Become a Part of the Chekulaeva Lab at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biologyto study RNA biology in neurons and its implications in neurodegenerative diseases. We're focusing on ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that targets motor neurons, the cells vital for controlling skeletal muscle contraction and movement. Our goal is to uncover how defects in RNA metabolism contribute to neurodegeneration, providing insights into the pathogenesis of this disorder.

What You Will Do:

• Engage in research using cutting-edge techniques, including systems biology (e.g. Ribo-seq, SLAM-seq etc), biochemical analysis, and various imaging approaches.
• Implement hiPSC-derived models of neurodegeneration and CRISPR-mediated gene editing in your research.
• Engage with compartmentalized neuronal cultures, building on our lab's prior research (Loedige et al. Molecular Cell 2023; Mendonsa et al. Nature Neuroscience 2023; Mendonsa et al. NAR 2021; Ludwik et al. Methods 2019; Zappulo et al. Nature Comm 2017)

• For more details on our lab research, visit www.chekulaevalab.org.

Who We Are Looking For:

• A highly motivated researcher with a background in molecular biology techniques and RNA biology.
• Prior experience in hiPSC culture and neurodegeneration will be an advantage.

Application Process:
Send us your motivation letter and CV, including contact information for at least two references, combined into a single PDF. Direct your applications to marina.chekulaeva(at)mdc-berlin.de. We look forward to your application!

Recommended reading:
(1) Loedige I.^*, Baranovskii A.^*, MendonsaS., DantsujiS., PopitschN., BreimannL., ZernaN., CherepanovV., MilekM., AmeresS. and ChekulaevaM. mRNA stability and m⁶A are major determinants of subcellular mRNA localization in neurons. Molecular Cell 3;83(15):2709-2725.e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.021
(2) Mendonsa S.*, von Kügelgen N.*, Dantsuji S.*, Ron M.*, Breimann L., Baranovskii A., Lödige I., Kirchner M., Fischer M., Zerna N., Bujanic L., Mertins P., Ulitsky I., and Chekulaeva M. (2023) Massively parallel identification of mRNA localization elements in primary cortical neurons. Nature Neuroscience 26: 394–405. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01243-x
(3) Mendonsa S., von Kuegelgen N., Bujanic L. and Chekulaeva M. (2021). Charcot-Marie-Tooth mutation in glycyl-tRNA synthetase stalls ribosomes in a pre-accommodation state and activates integrated stress response. Nucleic Acids Research 49(17): 10007-10017. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab730
(4) Zappulo, A.*, van den Bruck, D.*, Ciolli Mattioli, C.*, Franke, V.*, Imami, K., McShane, E., Moreno-Estelles, M., Calviello, L., Filiipchyk, A., Peguero-Sanchez, E., Mueller, T., Woehler, A., Birchmeier, C., Merino, E., Rajewsky, N., Ohler. U., Mazzoni, E., Selbach, M., Akalin, A., and Chekulaeva, M. (2017). RNA localization is a key determinant of neurite-enriched proteome. Nature Communications 8(1): 583. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00690-6