The call for applications is open for the PhD in Molecular Biomedicine jointly offered by the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Trieste and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) For info please refer to the Admission section of this website where you will find links to the official announcement and info for the application the available projects Deadline June 7, 2021 @ 1 PM CE

This new project is focusing on new regulatory mechanisms of metabolism and their relevance for cancer metastasis, funded by a Worldwide Cancer Research grant. The current research of the lab is focused on mechanotransduction and how this regulates signaling and metabolism.

Aberrant sensing of nucleic acids originating from the expression of endogenous retroviral elements or accumulating DNA damage and consequent increase in type I IFN levels have been suggested to be a primary driver of pathogenesis of the Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome (AGS), a genetic Leukodystrophy that mainly affects the brain, immune system and skin. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms triggering the disease remain elusive. On these premises, we arerecruiting a post-doctoral fellow with strong experience in iPSC-based differentiation of Neural Stem Cells and Progenitorand/or innate immunity to viral infectionsto work on a project aimed at evaluating the consequences of the AGS gene defects in the human Central Nervous Systems (CNS) taking advantage of iPSC-based in vitrodifferentiations. The goal is to elucidate the role of different cell types of the CNS, including microglia, in AGSand to investigate what are the endogenous signals that aberrantly activate the disease-causing antiviral responsesin these cells. We combine molecular virology approaches with state-of-the-art NGS technology and proteomics in the highly relevant context of human iPSC-based in vitro disease models.

We are looking for a researcher who will help develop new techniques and assays to integrate stem cell biology, immunology and developmental biology. As a research assistant,you will also provide technical support to the projects of other researchers in the lab as well as help with general lab management. Experimental approaches include cell and molecular biology, flow cytometry and cell sorting as well as in vivo model systems, for which previous experience is required.

The laboratory on Prof. Massimo Santoro (www.massimosantorolab.com) is seeking a PhD student to study the role of mevalonate metabolism and ferroptosis in cancer growth and spreading (Santoro, Cell Metabolism, 2020: Arslanbaeva and Santoro, Redox Biology, 2020). Our team has recently identified a set of novel metabolic enzymes that is crucial for regulation of mevalonate metabolism and ferroptosis (Mugoni et al., Cell 2013, Mugoni et al., Nature Protocols, 2013; Oberkersch et al., 2020 in revision: Tosi et al., 2021 in preparation). Using mouse genetic approaches as well as advanced molecular and microscopic techniques we want to elucidate how lipid signaling and metabolism regulate melanoma survival and progression. Our laboratory has acquired strong experience in biochemistry, genetic, molecular and cellular biology of endothelial and cancer cells and animal models. Mouse animal facility, single cell RNA-seq, STED, multiphoton, light sheet microscopy equipment, and metabolic/proteomic core facilities are available in the laboratory and department. We believe that such studies offer unique opportunities for designing new therapeutic strategies against metastasis and cancer spreading.