About the Workshop
Gene expression is not a linear path from RNA to protein but a tightly coupled process in which RNA metabolism, translation, protein folding, modification, and degradation occur concurrently. Surveillance and quality-control pathways monitor these steps in real time, ensuring fidelity while allowing rapid responses to stress. Central to this coordination are mechanisms that link ribosomes to protein decay machinery, including ribosome-associated quality control (RQC), co-translational ubiquitination, and proteasome engagement with translating ribosomes. Despite clear biological interdependence, RNA biology and protein decay have historically developed as distinct fields, with different conceptual frameworks and experimental toolkits. As a result, key questions at their intersection remain poorly resolved: how RNA features trigger protein quality control, how nascent polypeptide fate feeds back on RNA stability, and how co-translational folding and modification influence degradation decisions.
This EMBO Workshop on RNA meets protein decay aims to bridge these gaps by bringing together researchers working directly at the RNA–protein decay interface alongside experts grounded in RNA metabolism or in proteasome and ubiquitin biology. By integrating mechanistic insights, shared terminology, and complementary methods, this workshop will catalyze new collaborations and help define unifying principles. Such integration is essential for understanding how cells maintain gene expression robustness under physiological and pathological conditions.
Image credits: Janin Schokolowski and Micha Müller
About EMBO Courses and Workshops
EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender).
Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.
