"Functional studies in C. elegans to elucidate the role of METTL13 in mRNA translation during health and disease"
Melanie Engelfriet (Doctoral Research Fellow, Rafal Ciosk Laboratory, BMB)
The novel methyltransferase-like protein 13 (METTL13) is a dual methyltransferase that has been shown to methylate the N-terminus and Lys55 of the eukaryotic elongation factor 1 alpha (eEF1A) in human cells. Previous studies have shown that depletion of METTL13 seems to be dispensable in healthy tissues with its absence causing no effect on protein synthesis or cell proliferation. In contrast, depletion in several human cancer cell lines reduces tumorigenesis by inhibiting global protein synthesis and cell proliferation. We used C. elegans as a model organism to assess if the function of METTL13 and its mechanism in health and disease is evolutionarily conserved. Using methyltransferase assays and mass spectrometry, we show that METTL13 is responsible for methylating the same eEF1A targets in worms. Using a loss-of-function mutant worm, we show that loss of METTL13 causes no impact when it comes to development, fertility, life span, or global protein synthesis. Interestingly, the only time a differential phenotype was observed between wild-type and METTL13 mutant worms, was in the context of cancer. Together, our findings confirm that the biochemical function and the mechanism of METTL13 in healthy and cancerous tissue are conserved from human to nematode.
"The proteomics core facility at IBV – Typical workflows and applications"
Bernd Thiede (Group Leader, Proteomics Core Facility, BMB)
Proteins represent the actual functional molecules of the cell, and the fundamental importance of proteome level information in biomedical research is widely accepted. The development of high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) instruments during the last decade has made it possible to perform deeper and faster proteome characterization than has ever been possible before. Proteomics research relies heavily on expensive instrumentation which is usually operated by expert users in core facilities. In this presentation, the proteomics platform at IBV will be presented. Workflows for typical applications demanded by customers of the service will be discussed such protein identification, quantitative proteomics, characterization of post-translational modifications, and analysis of protein-protein interactions. The proteomics data are available to the customer in Viewer versions of the software tools used including the possibility of exporting the data to Excel. A brief introduction in the proteome data analysis tools used in our facility will be given.