Ana Tufegdžić Vidaković, Group Leader in the LMB’s PNAC Division, has been selected to join EMBO’s Young Investigator Programme. The programme supports early-career Group Leaders with mentoring and training opportunities as well as financial and practical support. Those in the programme also join a large, international community comprising over 700 current and former awardees.
Ana commented, “I am very excited to join the international EMBO community and look forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with fellow EMBO Young Investigators. I am most grateful to my fantastic lab members who made this possible.”
Ana’s group is focused on understanding how gene activity is regulated in eukaryotic cells. Her group studies RNA polymerase II (Pol II), a key, multi-subunit enzyme in eukaryotic cells that transcribes genetic information from DNA into mRNA. The goal of Ana’s group is to uncover the mechanisms that regulate Pol II activity when it encounters challenges such as obstacles, signalling cues or stress.
Recently, Ana’s group identified a previously unknown quality-control checkpoint that marks defective Pol II molecules at the beginning of genes for degradation. Specifically, her group uncovered how CRL3ARMC5 ubiquitin ligase and Integrator phosphatase work in tandem to survey the quality and quantity of Pol II molecules before they can proceed into the gene body. Ana’s work is continuing in this vein as she looks to discover other ubiquitylation pathways that regulate Pol II.
Ana obtained a Diploma in Molecular Biology and Physiology from the University of Belgrade, Serbia before moving to Cambridge to pursue a PhD with Carlos Caldas at Cancer Research UK. During this time, Ana attended a talk about transcription-coupled DNA repair – this subject fascinated her and inspired her to study how transcription interfaces with DNA damage during her postdoctoral studies. She joined Jesper Svejstrup’s group at the Francis Crick Institute in London, where she discovered how a single post-translational modification on Pol II can regulate the cellular response to DNA damage caused by UV light. In September 2020, she moved to the LMB to start her own research group, investigating how the flow of genetic information operates in realistic conditions – when the Pol II transcription apparatus is faced with challenges.
Further references
Ana’s group page
EMBO announcement
LMB’s EMBO Awards & Honours