Her research group at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), a joint institution of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Cologne, is investigating how human cells deal with errors in protein production. Although cells are equipped with extensive protein repair mechanisms, it is sometimes beneficial to eliminate problematic proteins even before their synthesis is completed at the ribosome. Ribosomes are the "protein factories" of the cell. They are used for translation, in which the nucleotide sequence of mRNA is transferred into the amino acid sequence of a protein. Débora Trentini explains, "We are trying to understand the physiological causes of ribosome-associated protein degradation. We are interested in how this process can contribute to the loss of function of proteins carrying disease-associated mutations and how it prevents the loss of proteome homeostasis and neurodegeneration."
Dr. Débora Trentini Schmidt is an associate member at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne.
With the 2023 Prize, the Peter and Traudl Engelhorn Foundation is honoring for the 19th time scientific work by young researchers in the life sciences that has led to a breakthrough in their field.