Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy of triplet repeat DNA

该博士项目将使用最先进的单分子荧光技术来研究含有短串联重复序列的DNA二级结构的结构，动力学和相互作用。这些结构与近50种神经退行性疾病的原因有关。Magennis实验室最近的工作表明，由CAG或CTG三联体重复形成的DNA结构经历了意想不到的结构重排[Nat. Commun.，2021 12，204]。我们现在希望了解这种不寻常的动态行为是否对细胞加工很重要，并研究这些结构作为药物靶点的潜力。

The PhD project will use state-of-the-art single-molecule fluorescence techniques to study the structure, dynamics and interactions of DNA secondary structures containing short tandem repeats. These structures are implicated in the cause of almost 50 neurodegenerative diseases. Recent work from the Magennis lab showed that DNA structures formed from CAG or CTG triplet repeats undergo unexpected structural rearrangements [Nat. Commun., 2021 12, 204]. We now wish to understand whether this unusual dynamic behaviour is important for cellular processing, and to investigate the potential for these structures to act as drug targets.