Contact Details
University Links
- Position
- Research Fellow
- Department
- Department of Biochemistry
- Research summary
- Genomics and bioinformatics
Research
The regulation of gene expression is critical for the normal cellular function and the development of multicellular eukaryotes. It is also important in prokaryotes and virus-infected cells.
I am establishing my research into the fundamental steps of gene expression and how these can be manipulated in experimental systems. I have been researching different aspects of gene expression and regulation since my doctoral (2015-2018) and postdoctoral research (2018-2020).
For more details, see our homepage.
Why are some genes highly expressed? Why are some proteins poorly soluble? We are investigating the key sequence features that control gene expression and protein solubility.
How does the exon-intron gene structure emerge? Most of our genes are in pieces. The existence of the intervening sequences, so called introns, is still a mystery. We are comparing the genomes of various species to probe the origin of introns and their functions.
A new role of introns? We have recently found an undescribed mechanism that regulates gene expression, through splicing and translation. This links splicing and translation, key sequential cellular processes that occur in two separate cellular compartments. We estimate that ~30% of messenger RNAs are regulated by this new mechanism. We are developing computational and experimental methods (e.g., quantitative proteomics) to study this new mechanism.
What is the role of RNA splicing in viruses? Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affect 296million people worldwide. HBV is an unusual DNA virus. HBV produces the pregenomic RNA that is retro-transcribed into genomic DNA. While the introns of most human mRNAs are completely spliced out, the introns of HBV pregenomic RNA are partially spliced. We are investigating the sequence features and cellular processes that control splicing in HBV.
Publications
Bhandari, B. K., Lim, C. S., Remus, D. M., Chen, A., van Dolleweerd, C., & Gardner, P. P. (2021). Analysis of 11,430 recombinant protein production experiments reveals that protein yield is tunable by synonymous codon changes of translation initiation sites. PLoS Computational Biology, 17(10), e1009461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009461
Lim, C. S., Weinstein, B. N., Roy, S. W., & Brown, C. M. (2021). Analysis of fungal genomes reveals commonalities of intron gain or loss and functions in intron-poor species. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 38(10), 4166-4186. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msab094
Bhandari, B. K., Lim, C. S., & Gardner, P. P. (2021). TISIGNER.com: Web services for improving recombinant protein production. Nucleic Acids Research, 49, W654-W661. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab175
Lim, C. S., Sozzi, V., Littlejohn, M., Yuen, L. K. W., Warner, N., Betz-Stablein, B., … Brown, C. M. (2021). Quantitative analysis of the splice variants expressed by the major hepatitis B virus genotypes. Microbial Genomics, 7, 000492. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000492
Chapman, L. M., Spies, N., Pai, P., Lim, C. S., Carroll, A., Narzisi, G., … Zook, J. M. (2020). A crowdsourced set of curated structural variants for the human genome. PLoS Computational Biology, 16(6), e1007933. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007933
Bhandari, B. K., Lim, C. S., & Gardner, P. P. (2021). TISIGNER.com: Web services for improving recombinant protein production. Nucleic Acids Research, 49, W654-W661. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab175
Journal - Research Article
Bhandari, B. K., Lim, C. S., Remus, D. M., Chen, A., van Dolleweerd, C., & Gardner, P. P. (2021). Analysis of 11,430 recombinant protein production experiments reveals that protein yield is tunable by synonymous codon changes of translation initiation sites. PLoS Computational Biology, 17(10), e1009461. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009461
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., Sozzi, V., Littlejohn, M., Yuen, L. K. W., Warner, N., Betz-Stablein, B., … Brown, C. M. (2021). Quantitative analysis of the splice variants expressed by the major hepatitis B virus genotypes. Microbial Genomics, 7, 000492. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000492
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., Weinstein, B. N., Roy, S. W., & Brown, C. M. (2021). Analysis of fungal genomes reveals commonalities of intron gain or loss and functions in intron-poor species. Molecular Biology & Evolution, 38(10), 4166-4186. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msab094
Journal - Research Article
Bhandari, B. K., Gardner, P. P., & Lim, C. S. (2020). Solubility-Weighted Index: Fast and accurate prediction of protein solubility. Bioinformatics, 36(18), 4691-4698. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btaa578
Journal - Research Article
Chapman, L. M., Spies, N., Pai, P., Lim, C. S., Carroll, A., Narzisi, G., … Zook, J. M. (2020). A crowdsourced set of curated structural variants for the human genome. PLoS Computational Biology, 16(6), e1007933. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007933
Journal - Research Article
Tan, L. P., Tan, G. W., Sivanesan, V. M., Goh, S. L., Ng, X. J., Lim, C. S., … the Malaysian Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Study Group. (2020). Systematic comparison of plasma EBV DNA, anti-EBV antibodies and miRNA levels for early detection and prognosis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. International Journal of Cancer, 146, 2336-2347. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32656
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., Wardell, S. J. T., Kleffmann, T., & Brown, C. M. (2018). The exon-intron gene structure upstream of the initiation codon predicts translation efficiency. Nucleic Acids Research, 46(9), 4575-4591. doi: 10.1093/nar/gky282
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., & Brown, C. M. (2016). Hepatitis B virus nuclear export elements: RNA stem-loop α and β, key parts of the HBV post-transcriptional regulatory element. RNA Biology, 13(9), 743-747. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2016.1166330
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., Goh, S. L., Kariapper, L., Krishnan, G., Lim, Y.-Y., & Ng, C. C. (2015). Inclusion bodies of recombinant Epstein–Barr virus capsid antigen p18 as potential immobilized antigens in enzyme immunoassays for detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Clinica Chimica Acta, 448, 206-210. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2015.07.008
Journal - Research Article
Lim, K.-S., Tan, A.-H., Lim, C.-S., Chua, K.-H., Lee, P.-C., Ramli, N., … Ng, C.-C. (2015). R54C mutation of NOTCH3 gene in the first Rungus family with CADASIL. PLoS ONE, 10(8), e0135470. doi: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0135470
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., Goh, S. L., Krishnan, G., & Ng, C. C. (2014). Recombinant production of Epstein-Barr virus BZLF1 trans-activator and characterization of its DNA-binding specificity. Protein Expression & Purification, 95, 8-12. doi: 10.1016/j.pep.2013.11.007
Journal - Research Article
Lim, C. S., & Brown, C. M. (2018). Know your enemy: Successful bioinformatic approaches to predict functional RNA structures in viral RNAs. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8, 2582. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02582
Journal - Research Other
Lim, C. S., & Brown, C. (2017). A new class of ribozyme from hepatitis B virus. FEBS Journal, 284(8), 1182-1183. doi: 10.1111/febs.14062
Journal - Research Other
Lim, C. S., Krishnan, G., Sam, C. K., & Ng, C. C. (2013). On optimizing the blocking step of indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for Epstein-Barr virus serology [Short communication]. Clinica Chimica Acta, 415, 158-161. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2012.08.031
Journal - Research Other