David Bartel

David Bartel

Professor of Biology; Core Member, Whitehead Institute; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

David Bartel studies molecular pathways that regulate eukaryotic gene expression by affecting the stability or translation of mRNAs.

617-258-5287

Phone

WI-601B

Office

dbartel@wi.mit.edu

Email

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Location

Lab Website
Laura Resteghini

Assistant

617-258-7778

Assistant Phone

Education

  • PhD, 1993, Harvard University
  • BA, 1982, Biology, Goshen College

Research Summary

We study microRNAs and other small RNAs that specify the destruction and/or translational repression of mRNAs. We also study mRNAs, focusing on their untranslated regions and poly(A) tails, and how these regions recruit and mediate regulatory phenomena.

Awards

  • National Academy of Sciences, Member, 2011
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute, HHMI Investigator, 2005
  • National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology, 2005
  • AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, 2002

Key Publications

  1. The molecular basis of coupling between poly(A)-tail length and translational efficiency. Xiang, K, Bartel, DP. 2021. Elife 10, .
    doi: 10.7554/eLife.66493PMID:34213414
  2. The ZSWIM8 ubiquitin ligase mediates target-directed microRNA degradation. Shi, CY, Kingston, ER, Kleaveland, B, Lin, DH, Stubna, MW, Bartel, DP. 2020. Science 370, .
    doi: 10.1126/science.abc9359PMID:33184237
  3. The biochemical basis of microRNA targeting efficacy. McGeary, SE, Lin, KS, Shi, CY, Pham, TM, Bisaria, N, Kelley, GM, Bartel, DP. 2019. Science 366, .
    doi: 10.1126/science.aav1741PMID:31806698
  4. Excised linear introns regulate growth in yeast. Morgan, JT, Fink, GR, Bartel, DP. 2019. Nature 565, 606-611.
    doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0828-1PMID:30651636
  5. A Network of Noncoding Regulatory RNAs Acts in the Mammalian Brain. Kleaveland, B, Shi, CY, Stefano, J, Bartel, DP. 2018. Cell 174, 350-362.e17.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.022PMID:29887379

Recent Publications

  1. Functional microRNA targeting without seed pairing. Hall, MH, Wang, PY, Pham, TM, Bartel, DP. 2025. Nucleic Acids Res 53, .
    doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf1018PMID:41099710
  2. Lysosomal RNA profiling reveals targeting of specific types of RNAs for degradation. Ray, GJ, Nardini, E, Keys, HR, Lin, DH, Sabatini, DM, Bartel, DP. 2025. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2025.09.09.674968PMID:40964324
  3. 5' untranslated regions tune Toxoplasma translation. Peters, ML, Shukla, A, Gotthold, ZA, McCormick, DM, Xiang, K, Bartel, DP, Lourido, S. 2025. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2025.07.14.664749PMID:40791393
  4. Global inhibition of deadenylation stabilizes the transcriptome in mitotic cells. Khalizeva, E, Latifkar, A, Bartel, DP, Ly, J, Cheeseman, IM. 2025. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2025.07.22.666109PMID:40777404
  5. PAL-AI reveals genetic determinants that control poly(A)-tail length during oocyte maturation, with relevance to human fertility. Xiang, K, Bartel, DP. 2025. Nat Commun 16, 7079.
    doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62171-5PMID:40750633
  6. Polyglycine-mediated aggregation of FAM98B disrupts tRNA processing in GGC repeat disorders. Yang, J, Xu, Y, Ziehr, DR, Taylor, MS, Valenstein, ML, Frenkel, EM, Bush, JR, Rutter, K, Stevanovski, I, Shi, CY et al.. 2025. Science 389, eado2403.
    doi: 10.1126/science.ado2403PMID:40674500
  7. The structural basis for RNA slicing by human Argonaute2. Mohamed, AA, Wang, PY, Bartel, DP, Vos, SM. 2025. Cell Rep 44, 115166.
    doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115166PMID:39932188
  8. Nuclear release of eIF1 restricts start-codon selection during mitosis. Ly, J, Xiang, K, Su, KC, Sissoko, GB, Bartel, DP, Cheeseman, IM. 2024. Nature 635, 490-498.
    doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08088-3PMID:39443796
  9. Widespread destabilization of Caenorhabditis elegans microRNAs by the E3 ubiquitin ligase EBAX-1. Stubna, MW, Shukla, A, Bartel, DP. 2024. RNA 31, 51-66.
    doi: 10.1261/rna.080276.124PMID:39433399
  10. The structural basis for RNA slicing by human Argonaute2. Mohamed, AA, Wang, PY, Bartel, DP, Vos, SM. 2024. bioRxiv , .
    doi: 10.1101/2024.08.19.608718PMID:39229170
More Publications

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Photo credit: Gretchen Ertl/Whitehead Institute