Monica Christina Pillon

Assistant Professor

Email

monica.pillon@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor: Biochemistry - Administration
Baylor College of Medicine

Education

PhD from McMaster University: 11/2014 - Hamilton, Canada

Postdoctoral Training at NIEHS/NIH: 01/2021 - Research Triangle Park, United States

Professional Interests

Macromolecular Assemblies
RNA Processing & Decay
Hybrid Structural Biology

Professional Statement

My scientific interests center on nucleases, a functionally diverse class of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of phosphodiester bonds to support a wide breadth of pathways, including DNA replication and repair, mRNA maturation, and pre-rRNA processing. To safeguard DNA and RNA from nonspecific cleavage by these molecular scissors, our cells support elegant mechanisms of regulation to ensure nucleases cut precisely. To uncover the mechanisms for nuclease regulation, we apply a multidisciplinary approach that includes hybrid structural biology, biochemistry, and cell biology. Together our work aims to understand how nucleases preserve human health by cutting on target and at the right time, as well as explore nuclease dysregulation in disease states.

Websites

Pillon Lab Website

Selected Publications

Pillon MC*,§, Frazier MN§, Dillard LB§, Williams JG, Kocaman S, Krahn JM, Perera L, Hayne CK, Gordon J, Stewart ZD, Sobhany M, Deterding LJ, Hsu AL, Dandey VP, Borgnia MJ, Stanley RE* "Cryo-EM Structures of the SARS-CoV-2 Endoribonuclease Nsp15." Nature Communications. 2021 Jan 27;12(1):636. Pubmed PMID: 33504779
Pillon MC§, Goslen KH§, Gordon J, Wells ML, Williams JG, Stanley RE. "It takes two Las1 HEPN endoribonuclease domains to cut the RNA correctly." The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2020 May 1;295(18):5857-5870. Pubmed PMID: 32220933
Pillon MC, Hsu AL, Krahn JM, Williams JG, Goslen KH, Sobhany M, Borgnia MJ, Stanley RE. "Cryo-EM Reveals Active Site Coordination Within a Multienzyme pre-rRNA Processing Complex." Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. 2019 Sep;26(9):830-839. Pubmed PMID: 31488907
Pillon MC, Sobhany M, Stanley RE. "Characterization of the Molecular Crosstalk within the Essential Grc3/Las1 pre-rRNA Processing Complex." RNA. 2018 May;24(5):721-738. Pubmed PMID: 29440475

Pillon MC, Sobhany M, Borgnia MJ, Williams JG, Stanley RE. "Grc3 programs the essential endoribonuclease Las1 for specific RNA cleavage." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2017 Jul 11;114(28):E5530-E5538. Pubmed PMID: 28652339
Pillon MC, Babu VMP, Randall JR, Cai J, Simmons LA, Sutton MD, Guarné A. "The sliding clamp tethers the MutL endonuclease domain to DNA." Nucleic Acids Research. 2015 Dec 15;43(22):10746-10759. Pubmed PMID: 26384423
Pillon MC, Dubinsky M, Johnston RN, Liu SL, Guarné A. "Characterization of the defects in the ATP lid of E. coli MutL that cause transient hypermutability." DNA Repair. 2013 Oct;12(10):864-869. Pubmed PMID: 23916559
Pillon MC, Miller JH, Guarné A. "The endonuclease domain of MutL interacts with the β sliding clamp." DNA Repair. 2011 Jan 2;10(1):87-93. Pubmed PMID: 21050827
Pillon MC, Lorenowicz JJ, Ukelmann M, Klocko AD, Mitchell RR, Chung YS, Modrich P, Walker GC, Simmons LA, Friedhoff P, Guarné A "Structure of the endonuclease domain of MutL: unlicensed to cut." Molecular Cell. 2010 Jul 9;39(1):145-151. Pubmed PMID: 20603082