진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

KEY WORDS: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD), pathogenesis of ALS/FTD, RNA-protein interactions, cryogenic electron microscopy, crystallography, structural biology

Principal Investigator: dr hab. Agnieszka Kiliszek

Research topic: A comprehensive structural and functional analysis of toxic RNA-protein interactions for better understanding and therapeutic targeting of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia

I. Project description

We offer a position as an assistant professor (post-doc) within the OPUS-28 (LAP) project, carried out in close collaboration with the Slovenian group led by Prof. Boris Rogelj from the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, entitled: “Comprehensive structural and functional analysis of toxic RNA–protein interactions to improve understanding and therapeutic targeting of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.”

Our research focuses on the complex pathogenesis of two genetic diseases, ALS and FTD. In particular, we are interested in “toxic” RNA molecules whose structure and interactions with proteins located in the nucleus and cytoplasm lead to the dysfunction of nerve cells and, ultimately, to their death. Despite numerous studies, including our own, on the toxic RNA–protein interactome and the identification of more than a thousand proteins, the structural and mechanistic details of these interactions remain unknown. So far, no atomic model has been identified for complexes between mutated transcripts and the aggregation-prone proteins bound to them. Due to the large knowledge gap in this area of structural interactome research, the results obtained will have significant cognitive impact and strong potential for publication in high-impact-factor journals.

In this project, we will apply interdisciplinary approaches in structural biology (cryo-electron microscopy, cryoEM; crystallography), biophysical and biochemical methods, as well as functional studies conducted on human cells.