Timothy A. Bolger
Studies how RNA helicases such as yeast Ded1 and human DDX3X control protein production under stress, including after TORC1 inhibition.
Principal investigator, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia
Portrait: University of Georgia
Timothy Bolger leads a lab at the University of Georgia that studies translation, the step where a cell reads messenger RNA to build proteins. His group focuses on DEAD-box RNA helicases, enzymes that reshape RNA-protein complexes, and works mostly in budding yeast.
A main interest is the yeast protein Ded1 and its human relative DDX3X. Mutations in DDX3X are common in medulloblastoma, the most frequent brain cancer in children.
In the study in this Atlas, yeast carrying medulloblastoma-type mutations in Ded1 kept growing when rapamycin switched off TORC1. They made more protein from messages with simple, unstructured starts. The authors suggest that mutant DDX3X may help tumour cells escape stress-linked growth controls, though this has been shown in yeast, not yet in tumours.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | M | Medulloblastoma-associated mutations in the RNA helicase DDX3X/DED1 cause defects in the translational response to TORC1 inhibition SWA2026 Modelled medulloblastoma DDX3X mutations in yeast Ded1 and found rapamycin-resistant growth and selective translation changes after TORC1 inhibition; Bolger is the senior and corresponding author. |
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