Overview
Background
Dr Laura Leighton is an RNA biologist with extensive experience in functional characterisation of RNA. Laura is leading the development of next-generation mRNA therapeutics for the treatment of liver cancer. Because mRNA encapsulated within lipid nanoparticles is effectively delivered inside cells, this technology is uniquely suited to targeting the two-thirds of proteins which are only found inside cells, including several notorious drivers of cancer. Laura's research will create drug candidates which are able to inhibit intracellular pro-cancer proteins for the first time. In addition to drug development, Laura is working on mRNA drug delivery in mouse models of liver disease and cancer.
Laura completed her PhD at the Queensland Brain Institute, working on uncovering the role of small noncoding RNAs in fear-related learning and memory in mice, supported by the Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship (2017). She joined the laboratory of Dr Seth Cheetham at AIBN as a postdoctoral researcher in March 2023.
Availability
- Dr Laura Leighton is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, The University of Queensland
Works
Search Professor Laura Leighton’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
DNA G-quadruplex is a transcriptional control device that regulates memory
Marshall, Paul R., Davies, Joshua, Zhao, Qiongyi, Liau, Wei-Siang, Lee, Yujin, Basic, Dean, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Musgrove, Mason, Kielar, Marcin, Brueckner, Arie Maeve, Gong, Hao, Ren, Haobin, Walsh, Alexander, Kaczmarczyk, Lech, Jackson, Walker S., Chen, Alon, Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2024). DNA G-quadruplex is a transcriptional control device that regulates memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 44 (15) e0093232024, 1-20. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.0093-23.2024
2023
Journal Article
Chronically high stress hormone levels dysregulate sperm long noncoding RNAs and their embryonic microinjection alters development and affective behaviours
Hoffmann, L. B., Li, B., Wei, W., Zhao, Q., Leighton, L. J., Bredy, T. W., Pang, T. Y. and Hannan, A. J. (2023). Chronically high stress hormone levels dysregulate sperm long noncoding RNAs and their embryonic microinjection alters development and affective behaviours. Molecular Psychiatry, 29 (3), 590-601. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02350-2
2023
Journal Article
Fear extinction is regulated by the activity of long noncoding RNAs at the synapse
Liau, Wei-Siang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Bademosi, Adekunle, Gormal, Rachel S., Gong, Hao, Marshall, Paul R., Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Ren, Haobin, Musgrove, Mason, Davies, Joshua, Rauch, Simone, He, Chuan, Dickinson, Bryan C., Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Meunier, Frédéric A., Fernández-Moya, Sandra M., Kiebler, Michael A., Srinivasan, Balakumar, Banerjee, Sourav, Clark, Michael, Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2023). Fear extinction is regulated by the activity of long noncoding RNAs at the synapse. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 7616, 1-16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43535-1
2023
Journal Article
Synapse-enriched m<sup>6</sup>A-modified Malat1 interacts with the novel m<sup>6</sup>A reader, DPYSL2, and is required for fear-extinction memory
Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Liau, Wei-Siang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Gong, Hao, Marshall, Paul R., Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Ren, Haobin, Musgrove, Mason R. B., Davies, Joshua W. A., Kim, Gwangmin, Rauch, Simone, He, Chuan, Dickinson, Bryan C., Fulopova, Barbora, Fletcher, Lee N., Williams, Stephen R., Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2023). Synapse-enriched m6A-modified Malat1 interacts with the novel m6A reader, DPYSL2, and is required for fear-extinction memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 43 (43), 7084-7100. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.0943-23.2023
2023
Journal Article
Localised Cdr1as activity is required for fear extinction memory
Lau Zajaczkowski, Esmi, Zhao, Qiongyi, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gong, Hao, Madugalle, Sachithrani Umanda, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Leighton, Laura Jane, Musgrove, Mason, Ren, Haobin, Davies, Joshua, Marshall, Paul Robert and Bredy, Timothy William (2023). Localised Cdr1as activity is required for fear extinction memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 203 107777, 107777. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107777
2022
Journal Article
ADRAM is an experience-dependent long noncoding RNA that drives fear extinction through a direct interaction with the chaperone protein 14-3-3
Wei, Wei, Zhao, Qiongyi, Wang, Ziqi, Liau, Wei-Siang, Basic, Dean, Ren, Haobin, Marshall, Paul R., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Musgrove, Mason, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Shi, Jichun, Zhang, Jianjian, Mattick, John S., Mercer, Timothy R., Spitale, Robert C., Li, Xiang and Bredy, Timothy W. (2022). ADRAM is an experience-dependent long noncoding RNA that drives fear extinction through a direct interaction with the chaperone protein 14-3-3. Cell Reports, 38 (12) 110546, 110546. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110546
2021
Other Outputs
Characterising novel activity-dependent small noncoding RNAs and their role in fear-related learning and memory
Leighton, Laura Jane (2021). Characterising novel activity-dependent small noncoding RNAs and their role in fear-related learning and memory. PhD Thesis, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/4e90af3
2020
Journal Article
Publisher Correction: Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction
Marshall, Paul R., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Basic, Dean, Wang, Ziqi, Yin, Jiayu, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gupte, Ankita, Walkley, Carl R. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2020). Publisher Correction: Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 23 (8), 1034-1034. doi: 10.1038/s41593-020-0669-8
2020
Journal Article
Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction
Marshall, Paul R., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Periyakaruppiah, Ambika, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Leighton, Laura J., Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Basic, Dean, Wang, Ziqi, Yin, Jiayu, Liau, Wei-Siang, Gupte, Ankita, Walkley, Carl R. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2020). Dynamic regulation of Z-DNA in the mouse prefrontal cortex by the RNA-editing enzyme Adar1 is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 23 (6), 718-729. doi: 10.1038/s41593-020-0627-5
2019
Journal Article
Disrupting the hippocampal Piwi pathway enhances contextual fear memory in mice
Leighton, Laura J., Wei, Wei, Marshall, Paul R., Ratnu, Vikram Singh, Li, Xiang, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Spadaro, Paola A., Khandelwal, Nitin, Kumar, Arvind and Bredy, Timothy W. (2019). Disrupting the hippocampal Piwi pathway enhances contextual fear memory in mice. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 161, 202-209. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2019.04.002
2019
Journal Article
The DNA modification N6-methyl-2’-deoxyadenosine (m6dA) drives activity-induced gene expression and is required for fear extinction
Li, Xiang, Zhao, Qiongyi, Wei, Wei, Lin, Quan, Magnan, Christophe, Emami, Michael R., Wearick-Silva, Luis E., Viola, Thiago W., Marshall, Paul R., Yin, Jiayu, Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Wang, Ziqi, Nainar, Sarah, Vågbø, Cathrine Broberg, Leighton, Laura J., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Ke, Ke, Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo, Bjørås, Magnar, Baldi, Pierre F., Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2019). The DNA modification N6-methyl-2’-deoxyadenosine (m6dA) drives activity-induced gene expression and is required for fear extinction. Nature Neuroscience, 22 (4), 534-544. doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0339-x
2019
Journal Article
The DNA repair-associated protein gadd45γ regulates the temporal coding of immediate early gene expression within the prelimbic prefrontal cortex and is required for the consolidation of associative fear memory
Li, Xiang, Marshall, Paul R., Leighton, Laura J., Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Wang, Ziqi, Madugalle, Sachithrani U., Yin, Jiayu, Bredy, Timothy W. and Wei, Wei (2019). The DNA repair-associated protein gadd45γ regulates the temporal coding of immediate early gene expression within the prelimbic prefrontal cortex and is required for the consolidation of associative fear memory. The Journal of Neuroscience, 39 (6), 970-983. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2024-18.2018
2018
Journal Article
Bioorthogonal metabolic labeling of nascent RNA in neurons improves the sensitivity of transcriptome-wide profiling
Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Zhang, Zong Hong, Li, Xiang, Wei, Wei, Marshall, Paul R., Leighton, Laura J., Nainar, Sarah, Feng, Chao, Spitale, Robert C. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2018). Bioorthogonal metabolic labeling of nascent RNA in neurons improves the sensitivity of transcriptome-wide profiling. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 9 (7), 1858-1865. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00197
2018
Journal Article
Functional interplay between small non-coding RNAs and RNA modification in the brain
Leighton, Laura J. and Bredy, Timothy W. (2018). Functional interplay between small non-coding RNAs and RNA modification in the brain. Non-Coding RNA, 4 (2) 15, 15. doi: 10.3390/ncrna4020015
2017
Journal Article
A Functional Role for the Epigenetic Regulator ING1 in Activity-induced Gene Expression in Primary Cortical Neurons
Leighton, Laura J., Zhao, Qiongyi, Li, Xiang, Dai, Chuanyang, Marshall, Paul R., Liu, Sha, Wang, Yi, Zajaczkowski, Esmi L., Khandelwal, Nitin, Kumar, Arvind, Bredy, Timothy W. and Wei, Wei (2017). A Functional Role for the Epigenetic Regulator ING1 in Activity-induced Gene Expression in Primary Cortical Neurons. Neuroscience, 369, 248-260. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.018
2017
Journal Article
Experience-dependent neural plasticity, learning, and memory in the era of epitranscriptomics
Leighton, L. J., Ke, K., Zajaczkowski, E. L., Edmunds, J., Spitale, R. C. and Bredy, T. W. (2017). Experience-dependent neural plasticity, learning, and memory in the era of epitranscriptomics. Genes, Brain, and Behavior, 17 (3) e12426, e12426. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12426
2016
Journal Article
Experience-dependent accumulation of N6-methyladenosine in the prefrontal cortex is associated with memory processes in mice
Widagdo, Jocelyn, Zhao, Qiong-Yi, Kempen, Marie-Jeanne, Tan, Men Chee, Ratnu, Vikram S., Wei, Wei, Leighton, Laura, Spadaro, Paola A., Edson, Janette, Anggono, Victor and Bredy, Timothy W. (2016). Experience-dependent accumulation of N6-methyladenosine in the prefrontal cortex is associated with memory processes in mice. Journal of Neuroscience, 36 (25), 6771-6777. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4053-15.2016
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Laura Leighton is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Media
Enquiries
For media enquiries about Dr Laura Leighton's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team: