Post-doctoral fellow (M/F) - Dissecting and reversing the impact of aging on cancer progression and...

1- Further characterize the aged phenotype in our telomerase mutant model;
2- Evaluate the impact of the aged phenotype in breast cancer cell lines by generating xenografts;
3- Evaluate whether an aged microenvironment affects the efficacy of cancer therapies;
4- Evaluate whether the efficacy of cancer therapy can be improved by reversing the aged phenotype.
5- The post-doctoral fellow will also be responsible for designing the experiments and analyzing the data.

Cancer is an age-related disease, with most cancers occurring after middle age. We have shown that an aged microenvironment leads to higher cancer incidence and more aggressive tumors (Lex et al. 2020). Despite this, cancer therapies are designed in models that do not take into account the age variable of the disease. We propose that an aged microenvironment decreases the effectiveness of cancer therapies.
In our group, we use telomerase mutant zebrafish as a model of premature aging. Telomeres shorten with each cycle of cell division. Unlike the commonly used mouse, zebrafish have telomeres similar to humans and show telomere shortening with age (Carneiro et al. DMM 2016). We have recently shown that telomere-deficient fish undergo premature aging (Carneiro et al. PLoS Genetics 2016).
The postdoc will be responsible for leading this project, which will include planning and executing research experiments, analyzing research data, and reporting research results. The post-doctoral fellow will also be expected to supervise MSc students.

Our research team is responsible for the description of the zebrafish mutant telomerase and we have studied the consequences of short telomeres from an organismal point of view by integrating cell biology with tissue function in health and disease (Henriques & Ferreira, Curr Opin in Cell Biol 2013). The post-doctoral fellow will work in the "Telomere shortening and Cancer" team under the responsibility of Dr Miguel GODINHO FERREIRA

We have recently joined the Nice Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging (IRCAN). The IRCAN was created on January 1, 2012 in the heart of the Pasteur University Hospital of Nice. The research conducted at IRCAN aims to understand the biological mechanisms linking aging and cancers, with a particular focus on the role played by epigenetics, the cellular microenvironment and stress responses. IRCAN is composed of more than 200 researchers, technical engineers, post-doctoral fellows and students. It is composed of 14 research teams and 5 technological platforms.
Several state-of-the-art core facilities and services available at IRCAN provide all the necessary equipment and infrastructure. The PEMAV (100 m²) houses zebrafish housing, imaging equipment and workstations for embryo manipulation. The histopathology unit (25m²) offers sample processing, embedding, sectioning and staining of tissue sections. Its optical microscope will also allow the analysis of stained tissue sections for this project.