Sean Laughlin
Research Interests:
My current research focuses on ribosomal biogenesis, particularly on how the pre-40S ribosomal subunit is exported from the nucleus of human cells. I use super-resolution microscopy, especially high-speed single-molecule tracking, to directly observe the dynamics of this export process in live cells.
In future work, I am interested in investigating how ribosomal export is altered under conditions of cellular stress. Understanding this process is critical, as ribosomal export is essential for protein synthesis and is implicated in a range of human diseases, including cancer. The cutting-edge microscopy techniques developed in the Yang lab provide an ideal framework for studying this and other dynamic cellular processes at high speed and precision.