Joint PhD position KU Leuven - Univ. of Edinburgh: Dynamical analysis of protein wave patterns that...
Each healthy dividing cell goes through two main phases in its life cycle. DNA is replicated in interphase, and then, in the mitotic phase, the cell segregates that DNA between the two daughter cells and it effectively divides. Failure to properly coordinate cell division can disrupt embryonic development, tissue homeostasis, and it can lead to devastating diseases such as cancer. Essential parts of the cell cycle control system have been investigated. Biochemical oscillations result from complex interactions between regulators, and they can drive the cell cycle forward. Moreover, bio-polymers, such as microtubules and actin, can self-organize. Among other things, this leads to a contractile actin-myosin ring that helps splitting a cell in two. However, little is known about the temporal and spatial coordination of these different important processes combined.
In this project we investigate how intracellular waves of critical biochemical mitotic regulators and cortical waves of actin polymerization interact and function collectively. We characterize how such wave patterns with different spatial and temporal scales affects global cell cycle control, and how it can control cell shape. Our model predictions will be confronted with experiments in early frog embryos.
The student will pursue a joint PhD degree between the Gelens lab at KU Leuven and the Goryachev lab at Univ. of Edinburgh. KU Leuven will be the main institution where the student will work 3 years, and two research visits of 6 months are foreseen at the Goryachev lab in Edinburgh. The student will interact synergistically with experimentalists, theorists, and engineers.
The position is available from October 2022, and applications will be considered until the position is filled.
Similar Positions
-
Ph D Position: Bottom Up Reconstruction Of A Self Dividing Artificial Cell Using Microfluidics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, about 5 hours ago
What distinguishes a living organism from a simple mixture of chemical reactions? It is generally agreed that a living organism needs to satisfy a basic set of conditions: compartmentalize its com...
-
Doctoral (Ph D) Student Position In Blood Engineering, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, 9 days ago
To be a doctoral student means to devote oneself to a research project under supervision of experienced researchers and following an individual study plan. For a doctoral degree, the equivalent of...
-
Ph D Position (M/W/D), E13/65 % , Technical University of Munich, Germany, 1 day ago
01.06.2022, Wissenschaftliches Personal We are looking for a scientist (PhD student, m/w/d) who shares our enthusiasm about human T cell engineering and to work on our new project entitled “CRISPR...
-
Ph D Student In Biotechnology, Designed Nanostructures For Cell Studies (Pa2022/2277) , University of Lund, Sweden, about 14 hours ago
Description of the workplace The research group is lead by professor Roger Olsson. The research at the group Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CBT) is highly interdisciplinary covering organic ch...
-
Ph D Student Position In Brassinosteroid Hormone Transport, VIB, Belgium, about 2 hours ago
Job description A major group of steroidal phytohormones, called brassinosteroids (BRs), is indispensable for plant growth and development. BRs are synthesized in the cell interior, but, unlike ma...
-
Ph D Student In Biotechnology, Bioelectronics For Electrotherapy (Pa2022/2278) , University of Lund, Sweden, about 14 hours ago
Description of the workplace The research group is lead by professor Roger Olsson. The research at Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CBT) is highly interdisciplinary covering organic chemistry, i...