Position Type
Faculty
Service
- Present
Degree(s)
B.A., Carleton College; Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder

Research

Rachel Mitton-Fry, a biochemist, is interested in RNA modifications, structure-function relationships in non-coding RNA, biomolecular visualization and assessment, and enzymatic phosphorylation of modified nucleotides by polyphosphate kinases.
Details

The past decade has seen explosive discovery of non-coding and structural RNAs in biological systems and in RNA therapeutics. Many of these RNAs contain chemical modifications essential for their structure and behavior. Current work in the Mitton-Fry lab aims to produce and study modified nucleotide triphosphates, the building blocks for production of these RNAs. We borrow from biology, using a highly efficient enzyme, the polyphosphate kinase EbPPK2, with the goal of producing high yields of nucleotides using inexpensive reagents, mild conditions, and aqueous solutions. This is not only economical, but also environmentally friendly!

I have a strong commitment to working with undergraduates on this research, both in the summer and throughout the academic year.

Works

Publications
  • Procko, K.P., Beckham, J.T., Acevedo, R., Agrawal, S., Austin, S., Burch, C., Engelman, S., Fox, K., Genova, L., Mertz, P.S., Mitton-Fry, R.M., Vardar-Ulu, D. Designing biochemical visual literacy assessments: Insights from classroom testing and student interviews. J. Chem. Ed. 2025, 102, 5045–5058. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00134
  • Mitton-Fry, R.M., Rasche, R., Lawrence-Dörner, A.M., Eschenbach, J., Tekath, A., Rentmeister, A., Kümmel, D., Cornelissen, N.V. Structure-guided engineering of a polyphosphate kinase 2 class III from an Erysipelotrichaceae bacterium to produce base-modified purine nucleotides. RSC Chem. Biol., 2025, 6, 1328-1335. DOI: 10.1039/d5cb00108k
  • †Mitton-Fry, R.M., Eschenbach, J., Schepers, H., Rasche, R., Erguven, M., Kümmel, D., †Rentmeister, A., †Cornelissen, N.V. Chemo-enzymatic production of base-modified ATP analogues for polyadenylation of RNA. Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 13068 - 13073. DOI: 10.1039/d4sc03769c †Joint corresponding authors.
  • Beckham, J.T., Dries, D.R., Hall, B.L., Mitton-Fry, R.M., Engelman, S., Burch, C., Acevedo, R., Mertz, P.S., Vardar-Ulu, D., Agrawal, S., et al. Seeing eye to eye? Comparing faculty and student perceptions of biomolecular visualization assessments. Educ. Sci. 2024, 14, 94. DOI: 10.3390/educsci14010094
  • * Choi, E. K., *Ulanowicz, K. A., *Nguyen Y. A., *Frandsen J. K., Mitton-Fry R. M. SHAPE analysis of the htrA RNA thermometer from Salmonella enterica. RNA. 2017, 23: 1569 – 1581. doi: 10.1261/rna.062299.117
  • Steitz, J.; Borah, S.; Cazalla, D.; Fok, V.; Lytle, R.; Mitton-Fry, R.; Riley, K.; Samji, T. Noncoding RNPs of viral origin. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 2011, doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a005165.
  • Mitton-Fry, R. M.; DeGregorio, S. J.; Wang, J.; Steitz, T. A.; Steitz, J. A. 2010.  Poly(A) tail recognition by a viral RNA element through assembly of a triple helix. Science, 330, 1244-1247.
  • Steitz, J.; Borah, S.; Cazalla, D.; Fok, V.; Lytle, R.; Mitton-Fry, R.; Riley, K.; Samji, T. 2010. Noncoding RNPs of viral origin. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol,. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a005165.
  • Fok, V.;‡ Mitton-Fry, R. M.; ‡ Grech, A.; Steitz, J. A. 2006. Multiple domains of EBER 1, an Epstein-Barr virus noncoding RNA, recruit ribosomal protein L22. RNA, 12, 872-882.  ‡Equal authorship.
  • Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Anderson, E. M.; Theobald, D. L.; Glustrom, L. W.; Wuttke, D. S. 2004. Structural basis for telomeric single-stranded DNA recognition by yeast Cdc13. J. Mol. Biol., 338, 241-255. 
  • Theobald, D. L.; Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Wuttke, D. S. 2003. Nucleic acid recognition by OB-fold proteins. Ann. Rev. Biophys. Biomol. Struct., 32, 115-133.
  • Glustrom, L. W.; Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Wuttke, D. S. 2002. Re: 1,1-Dichloro-2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl) ethylene and polychlorinated biphenyls and breast cancer: combined analysis of five U.S. studies. Reviewed letter. J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 94, 1337-1338.
  • Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Anderson, E. M.; Hughes, T. R.; Lundblad, V.; Wuttke, D. S.  2002. Conservation of structure for recognition of single-stranded telomeric DNA. Science, 296, 145-147.
  • Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Wuttke, D. S. 2002. 1H, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments of the DNA-binding domain of the essential protein Cdc13 complexed with single-stranded telomeric DNA. J. Biomol. NMR, 22, 379-380.
  • Ojennus, D. D.; Mitton-Fry, R. M.; Wuttke, D. S. 1999. Induced alignment and measurement of dipolar couplings of an SH2 domain through direct binding with filamentous phage.  J. Biomol. NMR, 14, 175-179.
  • Norris, J. W.; Fry, R. M.; Tu, A. T. 1997. The nucleotide sequence of the translated and untranslated regions of a cDNA for myotoxin a from the venom of prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis).  Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 230, 607-610.
Presentations
  • Invited speaker, University of Würzburg, Department of Organic Chemistry, Würzburg, Germany, October 2025.
  • ASBMB TUEMLS (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Transforming undergraduate education in the molecular life sciences), St. Paul, MN, July 2025 (Poster presentation)
  • Nucleic Acids Gordon Research Conference, Lucca, Italy, June 2025 (poster presentation).
  • Invited speaker, Penn State Center for RNA Molecular Biology Seminar, University Park, PA, May 2025.
  • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 2025 (Poster presentation)
  • Invited speaker, RNA@PUI, Virtual, October 2024.
  • Invited keynote speaker, Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Undergraduate Research Symposium, Granville, OH, October 2024.
  • Twenty-fourth annual meeting of the RNA Society, Krakow, Poland, May 2019 (poster presentation).
  • American Chemical Society 251st National Meeting, San Diego, CA, March 2016 (poster presentation).
  • Nucleic Acids Gordon Research Conference, Biddeford, ME, June 2015 (poster presentation).
  • Invited speaker, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baltimore, MD, April 2015.
  • Denison Research Dinner, Denison University, Granville, OH, February 2015
  • Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the RNA Society, Quebec City, Canada, May 2014 (poster presentation).
  • American Chemical Society 246th National Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, September 2013 (poster presentation).

Service

Professional Memberships
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • RNA Society
  • Sigma Xi

Other

Grants & Funding
  • Cottrell College Science Award from Research Corporation (2015-2018)
  • Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004–2011)
  • Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellowship (1997-2002)
  • DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Annual Grant (1996-1997)
Honors & Awards
  • R. C. Good Faculty Fellowship (2024)
Student Collaborations
  • *Goodman, M., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at 2024 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Granville, OH, October 2024.
  • *Goodman. M, Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2024.
  • *Kim. W.J., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2024.
  • *Stiffler, E., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2024.
  • *Stiffler, E., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at 2023 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, East Lansing, MI, October 2023.
  • *Kim, W. J., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at 2023 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, East Lansing, MI, October 2023.
  • *Lee, J., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023 National Meeting, Indianapolis, March 2023.
  • *Boyd, C., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023 National Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, March 2023.
  • *Lee, J., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at 2022 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Cleveland, OH, October 2022.
  • *Tan, Y. Y., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society Spring 2019 National Meeting, Orlando, FL, March 2019
  • *Su, M. R., *Chee, A.Y., Mitton-Fry, R. M. SHAPE analysis of wild type and mutant htrA RNA thermometer in Salmonella enterica. Poster presentation at 2018 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Columbus, OH, October 2018. Presentation received an Honorable Mention in the Undergraduate Poster category.
  • *Tan, Y. Y., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at 2018 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Columbus, OH, October 2018.
  • *Choi, E. K., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society 255th National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 2018.
  • *Choi, E. K., Mitton-Fry, R. M. “Analyzing the role of G•U base pairs on the melting behavior of the S. enterica htrA RNA thermometer.” Poster presentation at the 2017 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, October 2017.
    Presentation received the Excellent Undergraduate Poster Presentation Award.
  • *Tan, Y. Y., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Investigating the importance of the bulge region for S. enterica htrA RNA thermometer behavior using SHAPE assays. Poster presentation at the 2017 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, October 2017.
  • *Nguyen, Y. A., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Monitoring htrA RNA thermometer activity using a - galactosidase assay in Escherichia coli. Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society 253rd National Meeting. San Francisco, CA, April 2017.
  • *Choi, E. K., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Structural studies on the Salmonella enterica htrA RNA thermometer using SHAPE analysis. Poster presentation at the 2016 Rustbelt RNA Meeting. Cleveland, OH, October 2016.
  • *Nguyen, Y. A., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Monitoring htrA RNA thermometer activity using a - galactosidase assay in Escherichia coli. Poster presentation at the 2016 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Cleveland, OH, October 2016.
    Presentation received the Excellent Undergraduate Poster Presentation Award.
  • *Cempre, C. B., *Ulanowicz, K. A., Mitton-Fry, R. M. SHAPE analysis of the rpoH thermosensor from Escherichia coli. Poster presentation at the 2014 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2014.
  • *Ulanowicz, K. A., *Cempre, C. B., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Structure probing of the htrA RNA thermometer from Salmonella enterica. Poster presentation at the 2014 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2014.
  • *Cempre, C. B., *Ulanowicz, K. A., Mitton-Fry, R. M. SHAPE analysis of a potential RNA thermosensor in Salmonella enterica. Poster presentation at 2013 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Cleveland, OH, October 2013.
  • *Frandsen, J. K., *Cornell, H. K., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Biochemical investigation of a potential RNA thermometer in Enterobacter cloacae. Poster presentation at the 2013 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Cleveland, OH, October 2013.
  • *Ulanowicz, K. A., *Cempre, C. B., Mitton-Fry, R. M. Characterization of a hypothetical RNA thermometer in Enterobacter cloacae using SHAPE analysis. Poster presentation at the 2013 Rustbelt RNA Meeting, Cleveland, OH, October 2013.

* denotes Denison undergraduate.

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