Nucleic Acids are highly reactive molecules with various positions that act als electrophiles or nucleophiles. While this is true for the canonical nucleotides, it is true and even more important for RNA modifications, such as pseudouridine and thiolated nucleosides. Since her undergraduate studies, Stefanie studied the chemical reactivity of nucleophiles and electrophiles in nucleosides, first in vitro [1],[2] and later in her own lab in vivo [3],[4],[5].
Now, the Kaiser lab is back to its roots and studies the chemical behaviour of RNA modifications in the context of “molecular input” methods for sequencing and mass spectrometry studies. For example, we recently determined the chemical products of native tRNA modifications and hydrazine [6]. This knowledge is important for RNA modification analysis using mass spectrometry and sequencing.
