Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position working with Prof.s Stephen Connon and Mike Southern based in the School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin on an exciting project to elucidate the function and salvage of the micronutrient queuine and its ribosylated counterpart queuosine. We have recently shown that exploitation of the queuine pathway can have a dramatic influence on the progression of autoimmune disease. The current project involves the preparation of compounds designed to explore the effects, transport and salvage of queuine and queuine mimetics to enhance understanding of the role and availability of these compounds in the body. The project is part of a wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary collaboration with partners in based in TCD, Northern Ireland and The USA funded by the SFI-HRB-NIH US‐Ireland R&D Partnership Programme.
The successful candidate will have, or be about to obtain, a PhD or equivalent in organic/medicinal/biological chemistry. A strong track record in modern techniques of organic synthesis and an interest in medicinal/biological chemistry are essential. Experience handling purine derivatives and/or polyheteroaromatic drug-like molecules will be an advantage.
The research will be carried out in the state-of-the-art Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (https://www.tcd.ie/biosciences/) is available for 12 months. Appointment will be made at a level commensurate with experience. Applications including CV with the name of three referees should be sent electronically to connons@tcd.ie and southerj@tcd.ie – informal requests for information can be made to the same addresses.
Recent relevant references:
The human tRNA-guanine transglycosylase displays promiscuous nucleobase preference but strict tRNA specificity’, C. Fergus, M. Al-qasem, M. Cotter, C. M. McDonnell, E. Sorrentino, F. Chevot, K. Hokamp, M. O. Senge, J. M. Southern*, S. J. Connon,* and V. P. Kelly*, Nucleic Acid Research, 2021, 49, 4877.
‘The eukaryotic tRNA-guanine transglycosylase enzyme inserts queuine into tRNA via a sequential bi–bi mechanism’, Mashael A. Alqasem, Claire Fergus, J. Mike Southern,* Stephen J. Connon* and Vincent P. Kelly*, Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 3915.
‘In vivo modification of tRNA with an artificial nucleobase leads to full disease remission in an animal model of multiple sclerosis’, S. Varghese, M. Cotter, F. Chevot, C. Fergus, C. Cunningham, K. H. Mills, S. J. Connon*, J. M. Southern*, and V. P. Kelly*, Nucleic Acids Research, 2017, 45, 2029.