PhD Position – Regulatory mechanisms of mRNA transport and fate in processing bodies

The Biozentrum of the University of Basel is one of the leading life sciences institutes in the world. It consists of 30 groups and 500 employees that research how molecules and cells create life, spanning the scale from atom to organism. Founded in 1971, the Biozentrum has been the birth place of many fundamental discoveries in biology and medicine, spawning several Nobel Laureates.

Professor Anne Spang (Biozentrum, University Basel) is recruiting a PhD student to study the regulatory mechanisms of mRNA transport and fate in processing bodies.

We are a highly interdisciplinary, international, divers and supportive team of scientists, committed to work at the frontier of science and to solve fundamental questions about cellular compartmentalization and organization. The Spang lab is an associated member of the National Center of Competence and Research (NCCR) RNA and Disease.

The Project
Cells respond to stress with remodeling their proteome. As part of this response, translation is attenuated and mRNAs deposited into processing bodies (P-bodies) within 5-10 min, where they can be either stored or decayed (Kilchert et al., 2010, Wang et al., 2018). Depending on the stress, a distinct subset of mRNAs accumulates in P-bodies (Wang et al., 2018). Virtually nothing is known about the decision making that regulates RNA transport or fate in P-bodies. This aim of this project is to provide mechanistic insights into these decision-making processes using state-of-the-art technologies and methods.