Prof. Dr. Ann Ehrenhofer-Murray
Work in the Molecular Cell Biology Lab investigates epigenetic and epitranscriptomic mechanisms of transcriptional and translational regulation using unicellular yeasts as model organisms.
The goal of the epigenetic research is to obtain insights into how DNA is packaged in the eukaryotic nucleus in chromatin, and how posttranslational modifications on histones and other chromatin proteins regulate their function in gene expression and gene silencing. The lab has a particular interest in the structure and function of heterochromatin complexes. Furthermore, they have identified posttranslational modifications on the centromeric histone H3 variant (CENP-A) and are studying their function in regulating protein-protein interactions at the kinetochore. Altogether, this work provides insights into how epigenetic modifications contribute to organizational principles in the genome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
The epitranscriptomics work focuses on how chemical modifications of (t)RNAs impact their function in translation. A specific interest is to characterize cross-talk between modifications and to study if they are functionally interwoven. They have found a tRNA modification cycle that is controlled by a nutritional supplement and that modulates global translation. Current work seeks to obtain an integrated view of cross-modification cross-talk in the epitranscriptome and to understand its functional implications in health and disease.
- Genetics, molecular genetics and molecular biology in S. cerevisiae and S. pombe
- Heterologous protein expression, purification, protein biochemistry
- In vitro chromatin reconstitution
- Chromatin immunoprecipitation and analysis
- Next-generation sequencing and data analysis, whole-genome sequence analysis
- Nanopore sequencing of small RNAs
- Functional genomics
Current position
| 2013 - present | Full Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE) |
Positions held
| 2005 - 2013 | Full Professor of Genetics at the Universität Duisburg-Essen (DE) |
| 2004 - 2005 | Full Professor of Genetics at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen (DE) |
| 1997 - 2004 | Independent Group Leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin (DE) |
| 1994 -1997 | Postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley (US) |
Academic Education
| 1991 - 1994 | Doctoral Degree (Dr. sc. nat.) in Biology at the ETH Zürich (CH) |
| 1985 - 1991 | Diploma in Biology/ Biochemistry at the ETH Zürich (CH) |
Honors/Awards/Fellowships
| 2013 | Einstein-Professorship, Einstein-Stiftung Berlin (DE) |
| 1994, 1996 | Postdoctoral Fellowship from Schweizerischen Nationalfonds (CH) |
| 1995 | Postdoctoral Fellowship from Janggen-Pöhn Stiftung, St. Gallen, Switzerland (CH) |
DFG-funded projects
| 2023 - present | Research Grant - 'The role of queuosine modification for virulence in Shigella flexneri' |
| 2023 - present | Research Grant - 'Structural and functional analysis of the yeast heterochromatin complex SIR' |
| 2014 - present | Research Grant - 'The centromeric nucleosome in yeast: Interaction with the inner kinetochore and assembly by the chaperone Yta7/ ATAD2' |
| 2019 - 2023 | Research Grant - 'Regulation of kinetochore function in yeast by modification of the core region of the centromeric nucleosome' |
| 2012 - 2019 | Research Grant - 'Interaction analysis of the AAA+ domain of the heterochromatin protein Sir3' |
| 2015 - 2018 | SPP 1784 - 'Chemical Biology of native Nucleic Acid Modifications' |
| 2011 - 2015 | Research Grant - 'Characterization of the role of serine phosphorylation on CenH3 function in Saccharomyces cerevisae' |
| 2009 - 2015 | FOR 1082 - 'Biochemistry and Biological Function of Dnmt2 Methyltransferases' |
| 2010 - 2014 | Research Grant - 'Establishment of global histone acetylation patterns by the HAT complex SAS-I in S. cerevisiae' |
| 2000 - 2010 | Research Grant - 'Die Rolle der NatA Acetylierung und des Sum1 Proteins in Silencing und Replikation in S. cerevisiae' |
| 2004 - 2011 | SPP 1120 - 'Epigenetics' |
| 2006 - 2010 | Research Grant - 'A role for the histone deacetylase Rpd3 in the establishment of histone acetylation patterns at telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae' |
| 2005 - 2008 | FOR 531 - 'Chromatin Mediated Biological Decisions' |
| 2015 - 2018 | SFB 740 - 'From Molecules to Modules: Organisation and Dynamics of Functional Units in Cells' |
Selected activities
| 2021 - present | Selection committee for Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz Preis (DFG ) |
| 2016 - present | Editorial Board, Molecular and General Genomics |
| 2016 - present | Head of Graduate Affairs, Humboldt-Universität, Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät |
| 2018 - 2020 | President of the German Genetics Society |
| 2012 - 2016 | DFG reviewer panel for “Allgemeine Genetik” |
| 2006 - 2013 | Speaker of graduate research training program 'Transkriptionskontrolle, Chromatinstruktur und DNA Reparatur in Entwicklung und Differenzierung', DFG GRK 1431/1 |
Selected publications
- Kshirsagar R, Munhoven A, Tran Nguyen TM, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE. A role for β-1,6- and β-1,3-Glucans in Kinetochore Function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 2023 Nov 10:iyad195. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyad195.
- Sun Y, Piechotta M, Naarmann-de Vries I, Dieterich C, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE. Detection of queuosine and queuosine precursors in tRNAs by direct RNA sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 2023 Nov 10;51(20):11197-11212. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad826.
- Bessler L, Kaur N, Vogt LM, Flemmich L, Siebenaller C, Winz ML, Tuorto F, Micura R, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE, Helm M. Functional integration of a semi-synthetic azido-queuosine derivative into translation and a tRNA modification circuit. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 Oct 14;50(18):10785-10800. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac822.
- Shahnejat-Bushehri S, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE. The ATAD2/ANCCA homolog Yta7 cooperates with Scm3HJURP to deposit Cse4CENP-A at the centromere in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Mar 10;117(10):5386-5393. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917814117.
- Yan K, Yang J, Zhang Z, McLaughlin SH, Chang L, Fasci D, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE, Heck AJR, Barford D. Structure of the inner kinetochore CCAN complex assembled onto a centromeric nucleosome. Nature. 2019 Oct;574(7777):278-282. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1609-1.
- Anedchenko EA, Samel-Pommerencke A, Tran Nguyen TM, Shahnejat-Bushehri S, Pöpsel J, Lauster D, Herrmann A, Rappsilber J, Cuomo A, Bonaldi T, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE. The kinetochore module Okp1CENP-Q/Ame1CENP-U is a reader for N-terminal modifications on the centromeric histone Cse4CENP-A. EMBO J. 2019 Jan 3;38(1):e98991. doi: 10.15252/embj.201898991.
- Tuorto F, Legrand C, Cirzi C, Federico G, Liebers R, Müller M, Ehrenhofer-Murray AE, Dittmar G, Gröne HJ, Lyko F. Queuosine-modified tRNAs confer nutritional control of protein translation. EMBO J. 2018 Sep 14;37(18):e99777. doi: 10.15252/embj.201899777.