Role
Senior Lecturer in Molecular Cell Biology
Dr Marion Hogg is module lead for the Experimental Design module on the MBiol course and contributes to the Practical Techniques (UG) and Research Methods and Bioethics (PG) modules. She supervises laboratory research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and acts as a personal tutor. Marion's research focuses on the role of transfer RNA fragments in neuronal heath and neurodegenerative disease.
Research areas
transfer RNAs (tRNAs) play a crucial role in protein translation where they bring amino acids to the ribosome to be added to nascent proteins. However under stress conditions tRNAs can be cleaved to generate short tRNA fragments, which may function in a similar way to microRNAs. My research program investigates the biogenesis and function of tRNA fragments in neurons to determine their role in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.
tRNA fragments are stable and can be detected circulating in blood indicating they could be of use a biomarkers for a range of different disorders. Dr Hogg identified three specific tRNA fragments that are elevated in advance of seizures in people with epilepsy and subsequently developed a direct detection method capable of quantifying tRNA fragments in small volumes of biofluids. Our research was reviewed in Scientific American and we made a short video and wrote a blog about these studies.
Publications
5'ValCAC tRNA fragment generated as part of a protective angiogenin response provides prognostic value in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hogg MC, Rayner M, Susdalzew S, Monsefi N, Crivello M, Woods I, Resler A, Blackbourn L, Fabbrizio P, Trolese MC, Nardo G, Bendotti C, van den Berg LH, van Es MA, Prehn JHM. Brain Commun. 2020 Aug 28;2(2):fcaa138. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa138. eCollection 2020.
Quantification of tRNA fragments by electrochemical direct detection in small volume biofluid samples. McArdle H, Hogg MC, Bauer S, Rosenow F, Prehn JHM, Adamson K, Henshall DC, Spain E. Sci Rep. 2020 May 5;10(1):7516. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64485-4. Accompanying blog post.
Membrane and synaptic defects leading to neurodegeneration in Adar mutant Drosophila are rescued by increased autophagy. Khan A, Paro S, McGurk L, Sambrani N, Hogg MC, Brindle J, Pennetta G, Keegan LP, O'Connell MA. BMC Biol. 2020 Feb 14;18(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12915-020-0747-0.
Vascular regression precedes motor neuron loss in the FUS (1-359) ALS mouse model. Crivello M, Hogg MC, Jirström E, Halang L, Woods I, Rayner M, Coughlan KS, Lewandowski SA, Prehn JHM. Dis Model Mech. 2019 Aug 13;12(8):dmm040238. doi: 10.1242/dmm.040238. First person review of the research.
Elevation in plasma tRNA fragments precede seizures in human epilepsy. Hogg MC, Raoof R, El Naggar H, Monsefi N, Delanty N, O'Brien DF, Bauer S, Rosenow F, Henshall DC, Prehn JH. J Clin Invest. 2019 Apr 30;129(7):2946-2951. doi: 10.1172/JCI126346. Scientific American piece on our research and a short video explaining the study.
Pleiotropic activity of systemically delivered angiogenin in the SOD1G93A mouse model. Crivello M, O'Riordan SL, Woods I, Cannon S, Halang L, Coughlan KS, Hogg MC, Lewandowski SA, Prehn JHM. Neuropharmacology. 2018 May 1;133:503-511. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.02.022. Epub 2018 Feb 25.
Riluzole does not improve lifespan or motor function in three ALS mouse models. Hogg MC, Halang L, Woods I, Coughlan KS, Prehn JHM. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. 2018 Aug;19(5-6):438-445. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2017.1407796. Epub 2017 Dec 8.
Caspase 6 has a protective role in SOD1(G93A) transgenic mice. Hogg MC, Mitchem MR, König HG, Prehn JH. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2016 Jun;1862(6):1063-73. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Mar 11.
"Preconditioning" with latrepirdine, an adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase activator, delays amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression in SOD1(G93A) mice. Coughlan KS, Mitchem MR, Hogg MC, Prehn JH. Neurobiol Aging. 2015 Feb;36(2):1140-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.09.022. Epub 2014 Sep 26.