Ankur Jain, Ph.D.

Research

The Jain lab will explore the role that metabolites called polyamines play in health and disease. Polyamines are ancient metabolites that are essential for cell growth and survival. Their cellular concentrations are carefully regulated, and disruptions in polyamine production are associated with a variety of conditions, from cancer and aging to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Yet despite being studied for more than a century, the role that polyamines play in healthy cells—and in disease—remains obscure. Part of the problem is that when polyamines are extracted from cells, they release their hold on the other molecules to which they are bound—interactions that are likely key to their function. Now, using an array of techniques in biophysics, biochemistry, and genetics, I will develop sensors that will make it possible to measure and track polyamines in individual cells. My lab will deploy these sensors to examine how changes in polyamine levels alter the localization of RNAs—molecules with which polyamines often interact—and assess whether polyamines prevent RNAs from forming harmful aggregates. This work could provide novel strategies for treating cancer or promoting healthy aging.