Dr. Norbert Polacek
Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Universität Bern
Switzerland
Biography
Dr. Norbert Polacek from 1988-1996: studies in Biology / Genetics at the University of Vienna, Austria; 1995-1996: diploma thesis in the group of Andrea Barta, Institute of Biochemistry, Vienna (Topic: Identification of divalent metal ion binding sites in rRNA of E. coli); 1997-2000: Ph.D. Thesis in the group of Andrea Barta, Institute of Medical Biochemistry, University of Vienna (Topic: Structural dynamics of bacterial rRNA in translation); since 2012: Full Professor of Biochemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern
Research Interest
In our group we focused on the functional characterization of non-protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in large-cell RNA / protein complexes, such as the ribosome or the vault particle. We are also interested in the structure, catalytic and regulatory roles of ncRNAs during ribosome functioning, translation control, as well as during apoptosis. We approach these aims by applying biochemical, genomic, and bioinformatics tools in model organisms representing all three domains of life (archaea, bacteria and eukarya).
Publications
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Amort, Melanie ; Nachbauer, Birgit ; Tuzlak, Selma ; Kieser, Arnd ; Schepers, Aloys ; Villunger, Andreas ; Polacek, Norbert (2015). Expression of the vault RNA protects cells from undergoing apoptosis. Nature communications, 6 (7030), p. 7030. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038 / ncomms8030
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Luidalepp, Hannes; Berger, Stefan; Joss, Oliver; Tenson, Tanel; Polacek, Norbert (2016). Ribosome Shut-Down by 16S rRNA Fragmentation in Stationary-Phase Escherichia coli. Journal of molecular biology, 428(10), pp. 2237-2247. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jmb.2016.01.033
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Gebetsberger, Jennifer Viktoria ; Wyss, Leander ; Mleczko, Anna M .; Reuther, Julia ; Polacek, Norbert (2016). A tRNA-derived fragment competes with mRNA for ribosome binding and regulates translation during stress. RNA biology, pp. 1-10. Taylor and Francis 10,1080 / 15476286.2016.1257470
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Cook, Miriam ; Willi, Jessica ; Polacek, Norbert (2017). Critical 23S rRNA interactions for macrolide-dependent ribosome stalling on the ErmCL nascent peptide chain. Nucleic acids research, 45 (11), pp. From 6717 to 6728. Oxford University Press 10.1093 / nar / gkx195
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Gonskikh, Yulia ; Polacek, Norbert (2017). Alterations of the translation (in press). Mechanisms of Aging and Development Elsevier 10.1016 / j.mad.2017.04.003
