Ian J. MacRae

This study identifies organyl 5'-phosphate mimics that enhance AGO2 binding and metabolic stability by interacting with a hydrophobic pocket in the MID domain.

This study reveals the structural mechanism of siRNA-mediated gene silencing by hAgo2, showing how specific residues and duplex distortions enable catalytic activity.

This study investigates bacterial ribosome assembly using circularly permuted rRNAs, revealing conserved assembly routes and domain association order.

The paper identifies an Asgard archaeal Argonaute, HrAgo1, that performs RNA-guided RNA silencing, bridging the gap between prokaryotic and eukaryotic Argonaute mechanisms.

The paper shows miRNAs are essential for Purkinje cell differentiation, identifies critical miRNA windows in dendritogenesis and synaptogenesis, and introduces tools for miRNA-target mapping in rare cells.

The paper shows that structural differences in Argonaute proteins between plants and animals explain their distinct miRNA targeting properties and demonstrates engineering of human AGO2 for improved siRNA therapeutics.

The paper presents cryo-EM structures of AtAgo10-guide RNA complexes with and without target RNA, revealing distinct slicing mechanisms in eukaryotic AGOs compared to bacterial TtAgo.

This paper presents cryo-EM structures of Piwi-piRNA complexes and analyzes their target recognition mechanism, revealing how Piwi ensures targeting fidelity and adapts to genomic threats.

The paper develops a live-cell imaging assay to study how mRNA structures affect AGO2-siRNA interactions and mRNA degradation.