Dr. Philipp Kimmig

Quality control of defective ribosomes in eukaryotic cells

The ribosome is a conserved ribonucleoprotein machine that translates genetic information into a chain of amino acids called proteins. Although ribosome biogenesis has been studied for decades, the mechanisms that determine ribosome number and ensure their quality control remain poorly understood. My research investigates the molecular details of the degradation machinery and signaling components that recognize and process damaged ribosomes towards understanding ribosome surveillance mechanisms and the consequences of misregulating ribosome quality control. To achieve this goal, I have developed a novel pulse-chase method, which allows to selectively label and study defective ribosomes and genetically and biochemically characterize relevant cellular quality control pathways.