Mirta Boban Lab
Molecular mechanisms of protein quality control
Research
Cell function is critically dependent on the functional proteome. All proteins must be present at the correct concentration, have the correct 3D structure, and be localized to the correct compartment. Dysregulated protein homeostasis can lead to the accumulation of protein aggregates, which is a known hallmark of ging and neurodegenerative diseases. We are interested in understanding how cells prevent the accumulation of misfolded proteins, and how these processes are affected by stress and aging. Using yeast genetics and cell and molecular biology techniques, we study molecular mechanisms of protein quality control, in particular selective protein degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system and autophagy. Our long-term goal is to understand the underlying mechanisms of pathological protein aggregation associated with neurodegeneration and aging.
Team
Mirta Boban, PhDPrincipal Investigator
Mihaela PravicaPhD student
Matko BazdanPhD student
Dina Franić PhD student (Alumnus)
Klara Zubčić PhD student (Alumnus)
News
PhD student Mihaela Pravica was awarded a MOBDOK fellowship for the short term mobility to the laboratory of Prof. Claes Andreasson at the Stockholm University, Sweden.
February 2025
Our work describing protein quality control pathways in quiescent cells got published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
29 November 2024
PhD student Dina Franić was awarded a Prize for the Best Oral Presentation at the international FEBS3+ Meeting on Exploring Molecular Frontiers, in Pula, Croatia
25-28 September 2024
Mirta Boban presented the results at the ProteoCure 3rd Annual meeting in Warszaw, Poland
May 2024
PhD student Dina Franić defended her thesis and received a doctoral degree Summa Cum Laude, University of Zagreb School of Medicine.
15 April 2024
Mirta Boban was awarded funding by the Adris Foundation.
17 November 2023
We were local organizers for the 2nd ProteoCure Annual Meeting “A sound proteome for a sound body: targeting proteolysis for proteome remodeling”, Hotel Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Croatia
12-15 June 2023
A lab visit to the Zagreb Christmas Market.
December 2023.
The result of our research were presented at the EMBO Meeting on Protein Quality Control Srebreno, Croatia, by PhD students Dina Franić, Mihaela Pravica, and Klara Zubčić,
May 2023
PhD students Dina Franić, Mihaela Pravica and Klara Zubčić had a 3-months short-term mobility to the laboratory of Prof. Antonio Bedalov, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
May 2023
PhD student Klara Zubčić defended her doctoral thesis and was awarded the Dean’s Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in the year 2022/ 2023, at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine
12 December 2022
Mirta Boban invited lecture at the international conference HDBMB conference Brela, Croatia
September 2022
PhD students Dina Franić, Mihaela Pravica and Klara Zubčić presented their results at the CSHL Meeting on Protein Quality Control in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
April 2022
