IIT People Search

Jakob Rupert

PhD Student Fellow
RNA Systems Biology
Research center
Interests
About

A biochemist by training, but with a strong interest in all aspects and areas of Life Science, I graduated from the MSc programme Biochemistry at the University of Ljubljana in 2019, with a thesis on biophysical characterisation and crystallisation of an intrinsically disordered protein annexin A11 in the group of Prof. Boris Rogelj. Immediately after, I spent 6 months as an Erasmus+ intern at King's College in London in the group of Prof. Annalisa Pastore, continuing my research work on neurodegeneration-associated, aggregation-prone proteins such as TDP-43 and alpha synuclein.

Since November 2019, I am pursuing my PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Gian Gaetano Tartaglia, with the aim of understanding how RNA molecules can influence and modulate protein aggregation. Studying the case of alpha synuclein, a protein involved in Parkinson's disease pathology, we have demonstrated that protein misfolding associated with aggregation can strongly influence the protein's RNA binding propensity. RNA on the other hand can strongly affect the kinetics of the aggregation process. A novel observation, this fact will help with the understanding of molecular pathologies, as well as the development of RNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders.

Education

Title: PhD - Genetics and Molecular Biology
Institute: Sapienza Università di Roma
Location: Rome
Country: Italy
From: 2019 To: null

Title: Erasmus+ internship
Institute: King's College
Location: London
Country: United Kingdom
From: 2019 To: 2019

Title: MSc - Biochemistry
Institute: University of Ljubljana
Location: Ljubljana
Country: Slovenia
From: 2016 To: 2019

All Publications
2023
Rupert J., Monti M., Zacco E., Tartaglia G.G.
RNA sequestration driven by amyloid formation: the alpha synuclein case
Nucleic Acids Research
2022
Giambruno R., Rupert J., Zacco E.
Experimental methods to study protein–nucleic acid interactions
Advances in Protein Molecular and Structural Biology Methods, Publisher: Elsevier
2022
Louka A., Bagnoli S., Rupert J., Esapa B., Tartaglia G. G., Cellerino A., Pastore A., Terzibasi Tozzini E.
New lessons on TDP-43 from old N. furzeri killifish
Aging Cell
2021
Armaos A., Colantoni A., Proietti G., Rupert J., Tartaglia G. G.
catRAPID omics v2.0: going deeper and wider in the prediction of protein-RNA interactions
Nucleic Acids Research
2020
Vandelli A., Monti M., Milanetti E., Armaos A., Rupert J., Zacco E., Bechara E., Delli Ponti R., Tartaglia G. G.
Structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genome and predictions of the human interactome
Nucleic Acids Research