Bernecky Group
RNA-Based Gene Regulation
The regulated expression of genetic material is one of the most basic processes of a cell, affecting everything from organism development to environmental response. Through structural studies of the involved complexes, the Bernecky group works to unravel the gene expression regulatory networks that employ RNA as an intermediate.
RNA is an important focal point for the regulation of gene expression. Both protein-coding and noncoding RNAs are integral components of diverse regulatory pathways, and often act together with protein cofactors. Despite their importance, an understanding of the mechanisms of action of the involved RNA-protein complexes is lacking. Many of these RNA-containing complexes are flexible, modular, and lowly abundant. For such challenging targets, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has emerged as a particularly powerful tool for the determination of near-atomic structures while simultaneously providing insight into their dynamics. Using this and related methods, the Bernecky Lab aims to understand how RNA protein complexes assemble and regulate cellular RNA metabolism.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
Team
Current Projects
Molecular basis of transcriptional regulation | Assembly and import of RNA polymerase II | RNA recognition in innate immunity
Publications
Hlavata A, Neuditschko B, Schellhaas U, Plaschka C, Herzog F, Bernecky C. 2026. Structure of cytoplasmic RNA polymerase II. Nature Communications. View
Rosani U, Altan N, Venier P, Bortoletto E, Volpi N, Bernecky C. 2025. Ancestral origin and functional expression of a hyaluronic acid pathway complement in mussels. Biology. 14(8), 930. View
Bernecky C. 2025. Understanding the machinery that reads the genome. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 26, 415. View
Tluckova K, Kaczmarek BM, Testa Salmazo AP, Bernecky C. 2025. Mechanism of mammalian transcriptional repression by noncoding RNA. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 32, 607–612. View
Hlavata A. 2025. Regulation of Cytoplasmic RNA Polymerase II. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. View
Career
Since 2018 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2011 – 2017 Postdoc, LMU Munich and MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
2010 – 2011 Postdoc, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
2010 PhD, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Selected Distinctions
2012 – 2014 Humboldt Research Fellowship
2005 – 2007 NIH Molecular Biophysics Training Grant
2002 Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholar (Cornell-HHMI)
