
Arur Laboratory
Swathi Arur, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Areas of Research
- Developmental Biology
- miRNAs
- ncRNAs
- Nutrition
- Meiosis
- Cancer Metastasis
Welcome to the Arur Laboratory. We use multidisciplinary approaches and model systems with a goal to gain knowledge into three specific biological questions. We hope to understand the basis of (i) environmental signaling and its role in female and male fertility, (ii) signaling and control of birth defects, with specific focus on Ras pathway and (iii) signaling-based control of post-transcriptional regulation on cancer metastasis.
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- Departments, Labs and Institutes
- Labs
- Arur Laboratory
Research Focus
- Female and male germ cell development primarily in C. elegans
- Role of Ras signaling on embryonic morphogenesis in C. elegans
- Mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis using mouse models and human cultured cells.
Research projects in the Arur Laboratory are focused on the following major areas:
- Unraveling the environmentally regulated mechanisms and molecules that control meiotic I progression in female germ cells. We use C. elegans as our model system for this work.
- Determining the role of small RNA pathways and post-transcriptional regulation during male and female germ cell development in C. elegans.
- Understanding the role of Ras signaling during embryonic morphogenesis in C. elegans.
- Identifying principles that regulate tumor progression upon signal-mediated regulation of post-transcriptional regulation rather than through the increase in mutational burden. We use mouse and cultured cells as models for this work.
Explore the various links on our web page and get to know us and our research. We welcome discussions; please contact us using our email address.
Meet the Team
From left to right: Shin-Yu Chen, Melany Puente, Deba Das, Xingxing Yan, Amelia Li, Han Bit Baek, Kenneth Trimmer, Nick Newkirk, Rares Drula, Tokiko Furuta, Lisa Watson, Swathi Arur (PI).
Arur Lab News
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August 29, 2025
Check out our latest collaborative paper with Ambro van Hoof, on description of a eukaryote, in this case the free living nematode Levipalatum texanum, which lacks tRNA introns, published in RNA journal. https://rnajournal.cshlp.org/content/early/2025/08/22/rna.080669.125
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August 29, 2025
Han Bit Baek¡¯s paper published in graduate school in Cell Reports, is featured as ¡°paper of the month¡± series by UTGSBS. Check out the feature here. https://gsbs.uth.edu/news/story/augusts-paper-of-the-month-reveals-how-the-ras-erk-pathway-orchestrates-the-opening-notes-of-life
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August 6, 2025
Dane Schoenborn, our summer student from the R25 program, was featured by his college on his awesome summer experience in our lab. Check out the article!! https://www.nwciowa.edu/news/4945/northwestern-college-student-conducts-summer-research-at-md-anderson-cancer-center
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June 3, 2025
Check out Han Bit Baek¡¯s latest review on roles of Ras signaling and PLK1 function in development and disorders published in Current Opinion in Cell Biology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955067425000821?dgcid=author
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June 1, 2025
Congratulations to Han Bit Baek on her T32 fellowship from the TPEHS program!!