Thesis supervisor: Ágnes Tantos
Location of studies (in Hungarian): MTA TTK Enzimológiai Intézet, Rendezetlen fehérjék kutatócsoport (1117 Bp. Magyar tudósok krt. 2.) / RCNS HAS Institute of Enzymology, Research Group of Disordered Proteins Abbreviation of location of studies: MTA
Description of the research topic:
Postttranslational modification (PTM) of histone proteins plays a critical role in gene regulation. One of the most studied such PTM is methylation of Lysine residues catalized by Histone Lysine Methyltransferases (HKMTs). HKMTs are involved in the development of several diseases and their function is intensively studied. One of the recent important scientific findings is the recognition of the regulatory roles long non-coding RNAs play in protein function. One prominent feature of the lncRNA's regulatory effect is the binding of histone modifier proteins, thus altering the epigenetic pattern. A well-studied case of such function is the interaction of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) with different lncRNAs. More than one subunits of PRC2 (EZH2 and SUZ12) are capable of promiscuous RNA binding, resulting in experimentally proven biological effects. One of the most important questions of the field is the apparent contradiction of non-specific RNA binding of PRC2 and the specific effect of certain lncRNAs. lncRNAs are involved in several other processes regulated by HKMTs, but their molecular background remains largely uncharacterized. HKMTs contain several long intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) with unknown functions that harbour sequential motifs involved in macromolecular binding. The aim of the project is to explore the function of the HKMT IDRs, with special focus on the lncRNA binding. The studied proteins involve EZH2, which has a disordered loop region involved in lncRNA binding, SUZ12 and several other HKMT IDRs that are predicted to bind RNA.
Required language skills: English Further requirements: general laboratory experience is neccessary, experience in RNA work and/or protein expression and purification is an advantage
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