The many talents of tRNA: exploring novel mechanisms of stress response and translation regulation

In the past few decades tRNA biology has grown by leaps and bounds. Discoveries include formation and function of new modifications, role of tRNA in several cellular signaling pathways and widespread stress-activated cleavage mechanisms. In my talk I will describe two important (and diverse) roles of tRNA in the cell. I will show a connection between angiogenin-generated cleaved tRNAs and cell survival in response to hyperosmotic stress and suggest a novel mechanism involving cytochrome c and tRNA fragments that inhibit apoptosome formation. In addition I will provide a brief overview of my most recent work on mitochondrial translation. I will propose an underlying mechanism on how taurine modification of certain mitochondrial tRNAs can regulate mitochondrial translation and stress response.