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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Advanced mass spectrometry approaches to reveal nucleic acid folding energy landscapes

Objective

50 years after the discovery of the DNA double helix, the variety of structures that nucleic acids can adopt continues to surprise the scientific community. Specific structures and conformational changes are linked to important functions in cell regulation. Understanding the principles that govern how small molecules such as natural metabolites or synthetic drugs modulate the nucleic acid structures is of prime importance for molecular biology and pharmacology. The field however suffers from the lack of suitable experimental tools to monitor all assemblies and structures formed when a small molecule encounters its targets.

The goal of my project is to develop unique mass spectrometry-based approaches to detect, quantify and characterize all these assemblies and structures. Our team’s strength will be to integrate a multidisciplinary approach, from physical and analytical chemistry to molecular biology. We will address the fundamentals of nucleic acid ionization and transfer in the gas phase, develop a unique instrumental setup combining mass spectrometry, ion mobility and circular dichroism ion spectroscopy, and apply these new approaches to biologically important nucleic acids, in order to reveal the mechanisms of ligand-induced conformational changes in important regulatory structures such as G-quadruplex or riboswitches.

This research will also have broader impact, as the approaches and concepts developed here for nucleic acids will contribute fundamental advances in mass spectrometry, and will be transferrable to other supramolecular or biological complexes.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2013-CoG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-CG - ERC Consolidator Grants

Host institution

INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
EU contribution
€ 2 021 755,20
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

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