Postdoc: The Real-time Dynamics of Single Ribosomes
Postdoc: The Real-time Dynamics of Single Ribosomes
Institute AMOLF
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Work Activities
Summary
In this project, you will perform innovative (bio)physics experiments to elucidate the activity of individual ribosomes. The key methodologies are optical tweezers and single-molecule fluorescence. Working in the Tans biophysics lab @ AMOLF Amsterdam, you will visualize the real-time translation activity of ribosomes, how multiple ribosomes work together, detect the folding of individual polypeptide chains, and show how chaperones guide this process. You will work in an international team, with other groups that are specialized in RNA sequencing and cryo-EM techniques. The aim is to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the correct and erroneous production of new proteins.
Questions
According to textbooks, ribosomes work individually to produce proteins. However, recent insights from our lab and others show multiple ribosomes cooperate as they translate mRNA. This cooperation may well be essential to produce multi-protein complexes faithfully. In our group, we aim to elucidate the highly diverse and broad implications. Questions include: Do ribosomes synchronize their translation activity in real-time, like a sequence of cars in traffic? Are mRNA secondary structures and/or direct interactions between ribosomes involved? How do the two (or more) protein chains synthesized by these multiple ribosomes fold together to form protein complexes? How many ribosomes cooperate together? Can we see cooperation between ribosomes that translate different RNA messages? Given the novelty of these fundamental questions in this rapidly expanding field, you will have a unique chance to address them first.
Approach
You will directly follow the unknown dynamics of ribosome translation, protein folding and assembly, and chaperone guidance. This is enabled using optical tweezers combined with single-molecule fluorescence, which detect changes in individual molecules at nanometer and millisecond resolution. Direct collaboration with our partners provides complementary genome-wide in-vivo data. This first look may reveal a host of unexpected phenomena. You will develop new experimental schemes, use cutting-edge single-molecule fluorescence and manipulation methods, adapt existing biochemical protocols, analyze the complex temporal data, formulation of new models, and explain your findings in high-level scientific papers.
International team
You will be part of a collaboration with leading groups at Heidelberg University and the ETH in Zurich, which use novel sequencing and cryo-EM methods. By working within this motivated group of young scientists, you will obtain a unique training, understanding and skill set in this expanding field. By integrating these approaches, you will provide insights of unprecedented detail, spanning from the cellular to the atomic level, from in vivo to in vitro, from genome-wide patterns to molecular mechanisms, and from bacteria to human cells.
Image left show ribosome (blue, orange) that synthesized protein chain (yellow) by translating the RNA message (red). Image right shows dynamic ribosome interactions.
Qualifications
We have a number of positions available (PhD and PD). We are looking for outstanding experimental physicists or chemists with an interest in single-molecule techniques, ambition to make breakthrough findings, programming skills to handle complex data, and who thrive in a diverse, collaborative, and supportive environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.
© EuroJobsites 2024
