PhD Scholarship in CRISPR-mediated Gene Editing Combined with…

PhD Scholarship in CRISPR-mediated Gene Editing Combined with Proteomics to Study the Function, Structure, Regulation and Targeting of Nuclear Exosome Adaptor Complexes in RNA Decay

The Centre for Exo-Adapt invites applications from outstanding candidates who are interested in joining our team as a PhD fellow. The PhD fellow will be affiliated with the Jens S. Andersen group at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense. The position is available for three years from May 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The RNA Exosome
Our gen ome produces RNA that either gives rise to protein or to independent RNA molecules. However, genomic DNA is hyperactive, and only a fraction of the RNA produced ends up as functional molecules – the rest is degraded. The exosome complexes are the molecular machines that detect and remove undesirable RNA so that cells do not drown in their own molecular waste? The core complex of the exosome has been comprehensively studied, revealing that it is merely a general RNA degradation machine. Instead, specific recognition of its multitude of substrates is achieved by the association of the exosome with so-called protein adaptor complexes. Although some of these have been identified, we do not understand how they recognize and discriminate their substrates, how they interact with the exosome and how these interactions are regulated to achieve adequate RNA turnover at steady state or in dynamic cellular settings.

Research Project and Role
As a PhD fellow in Exo-Adapt you will be involved in highly ambitious and interdisciplinary projects covering functional and structural studies of protein-RNA complexes using for example CRISPR-mediated gene editing for tagging op proteins for protein-protein interaction and protein proximity labelling analysis, fluorescence microscopy, and PTM analysis by mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and characterization of RNA substrates by RNA sequencing and bioinformatic approaches.

Deadline: 1 April 2023.

Please see the full call, including how to apply, on our website .