idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Grafik: idw-Logo

idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft

Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
06/28/2024 11:49

ERC Advanced Grant for Helle Ulrich for research on DNA repair and genome stability

Petra Giegerich Kommunikation und Presse
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

    European Research Council grants funding worth EUR 2.5 million

    PRESS RELEASE OF THE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (IMB) AND JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITY MAINZ

    Professor Helle Ulrich, Executive Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) and professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has been awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). She will receive EUR 2.5 million over the next five years to support her research on how a small regulatory protein called ubiquitin contributes to DNA repair and the maintenance of genome stability. ERC Advanced Grants are among the most competitive and prestigious grants awarded to senior scientists in Europe.

    Ulrich's team specializes in understanding how cells repair DNA damage caused by genotoxic agents, such as UV radiation or mutagenic chemicals, and ensure that their DNA is accurately replicated when the cell divides. This is crucial for preventing mutations that can cause ageing and cancer. The ERC Advanced Grant will allow her to investigate how a small, highly conserved regulatory protein called ubiquitin contributes to DNA replication and repair. Ubiquitin is a post-translational modifier attached to many proteins, including key proteins in DNA replication and repair pathways),and regulates their interactions, stability and activities in the cell.

    "Our project builds on a powerful technique we recently developed in our lab to manipulate and target the attachment of ubiquitin to proteins in cells", explained Ulrich. "By purposefully directing the ubiquitylation of a relevant target protein, such as a DNA repair factor, we can watch its effects in isolation from other cellular processes and thereby gain a deeper mechanistic understanding of its function." Using this new technique, Professor Helle Ulrich and her group hope to decipher how cells direct different DNA replication and repair pathways as well as how this may be dysregulated in disease.

    ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers to enable them to work on projects considered to be highly speculative due to their innovative approach, but which, because of this, can open up access to new approaches in the corresponding research field. Only researchers who have already made significant breakthroughs and have been successfully working for at least ten years at the highest levels of international research are eligible for the grant. The only criteria considered in awarding ERC funding are the academic excellence of the researcher in question and the nature of their research project. An ERC Advanced Grant thus represents an important acknowledgement of the recipient's individual achievements.

    Related links:
    * https://www.imb.de/research/ulrich/biography - Professor Helle Ulrich at the IMB

    Read more:
    * https://press.uni-mainz.de/continued-excellence-in-dna-repair-and-genome-stabili... - press release "Continued excellence in DNA repair and genome stability research" (2 Dec. 2022)
    * https://press.uni-mainz.de/german-research-foundation-approves-collaborative-res... - press release "German Research Foundation approves collaborative research center to investigate DNA repair and genome stability" (30 Nov. 2018)
    * https://press.uni-mainz.de/molecular-biologist-helle-ulrich-receives-erc-proof-o... -
    press release "Molecular biologist Helle Ulrich receives ERC Proof of Concept Grant for her research on ubiquitin" (19 March 2018)
    * https://press.uni-mainz.de/helle-ulrich-awarded-highly-prestigious-erc-advanced-... - press release "Helle Ulrich awarded highly prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to study how damaged DNA is managed by cells" (20 March 2013)
    * https://press.uni-mainz.de/leading-expert-in-dna-damage-signaling-joins-institut... - press release "Leading expert in DNA damage signaling joins Institute of Molecular Biology at Mainz University as Scientific Director" (6 Nov. 2012)


    Contact for scientific information:

    Dr. Ralf Dahm
    Director of Scientific Management
    Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB)
    Ackermannweg 4
    55128 Mainz
    phone: +49 6131 39-21455
    e-mail: press@imb.de
    https://www.imb.de/


    Images

    Professor Helle Ulrich
    Professor Helle Ulrich

    © IMB Mainz


    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists, all interested persons
    Biology, Medicine, Nutrition / healthcare / nursing
    transregional, national
    Contests / awards, Research projects
    English


     

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).