Location: | Edinburgh |
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Salary: | £39,347 to £46,974 (Grade 7) |
Hours: | Full Time |
Contract Type: | Fixed-Term/Contract |
Placed On: | 23rd May 2024 |
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Closes: | 13th June 2024 |
Job Ref: | 10549 |
Full time contract (35 hours per week)
Fixed term (24 months)
We are looking for a driven and enthusiastic post-doctoral researcher interested in working on the post-transcriptional roles of Helix-Turn-Helix transcription factors in an important bacterial pathogen (MRSA).
The Opportunity:
We recently found that many Helix-Turn-Helix domain transcription factors (HTH-TFs) from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus also globally bind RNA in vivo. Some HTH-TFs have well-established transcriptional roles in regulating MRSA infectivity and antibiotic resistance. Moreover, the transcription activity of numerous HTH-TFs can be controlled by small molecules, making them promising targets for developing novel antimicrobials.
Our data indicate that the regulatory impact of HTH-TFs is much more profound than anticipated, underscoring the need for a thorough characterisation of these proteins. We hypothesise that HTH-TFs post-transcriptionally control a substantial fraction of antibiotic resistance and virulence factors by altering the stability/translation of RNA substrates. RNA may also compete with HTH-TF transcriptional activities.
By integrating state-of-the-art biochemical, structural, and phenotypic approaches, you will obtain detailed mechanistic insights into (i) how key HTH-TFs bind both DNA and RNA molecules, (ii) how small molecule effectors control this activity, and (iii) how these RNA-binding activities impact gene expression during host infection. A detailed understanding of MRSA HTH-TF function and how its nucleic acid binding is regulated may underpin future therapeutic approaches.
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