Study of the dark proteome in innate immunity

The innate immune system is comprised of different cell types which contain diverse evolutionary adapted protein-protein interaction networks that sense and trigger tailored responses to identified threats. These processes require a tight regulation in order to achieve an adequate immune defence and avoid immune-mediated pathology due to an uncontrolled immune response. Intrinsically disordered proteins/regions (IDP/IDRs) are highly dynamic flexible proteins that lack a defined structure and have been shown to be key signalling and protein interaction hubs due to their large interaction surface enriched in small linear binding motifs. Multiple proteins involved in the innate immune response contain IDRs of variable lengths. However, very little is known of their functional role and their interactome. I plan to use state-of-the-art chemical biology, biochemical and cell biological approaches to understand the functional relevance of IDPs in innate immunity which could lead to the finding of new therapeutic targets.