research alongside the clinic, but it\u2019s the full-time researchers who can delve deeply into the processes that cause the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cScience leads you in directions you hadn\u2019t thought of, and you have to navigate your way through it.\u00a0 Assistant Professor Reut Shalgi returned from MIT to Israel thanks to the Technion, where she currently investigates regulatory mechanisms of protein synthesis at the Rapapport Institute of Medical Research. \u201cAs a scientist, I have access to an… Continue Reading Learning the Language of Proteins<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLearning the Language of Proteins - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/learning-the-language-of-proteins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning the Language of Proteins - 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