Projects Offered

1 PhD project offered in the IPP winter call Molecular Mechanisms in Genome Stability & Gene Regulation

Scientific background

In higher eukaryotes, proteins that lack an apparent folded structure are enriched in many vital processes. The Lemke group studies intrinsically disordered proteins in vital cellular processes, including transcription, nuclear transport, and healthy ageing. Since such highly dynamic systems are inaccessible to most conventional approaches, the group employs a multidisciplinary approach that combines single-molecule, microfluidics, super-resolution techniques, and chemical/synthetic biology tools.

PhD project: High Resolution Fluorescence Imaging of Protein Plasticity

We are now seeking a PhD student with a strong interest in expanding our efforts in quantitative single-molecule and super-resolution-based technologies to study protein dynamics within the context of microphase separation. While macrophase separation, leading to visible “protein/RNA” droplets, has been widely studied and suggested to be a mechanism underlying so-called membraneless organelles, potential associative mechanisms that lead to sub-resolution structures are poorly understood. However, those might play key roles in, for example, transcriptional regulation.

The project is particularly well-suited for candidates with a strong background in the physical sciences who are intensely interested in biosciences. Physicists, biophysicists, and polymer scientists, as well as physical chemists with a strong computational background, who are interested in exploring this area, are as well suited as are biologists or biochemists with a high interest in venturing into quantitative science. The project will be highly interdisciplinary, and there are multiple aspects to it that one or two different persons can fill with different interests/backgrounds.

In all cases, extensive project training will be provided. Candidates with little or no prior experience in experimental biosciences, but a strong wish to engage in these areas, are particularly encouraged to apply. High interest and motivation are the primary selection criteria, and candidates from other disciplines who wish to venture into these areas are explicitly welcome to apply.

If you are interested in this project, please select Lemke as your group preference in the IPP application platform.

Publications relevant for this project

Ruan H, Dillenburg R, Wittmann S, Girard M, Lemke EA (2025) Differential conformational expansion of Nup98-HOXA9 oncoprotein in micro- and macrophases. bioRxiv Link

Yu M, Heidari M, Mikhaleva S, Tan PS, Mingu S, Ruan H, Reinkermeier CD, Obarska-Kosinka A, Siggel M, Beck M, Hummer G, Lemke EA (2023) Visualizing the disordered nuclear transport machinery in situ. Nature 617(7959):162-169 Link