Main Activities

·    The successful candidate will join the team within the Integrated Structural Biology Department at IGBMC, which investigates the regulation of eukaryotic transcription initiation. They will work under the direct supervision of the team leaders, Adam Ben-Shem and Gabor Papai.

Associated Activities

·    The successful candidate will investigate how the acetyltransferase complexes, SAGA and ATAC, interacts with the nucleosome.

·    Scientific project and responsibilities:

SAGA (Spt-Ada-Gcn5 acetyltransferase) and ATAC (Ada-Two-A-Containing) are multi-subunit transcriptional co-activator complexes that carry a lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) module, which acetylates histone tails and other non-histone substrates to regulate gene expression. SAGA is highly conserved across eukaryotes and organized into five functional modules, while ATAC is restricted to metazoans and shares its KAT module with SAGA but lacks several of its other modules. This project aims to determine the structures of human SAGA and ATAC in complex with the nucleosome, their physiological substrate. For SAGA, we expect this to reveal how the KAT module engages the nucleosome, providing mechanistic insight into histone acetylation in its native chromatin context. For ATAC, whose KAT module shares three subunits with SAGA but differs in its fourth (TADA2A instead of TADA2B), we will address whether this subunit substitution translates into a distinct mode of nucleosome engagement; we further anticipate that nucleosome binding may stabilize the ATAC complex sufficiently to overcome the conformational flexibility that has so far limited its structural characterization.

·    The successful candidate will investigate the precise molecular mechanisms by combining biochemical approaches with molecular biology and structural biology.

·    The successful candidate will actively communicate their research findings within the laboratory and the institute.

·    The successful candidate will supervise Master's students.

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Skills/Qualifications

·    The successful candidate must hold a PhD in Biology and have experience in molecular and cell biology, cell culture, and microscopy.

·    The successful candidate should demonstrate strong scientific expertise, scientific rigor, excellent organizational skills, and proficiency in English (minimum C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

·    The successful candidate should be dynamic, respectful, highly motivated, and possess excellent teamwork skills.