Junctions in Noncanonical Forms of Nucleic Acids

Doctoral study program

Life Sciences (Faculty of Science, Masaryk University)

Research area

Structural Biology

Supervisor

Prof. Radek Marek, Ph.D.

Annotation

The project is focused on detailed structural characterization of short oligonucleotides in noncanonical forms clipped together by proper sequential motifs. For this purpose, NMR experiments combined with MD simulations will be employed. The effect of modifications of selected nucleotides on the structural properties of designed models will be investigated to gain a deeper understanding of key interactions that contribute to the system folding and stability.

Recommended literature

  • Aleš Novotný, Jan Novotný, Iva Kejnovská, Michaela Vorlíčková, Radovan Fiala, Radek Marek. Revealing structural peculiarities of homopurine GA repetition stuck by i-motif clip. Nucleic Acids Research, 2021, 49, 11425. doi:10.1093/nar/gkab915.

Research area

Structural Biology

Keywords

NMR spectroscopy, noncanonical DNA, base pairing, molecular modelling

Funding of the PhD candidate

RG budget, planned Czech Science Foundation
In the academic year 2026/27 the net income of the CEITEC PhD School student is expected to be at least CZK 29,400 (approx. EUR  1215)

Requirements for candidate

Structural chemistry or biology, advanced NMR spectroscopy, computational chemistry

Information about the supervisor

ResearcherID: D-6929-2012, currently 1 PhD students, 14 alumni

CEITEC PhD School Registration Form: Main admission process (enrolment September 2026)


Letter of Interest (use the template here: https://www.ceitec.eu/letter-of-interest-docx/f69130)