The objective is to develop solid-state NMR approaches that can elucidate the interactions occurring between proteins and large nucleic acids at the molecular level, thereby providing insights into the complex molecular interactions that underpin biological processes. The objective is to apply these approaches to complex systems that have not been accessible by classical structural biology methods due to the disordered nature of these large complexes at the mesoscopic level.
The developments will target proteins that form viral ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), which are being studied in our laboratory. All RNPs have in common the formation of
superstructures through protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions. New approaches are required to study these tripartite interactions at the molecular level. This PhD project will focus on the development of these methods and their application to RNPs.