Göttinger Graduiertenzentrum für Neurowissenschaften, Biophysik und Molekulare Biowissenschaften

Bohnsack, Markus, Prof. Dr.

Professor of Molecular Biology


  • 2005: Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) at the Centre for Molecular Biology Heidelberg (ZMBH), University of Heidelberg
  • 2006-2008: Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh, UK
  • 2008-2012: Group leader at the Goethe University, Frankfurt
  • 2009-2012: Adjunct Investigator at the Cluster of Excellence Frankfurt
  • since 2012: Professor of Molecular Biology, University Medical Centre (UMG), Göttingen
  • since 2014: Speaker of the PhD program “Molecular Biology of Cells”
  • since 2019: Speaker of the Göttingen Graduate Center for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB)



Major Research Interests
RNAs and ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) are involved in many key cellular processes, including translation and at various levels in the regulation of gene expression. Our group is interested in studying the biogenesis, dynamics, nuclear export and functions of several different classes of RNPs in both yeast and mammalian cells. We employ genome-wide techniques such as UV crosslinking and analysis of cDNA (CRAC) as well as proteomics to discover new protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions in vivo. Functional analysis is then performed using methods from cell and molecular biology, biochemistry as well as bioinformatics, allowing us to gain insights into the many roles of RNP complexes. Several projects aim to understand the biogenesis of ribosomes, a highly energy consuming process that is regulated by proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressors. In particular, we focus on elucidating the roles and regulation of key enzymatic factors such as RNA helicases and exo- and endonucleases that catalyse irreversible maturation steps and thereby drive the directionality of the pathway. Determination of the functions of such enzymes also provides the basis for understanding how this process is modulated in response to environmental and developmental cues. Furthermore, multiple genetic diseases, termed ribosomopathies, are caused by mutations in ribosome biogenesis cofactors or ribosomal proteins and the detailed characterisation of these factors enables us to reveal the molecular basis of such disorders. Interestingly, we have recently found that several RNA helicases involved in ribosome biogenesis also function in different cellular processes, indicating that they may play important roles in the cross-regulation of these pathways in RNA metabolism. Another major aspect of our work is the identification of the substrates and functions of RNA modification enzymes. This allows us to determine the roles of the RNA modifications they introduce in regulating the biogenesis and functions of RNAs and RNPs in vivo.

Homepage Department/Research Group
https://biochemie.uni-goettingen.de/index.php/molecular-biology-ag-m-bohnsack-2/

ORCID: 0000-0001-7063-5456