Dr. Farnaz Mansouri-Noori

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Cellular and Molecular Medicine

 

 

Summary

Farnaz received her B.Sc. and later her Ph.D. from York University in Toronto, Canada. During her Ph.D., supervised by Dr. Mark Bayfield, she studied a family of conserved RNA-binding proteins known as La and La-related proteins (LARPs). Her doctoral research focused on characterizing the fission yeast LARP1 ortholog, demonstrating that, similar to human LARP1, it functions in regulating mRNA translation and stability of a subset of mRNAs known as 5′TOP mRNAs. Notably, Farnaz showed that the yeast LARP1 performs this role despite lacking the characterized DM15 domain found in human LARP1 and despite the absence of the canonical 5′TOP sequence in its mRNA targets.

In addition to her research, Farnaz has been involved in multiple outreach and community-building initiatives, including the Association of Graduate Students in the Biological Sciences at York University, the Toronto RNA Club, Toronto RNA Enthusiasts' Day (TREnD), and RNA Canada ARN, with a focus on promoting RNA research, science communication, and collaboration.

As a post-doctoral researcher in the Yeo Lab, Farnaz is investigating the roles of RNA-binding proteins in diverse aspects of RNA metabolism, with a particular interest in their alternative RNA-binding modes and functional relevance in disease models.

 

Education

B.Sc. (Hons.), Biomedical Science, York University, Toronto, Canada, 2016

Ph.D., Molecular Biology, York University, Toronto, Canada, 2025

 

Publications

  • Mansouri-Noori, F; Bayfield, MA. (2025). Conserved functions of LARP1 proteins in eukaryotes. WIREs RNA. 16(6), e70033. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrna.70033 Mansouri-Noori, F; Bayfield, MA. (2024). Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assays (EMSAs) for in vitro detection of protein-nucleic acid interactions. STAR Protocols. 5(2), 103128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2024.103128

  • Mansouri-Noori, F; Pircher, A; Bilodeau, D; Siniavskaia, L; Grigull, J; Rissland, OS; Bayfield, MA. (2023). The LARP1 homolog Slr1p controls the stability and expression of proto-5’TOP mRNAs in fission yeast. Cell Reports. 42(10), 0-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113226

  • Bayfield, MA; Kerkhofs, K; Mansouri-Noori, F. (2019). C-lection by the DM15 Motif Gets LARP1 to the TOP. Structure. 27(12), 1737-1739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2019.11.010

  • Bayfield, MA; Vinayak, J; Kerkhofs, K; Mansouri-Noori, F. (2019). La proteins couple use of sequence-specific and non-specific binding modes to engage RNA substrates. RNA Biology. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2019.1582955

  • Marrella, SA; Brown, KA; Mansouri-Noori, F; Porat, J; Wilson, DJ; Bayfield, MA. (2019). An interdomain bridge influences RNA binding of the human La protein. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294(5), 1529-1540. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA118.003995