UB biophysicist to dive deeper into protein-RNA droplets with $2.1 million NIH grant

BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo biophysicist Priya R. Banerjee has received a $2.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to continue his research on biomolecular condensates, which are liquid-like droplets formed from proteins and RNA that appear to play a critical role in normal cellular processes but behave aberrantly in many neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. 

The funding is a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) Award, which is given to highly talented and promising investigators whose research falls within the mission of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the NIH. It is a four-year extension of the five-year MIRA that Banerjee received in 2020.

Since joining UB in 2017, Banerjee and his team’s work has revealed that protein condensates are not simple liquids, but viscoelastic materials, like silly putty, whose properties change with aging and can be altered by mutations linked to fatal human diseases such as ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

This new project takes a step forward by moving deeper into the cellular context and focusing equally on RNA condensates, which have often been overlooked.

“Over the past several years, we’ve been pioneering ways to connect the physics of soft, viscoelastic materials with the biology of protein and RNA condensates,” says Banerjee, PhD, professor of physics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences. “This new support from the NIH affirms that our integrated approach — combining physics, molecular biology, cutting-edge imaging and new technologies like optical tweezer nanorheology — is making an impact and opening new avenues for fundamental discovery.”

The team will probe how condensates age and evolve inside living cells, map the rules by which RNA undergoes phase separation, and uncover how certain proteins may act as chaperones to prevent harmful RNA clusters linked to ALS and Huntington’s disease. 

They will also decode the molecular “language” that drives selective interactions among transcription factors and chromatin remodelers in many childhood cancers. 

“While our past work laid the foundation, this project is about connecting those molecular insights to the real complexity of living systems, with the ultimate goal of identifying how normal, functional condensates can tip into pathological states,” Banerjee says.

In addition to the grant, Sukanya Srinivasan, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Banerjee’s lab, has recently received a NIH F32- Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award. Through this prestigious fellowship, Srinivasan will continue the lab’s work investigating RNA clusters and their role in neurodegenerative diseases.

“I am deeply honored to receive this federal fellowship, which recognizes my past work and empowers me to pursue how cells regulate the biophysical properties of RNA-driven condensates and their links to neurodegeneration,” Srinivasan says.

“It is a well-deserved recognition of both Sukanya’s talent and the originality of her project,” Banerjee adds. “I am very proud of her achievement and excited to see how this fellowship will accelerate Sukanya’s career development and contributions to the field.”