About our group
The cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) laboratory provides 3D structural analysis of proteins and their complexes. The cryo-EM laboratory thus closely cooperates with the IOCB Prague biological groups in the field of structural biology. The team provides expertise in the field of cryo-EM sample preparation and characterization, and cryo-EM data collection. In collaboration with the high-performance computing group, we provide 3D analysis of cryo-EM data at the local computing cluster. Last but not least, we provide expertise in building atomic models of analyzed proteins and their complexes. The research focus of the cryo-EM laboratory is structural biology of viral and bacterial RNA polymerases and their inhibitors.
Publications
All publications
Molecular insight into 5′ RNA capping with NpnNs by bacterial RNA polymerase
Nature Chemical Biology 2026: Early View
RNA capped with dinucleoside polyphosphates has been discovered in bacteria and eukaryotes only recently. The likely mechanism of this specific capping involves direct incorporation of dinucleoside polyphosphates by RNA polymerase as noncanonical initiating nucleotides. However, how these compounds bind into the active site of RNA polymerase during transcription initiation is unknown. Here, we explored transcription initiation in vitro, using a series of DNA templates in combination with dinucleoside polyphosphates and model RNA polymerase from Thermus thermophilus. We observed that the transcription start site can vary on the basis of the compatibility of the specific template and dinucleoside polyphosphate. Cryo-electron microscopy structures of transcription initiation complexes with dinucleoside polyphosphates revealed that both nucleobase moieties can pair with the DNA template. The first encoded nucleotide pairs in a canonical Watson–Crick manner, whereas the second nucleobase…
Conformational landscape of the mycobacterial inosine 5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase octamerization interface
Journal of Structural Biology 217 (2): 108198 (2025)
Mycobacterial HelD connects RNA polymerase recycling with transcription initiation
Nature Communications 15: 8740 (2024)