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Elif Sarinay Cenik

  • Assistant Professor
  • Computational Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Molecular Biology
  • Molecular Biosciences
  • Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Programs
Profile image of Elif Sarinay Cenik
esarinay@utexas.edu
617 3197910
MBB
Rm 2.142BA
Sarinay-Cenik Lab

Biography

Elif Sarinay Cenik received her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and University of Massachusetts Medical School under the tutelage of Dr. Phillip D. Zamore. She then completed postdoctoral training with Nobelist Dr. Andrew Z. Fire in Genetics and Pathology Departments at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Research

We investigate how ribosomes and nucleolus regulate gene expression & metabolism and influence development and aging. Our interdisciplinary approach integrates genetics, genomics, computational and molecular biology. Here are some of the outstanding questions we are interested in:

  1. Does the nucleolus, the nucleus's central hub, actively contribute to the organization of our genetic material and gene expression?
  2. How do organisms coordinate growth across organs and tissues, and regulate ribosome activity to ensure synchronized growth?
  3. Can we more accurately predict protein abundance and cellular metabolism?
  4. How do ribosomes communicate with cellular metabolic pathways to regulate metazoan growth and organism-wide longevity?


 

Research Areas

  • Molecular Biology or Genetics
  • Computational Medicine or Computational Science
  • Human Development
  • AI for Health or Computational Science

Fields of Interest

  • Molecular Biology, Genetics & Genomics
  • Molecular Nutrition and Metabolism

Education

  • PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Publications

  • View  Publications on PubMed

    Selected publications:

    1. RNA Pol I activity maintains chromatin condensation and the H3K4me3 gradient essential for oogenesis, independent of ribosome production. Mejia-Trujillo R, Zhao Q, Rahman A, Cenik ES. bioRxiv, 2025.05.07.652530; Link
    2. Cycloheximide resistant ribosomes reveal adaptive translation dynamics in C. elegans. Zhao, Q, Bolton BM, Rothe R, Tachibana R, Cenik C, Cenik, ES. bioRxiv, 2025.05.07.652686; Link
    3. Differential impacts of ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency on mitochondrial function. Surya A, Bolton BM, Rothe R, Mejia-Trujillo R, Leonita A, Zhao Q, Arya A, Liu Y, Rangan R, Gorusu Y, Nguyen P, Cenik C, Sarinay Cenik E. Journal of Cell Biology, 2025. Mar 3;224(3):e202404084. Article link, BioRxiv link
    4. Translation efficiency covariation across cell types is a conserved organizing principle of mammalian transcriptomes. Liu Y, Hoskins I, Geng M, Zhao Q, Chacko J, Qi K, Persyn L, Wang J, Zheng D, Zhong Y, Rao S, Park D, Cenik ES, Agarwal V, Ozadam H, Cenik C. bioRxiv, 2024. [Nature Biotechnology, in press].  Aug 11:2024.08.11.607360. PMC preprint link
    5. Ribosomal proteins' unforeseen impact on mitochondrial integrity. Zhao Q, Sarinay Cenik E. Biomedical Research, 2024. Vol 35, Issue 3. Review Article link
    6. Fasting shapes chromatin architecture through an mTOR/RNA Pol I axis. Al-Refaie, N, Padovani, F, Hornung, J , Pudelko L, Binando F, del Carmen Fabregat A, Zhao Q, Towbin B, Sarinay Cenik E, Stroustrup N, Padeken J, Schmoller K, Cabianca D. Nature Cell Biology, 2024. Article link
    7. Inhibition of ribosome biogenesis in the epidermis is sufficient to trigger organism-wide growth quiescence independently of nutritional status in C. elegans Zhao, Q, Rangan, R, Weng, S, Ozdemir, C , Cenik, ES. PLOS Biology, 2023. Article link
    8. Ribosome biogenesis disruption mediated chromatin structure changes revealed by SRAtac, a customizable end to end analysis pipeline for ATAC-seq. Freeman, TF, Zhao, Q, Surya A, Rothe R, Cenik ES. BMC Genomics, 2023.10.1186/s12864-023-09576-y. Article link
    9. Cell autonomous and non-autonomous consequences of deviations in translation machinery on organism growth and the connecting signalling pathways Surya, A & Cenik, ES. Open Biology, 2022. April 27; 12: 210308. Review article link
    10. Loss of coordinated expression between ribosomal and mitochondrial genes revealed by comprehensive characterization of a large family with a rare Mendelian disorder. Panici, B, Nakajima, H, Carlston, C M, Ozadam, H, Cenik, C, Cenik, ES. Genomics, 2021. July; 113(4):1895-1905. Article link
    11. Genes with 5’terminal oligopyrimidine tracts preferentially escape global suppression of translation by the SARS-CoV-2 NSP1 protein. Rao, S, Hoskins, I, Garcia, D, Tonn, T, Ozadam, H, Cenik, ES, Cenik, C. RNA, 2021. Jun 14. 2021 Recipient of the RNA Journal Prize. Article link
    12. Functional and structural basis of extreme non-coding conservation in vertebrate mRNAs. Byeon, GW, Cenik, ES, Jiang, L, Tang, H, Das, R, & Barna, M. Nature Genetics, 2021. highlighted in the same issue with News & Views by Gupta & Beaudoin. Article link
    13. Maternal ribosomes are sufficient for tissue diversification during embryonic development in C. elegans. Cenik ES, Meng X, Tang NH ,Hall RN, Arribere JA, Cenik C, Jin Y, Fire AZ. Developmental Cell, 2019. Mar25;48(6), 811-826.e6. Featured in Faculty of 1000. Article link, Highlighted in the same issue with a preview by Haag & Dinman, 2019, Link
    14. Translation Readthrough Mitigation. Arribere, JA, Cenik ES, Jain N, Hess G, Lee C, Bassik MC, Fire AF. Nature, 2016. Jun 1;534(7609):719-723. Article link
    15. Integrative analysis of RNA, translation, and protein levels reveals distinct regulatory variation across humans. Cenik C, Cenik ES, Byeon GW, Grubert F, Candille S, Spacek D, Alsallakh B, Tilgner H, Araya CL, Tang H, Ricci E, Snyder MP. Genome Research, 2015. Nov;25(11):1610-21. Article link
    16. Argonaute proteins. Cenik, ES, & Zamore, PD. Current Biology, 2011. 21(12), R446-9. Review Article link
    17. Phosphate and R2D2 restrict the substrate specificity of Dicer-2, an ATP-driven ribonuclease. Cenik, ES, Fukunaga, R, Lu, G, Dutcher, R, Wang, Y, Tanaka Hall, TM, Zamore, PD. Molecular Cell, 2011. 42(2), 172-184. Featured in Faculty of 1000. Article link

Awards

  • Welch Foundation Research Grant, 2023
  • UT Austin CNS Catalyst Award, joint with Jon Pierce, 2022
  • University of Texas, Austin, College of Nature Sciences, Faculty Service Award, 2021
  • Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA), National Institute of Health, NIGMS, 2021
  • Walter V. and Idun Berry Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, 2013-2016
  • Stanford School of Medicine Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2012-2013