The researcher from the Jagiellonian University Dr Ting-Yu Lin won a prestigious grant within the framework of the Homing Competition by the Foundation for Polish Science. She has received more than 800 thousand zlotys to carry out innovative research in the field of molecular biology.
Dr Lin’s project Molecular Insights into Elongator’s tRNA modification reaction focuses on investigating a specific modification on certain tRNAs, the creation of which is catalysed by an assembly of proteins, called the Elongator complex. The research combines studies in structural biochemistry implemented in the Max Planck Research group hosted by the JU Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology, whereas research in the field of cell biology will be conducted in collaboration with Prof. Karin Breunig at the Martin Luther University in Germany.
The project aims to provide comprehensive structural information on and the characterisation of the chemical reactions along with their impact on the cellular activity. These results will lead to understanding the cause of relevant diseases, such as cancers and neurodegenerative diseases that appear to be the result of mistakes in the RNA modification process. Furthermore, the model can be applied to develop cancer therapy drug screening platforms or to increase understanding of similar RNA modification reactions.
Dr. Ting-Yu Lin, obtained her PhD degree at the National Taiwan University and shortly thereafter worked in the RIKEN Institute (Japan). Her scientific interests focus on proteins that interact with nucleic acids - especially their mechanisms, their three dimensional structures, their impact on cell activities and the development of inhibitors against them for potential novel therapeutic applications. She joined the Max Planck Research group at the Małopolska Centre for Biotechnology in 2015. She published an article on the structure of Elongator’s catalytic subunit with the Max Planck group leader Dr. Sebastian Glatt in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
