PhD Position: Neuropeptide control of epithelial dynamics in the simple animal Trichoplax adhaerens
Posted by Andrea Pasini, on 24 January 2024
Job type: PhD
Location: Marseille, France
Closing Date: 16 February 2024
We are looking for candidates wishing to apply to a CENTURI Program (https://centuri-livingsystems.org/phd-program/) PhD fellowship to work on the cell biology of epithelia in the emerging model Trichoplax.
Trichoplax is a small marine animal with a flat body (about 2mm in diameter and 25mm thick) composed of a few thousand cells organized in two epithelial sheets (1). One striking feature of Trichoplax is its morphological plasticity, single individuals being able to dramatically change their body shape in a few minutes (1-3). Despite the absence of a defined nervous system, several neuropeptides belonging to different families (Insulin-like, Endomorphin-like, YYamide, RWamide, SIFGamide, etc) are produced by scattered secretory cells and modulate the animal shape and behaviour (4, 5). The project aims at exploring how neuropeptides affect the shape changes and collective movements of Trichoplax epithelial cells, eliciting distinct, rapid and reversible effects such as shrinking, flattening and increase or arrest of the intra-epithelial cell movements. A panel of experimental, computational and modelling approaches will be used to study how different selected neuropeptides affect the shape and collective behaviour of Trichoplax epithelial cells.
1)-Smith, C. L., Varoqueaux, F., Kittelmann, M., Azzam, R. N., Cooper, B., Winters, C. A., Eitel, M., Fasshauer, D. and Reese, T. S. (2014). Novel cell types, neurosecretory cells, and body plan of the early-diverging metazoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Current biology: CB, 24(14), 1565–1572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.05.046
2)-Srivastava, M., Begovic, E., Chapman, J., Putnam, N.H., Hellsten, U., Ka- washima, T., Kuo, A., Mitros, T., Salamov, A., Carpenter, M.L., et al. (2008). The Trichoplax genome and the nature of placozoans. Nature 454, 955–960. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07191.
3)-Armon, S., Bull, M.S., Aranda-Diaz, A and Prakash, M. (2018) Ultrafast epithelial contractions provide insights into contraction speed limits and tissue integrity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 30;115(44):E10333-E10341. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1802934115.
4)-Varoqueaux, F., Williams, E. A., Grandemange, S., Truscello, L., Kamm, K., Schierwater, B., Jékely, G., & Fasshauer, D. (2018). High Cell Diversity and Complex Peptidergic Signaling Underlie Placozoan Behavior. Current biology : CB, 28(21), 3495–3501.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.067
5)-Najle, S.R., Grau-Bové, X., Elek, A., Navarrete, C., Cianferoni, D., Chiva, C., Cañas-Armenteros, D., Mallabiabarrena, A., Kamm, K., Sabidó, E., Gruber-Vodicka, H., Schierwater, B., Serrano, L., and Sebé-Pedrós A.(2023) Stepwise emergence of the neuronal gene expression program in early animal evolution.
Cell 186 (21):4676-4693.e29. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.027
Salary: 1600€/month net
Start date: 1 October 2024
Closing Date: 16 February 2024
Scientific fields: Cell biology, Computational and systems biology, Morphogenesis, Quantitative biology and modelling
Model systems: Other invertebrate
Duration: Fixed term
Minimum qualifications: Applicants should have a background in either biology or physics/biophysics, with a strong interest for computational biology. The project is suitable for biologists with a strong interest in quantitative biology, or for physicists with a strong motivation to carry out biological experiments. A passion for evolutionary studies of marine organisms and previous knowledge of neuropeptide signalling would be an advantage. Ability to communicate in English is mandatory.