Project P04

About

Identifying the proteins involved in gene expression processes and their interactions with RNA and/or DNA, has long been a goal of research. Mass-spectrometry (MS)-driven approaches allow identification of such proteins after purification of RNA or DNA components. Here, we will apply chemical (and also UV) crosslinking to define direct protein–RNA/DNA interactions in selected eukaryotic cellular systems of different complexity: (i) mitochondria, a prime example of a cellular organelle, and (ii) cell nuclei with their chromatin and RNA content. We will integrate the MS-based detection of RNA/DNA-interacting proteins and subsequent data annotation and evaluation into a single workflow and also develop MS-based methods for identifying protein-nucleic acid crosslinks using ion-mobility settings with dedicated MS instruments. Importantly, our approaches will also allow the unbiased identification of the spectrum of RNA/DNA targets for multifunctional proteins in different gene expression processes.