Quantitative proteomics to characterize the telosome

• Applicant: Dr. Falk Butter
• Subject Area: General Genetics and Functional Genome Biology
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 243914686

Telomeres as cap of most eukaryotic organisms consist of repetitivearrays bound by proteins to protect them from the DNA damageresponse (end protection problem) and are extended by a specificenzyme called telomerase to counteract their shortening (endreplication problem). While telomere maintenance is of paramountimportance in cell development, cancer and ageing, our knowledge ofthe key players and mechanistic understanding of this process is notcomplete. We here aim to identify and characterize previouslyunknown (direct) telomere binding proteins in diverse species. Usingstate-of-the-art quantitative mass spectrometry, we identify candidatesable to bind to the telomeric sequence and then combine this withmolecular biology, biochemistry and related assays to gain insight intothe protein functionality to provide a more comprehensive picture ofthe telosome.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants