RESEARCH
The goal of our research is to understand molecular mechanisms for translational control, and understand the basis for unwanted consequences of translation dysregulation. Our lab is primarily focused on the eIF4 group of initiation factors, and we study their function in reconstituted systems and yeast and mammalian cells.
Current questions focusing research in the lab are:
1) How does eIF4B affect translation and RNA levels in yeast and mammalian cells
2) How do dysregulated eIF4B levels lead to unwanted phenotypes, such as increased metastasis in breast cancer
3) How do posttranslational modifications of the eIF4 factors affect translation, storage, and turnover of mRNAs?
4) How does eIF4A dysregulation affect cellular phenotypes, both in yeast cells and in cancer models?
Recent publications and preprints:
Translation Inhibition by Rocaglamide A Enhances Susceptibility of Yeasts to Caspofungin. Qian He, Peter J. Schuessler, Aravind Srinivasan, Jessie Caprino, Joseph Barbi, Sarah E. Walker, Biorxiv preprint, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.21.677667
Analysis of divergent gene expression between HPV + and HPV- head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients. Kasturika Shankar & Sarah E. Walker, Infectious Agents and Cancer volume 20, Article number: 31 (2025)
Protein Arginine Methylation of the Translation Initiation Factor eIF1A Increases Usage of a Near-cognate Start Codon. Rebecca Wegman, Michael Langberg, Richoo B. Davis, Xiaozhuo Liu, Minkui Luo, Michael C. Yu, Sarah E. Walker Biorxiv preprint, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.16.608280
Dynamic states of eIF6 and SDS variants modulate interactions with uL14 of the 60S ribosomal subunit. Elliff J, Biswas A, Roshan P, Kuppa S, Patterson A, Mattice J, Chinnaraj M, Burd R, Walker SE, Pozzi N, Antony E, Bothner B, Origanti S. Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Feb 28;51(4):1803-1822. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac1266.
Robust eIF4B levels undermine invasive growth and immune evasion mechanisms in murine triple negative breast cancer models. Randall Smith Jr., Leila Zabihi Diba, Aravind Srinivasan, Robert Zollo, Thomas Ossevoort, Qian He, Sean H. Colligan, Melissa Dolan, Yeshwanth Vedire, Tomina Sultana, Meera Venkatesh, Aayush P. Arora, Sarah Gawlak, Deschana Washington, Craig M. Brackett, Song Yao, John M.L. Ebos, Scott I. Abrams, Joseph Barbi, Sarah E. Walker, Biorxiv preprint, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.16.508318
Dynamic Phosphorylation Regulates Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4A Activity During the Cell Cycle. Ansuman Sahoo, Robert A. Zollo, Shichen Shen, Marium Ashraf, Samantha Nelson, Gerald Koudelka, Jun Qu, Joseph Barbi, Sarah E. Walker, Biorxiv preprint, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.14.503931
Deletion of the N-Terminal Domain of Yeast Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4B Reprograms Translation and Reduces Growth in Urea. Xiaozhuo Liu, Houtan Moshiri, Qian He, Ansuman Sahoo and Sarah E. Walker, Front. Mol. Biosci. 2022 Jan 3:8:787781. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.787781.