The department/research group MSYS of Prof. Dr. Dagmar Wirth at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany is offering a position as
Doctoral Researcher (f/m/d)
Project title: Development and evaluation of sensor/actor cells to visualize and counteract infections at implant surfaces
Project description:
The release of therapeutic compounds at bacterially colonized implant surfaces represents an attractive approach to combat implant infections. However, classical strategies suffer from limited drug reservoirs and/or release the drugs spontaneously. A recently formed interdisciplinary consortium within the SFB/TRR 298 (SIIRI, Safety Integrated and Infection Reactive Implants) follows the overall concept of infection triggered local release of therapeutic compounds at implant surfaces.
This project is integrated in this consortium, mammalian cells will be created that can sense bacterial infections and respond to such infections by direct release of a) antibacterial factors or b) enzymes that deliberate drugs from coated implant surfaces. Physiological signals specifically released by the infected tissue will be utilized and rewired to synthetic modules. Thereby, the infection signals will be redirected to therapeutic outputs. The sensor/actor cells will be created by controlled (epi)genetic engineering. The overall aim will be to convert the physiological signals and visualize and counteract bacterial infections at implant surfaces. Positive feedback circuits will be considered to maximize the output signals. The newly created sensor/actor cells will be first evaluated in in vitro models (2D and advanced 3D culture models). Later, the cells will be implemented in a mouse model mimicking implant infections.