PhD Position in Molecular Biosciences

PhD position (DoktorandIn) in Molecular Biosciences Wissenschaftl. MitarbeiterIn im Bereich Forschung & Lehre at the University of Heidelberg, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS, Cell Chemistry).

In the frame of the collaborative project “Congential glycosylation defects in mice and human” funded by the Baden-Wrttemberg-Stiftung, we are offering a three-year PhD position (TV-L13/ 2) in the group of Prof. Dr. S. Strahl.

Glycosylation is one of the most abundant and complex protein modifications known. In many biological systems more than half of all proteins are glycosylated and glycan chains are highly crucial for a wide range of biological processes.

Our previous work showed that protein O-mannosylation is essential for mouse development. In human, defects in O-mannosylation are associated with a broad clinical spectrum of severe autosomal recessive congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD) such as Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy and neuronal migration disorders such as muscle–eye–brain disease and Walker–Warburg syndrome (WWS).

In this collaborative project, we will be investigating the complex pathobiochemistry of glycosylation defects and the general role of protein O-mannosylation for mammalian growth and development.

We are analyzing mammalian tissue culture cells and established mouse models. Our methods include the full spectrum of procedures in molecular cell biology and biochemistry such as immunohisto-chemistry, whole mount in situ hybridization, RNAi, molecular cloning, qPCR, affinity-chromatography, cell fractionation, 2D-PAGE and various blotting technics, proteomics of glycoproteins, bioinformatics, advanced light and electron microscopy. PhD students have access to several high-end facilities (Mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, Deep sequencing core facility, Nikon Imaging Centre, FACS facility).