POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS or STAFF SCIENTISTS- Cellular communication in development, cancer, and neurotransmission

Would you like to join a collaborative lab with broad research interests and committed to you career development? We are offering a unique opportunity to join our lab to carry out cutting-edge research broadly related to the topic of signal transduction via G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Our laboratory is in a phase of expansion with multiple active NIH-funded grants to provide stable support and freedom of operation for personnel. You would join a dynamic team of international researchers (PhD students and other postdocs) with an interest in collaborating and helping each other. Dr. Garcia-Marcos seeks to mentor the next generation of scientists by providing abundant one-on-one time and the support required to transition into subsequent career stages, including establishing their independent research programs. The laboratory has an excellent track record of facilitating the transition of former postdoctoral fellows to competitive positions.

Position conditions- We are located at the heart of Boston, a scientifically and culturally vibrant location. The salary can be negotiated, but would always be above NIH salary scale and a sign-on bonus to mitigate relocation expenses would also be provided. Postdoctoral researchers at our institution have the same benefits as staff personnel, including health/ dental plans, retirement plan, and dependent care/ healthcare flexible spending accounts, among others.

Lab interests & ongoing projects-

• Defining new mechanisms of signal transduction via GPCRs and heterotrimeric G proteins across scales, from molecules to whole organisms. Bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells, frogs, fish, mice.
• Non-canonical heterotrimeric G protein signaling in epithelial planar cell polarity, cilia, and development
• Development of optical biosensors, synthetic gene circuit reporters, and chemogenetic tools to detect and manipulate the signaling activity of heterotrimeric G proteins.
• Characterization and pharmacological targeting of non-canonical heterotrimeric G protein signaling.
• Biochemical, functional and structural characterization of atypical G protein signaling complexes.

Some representative publications are listed at the end of this advertisement and a complete list of publications is in: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1ZIXmzi80H8Q6/bibliography/public/

Candidate’s qualifications & expertise-

The candidate should have at least one of the following technical skillsets. Priority will be given to candidates with a strong background in cell biology and imaging, and/or aquatic model organisms:

• Extensive experience with fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. Live-cell microscopy desirable.
• Xenopus and/or zebrafish experience. Egg microinjections and other general aquatic model procedures.
• High proficiency in cell culture. Viral gene delivery, generation of stable cell lines, different types of cells (e.g., transformed and non-transformed, primary cell cultures), signaling assays. Basic knowledge of mouse colony maintenance desirable. Bioinformatics experience desirable.
• Fast paced in molecular biology (cloning by Gibson assembly, Golden Gate, etc), and knowledge of protein purification (batch, FPLC) and protein binding assays (pulldowns, immunoprecipitations). Structural biology background desirable.

Please submit a cover letter with details on what project you want to pursue, a CV and names/contact for 3 reference letters. Mikel Garcia-Marcos, PhD. Professor.  mikel.garcia.marcos@gmail.com

https://www.bumc.bu.edu/biochemcellbio/profiles/mikel-garcia-marcos/

https://www.bu.edu/biology/people/profiles/mikel-garcia-marcos/

RECENT REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Park J-C, Luebbers A, Dao M, Semeano A, Papakonstantinou MP, Broselid S, Yano H, Martemyanov KA, Garcia-Marcos M. Fine-tuning GPCR-mediated neuromodulation by biasing signaling through different G-protein subunits. bioRxiv. 2023. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.03.529094

Zhao J, DiGiacomo V, Ferreras-Gutierrez M, Dastjerdi S, de Opakua AI, Park J-C, Luebbers A, Chen Q, Beeler A, Blanco FJ, Garcia-Marcos M. Small-molecule targeting of GPCR-independent non-canonical G protein signaling inhibits cancer progression. bioRxiv. 2023 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.18.529092. (accepted in PNAS).

Marivin A, Ho RXY, Garcia-Marcos M. DAPLE orchestrates apical actomyosin assembly from junctional polarity complexes. Journal of Cell Biology. 2022. May 2;221(5):e202111002. PMID: 35389423. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202111002

Garcia-Marcos M. Complementary biosensors reveal different G-protein signaling modes triggered by GPCRs and non-receptor activators. eLife. 2021. Mar 31;10:e65620. PMID: 33787494. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.65620

Maziarz M, Park JC, Leyme A, Marivin A, Garcia-Lopez A, Patel PP, Garcia-Marcos M. Revealing the activity of trimeric G-proteins in live cells with a versatile biosensor design. Cell. 2020. Jun 27:S0092-8674(20)30752-2. PMID: 32634377. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.020

Garcia-Marcos M, Parag-Sharma K, Marivin A, Maziarz M, Luebbers A, Nguyen LT. Optogenetic activation of heterotrimeric Gi proteins by LOV2GIVe, a rationally engineered modular protein. eLife. 2020. Sep 16;9:e60155. PMID: 32936073. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.60155

DiGiacomo V, Maziarz M, Luebbers A, Norris JM, Laksono P, Garcia-Marcos M. Probing the mutational landscape of regulators of G protein signaling proteins in cancer. Science Signaling. 2020 Feb 4;13(617). pii: eaax8620.. PMID: 32019900.

Marivin A, Morozova V, Walawalkar I, Leyme A, Kretov DA, Cifuentes D, Dominguez I, Garcia-Marcos M. GPCR-independent activation of G proteins promotes apical cell constriction in vivo. Journal of Cell Biology. 2019; May 6;218(5):1743-1763. PMID: 30948426. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201811174

de Opakua AI, Parag-Sharma K, DiGiacomo V, Merino N, Leyme A, Marivin A, Villate M, Nguyen LT, de la Cruz-Morcillo MA, Blanco-Canosa JB, Ramachandran S, Baillie GS, Cerione RA, Blanco FJ, Garcia-Marcos M.  Molecular mechanism of Gαi activation by non-GPCR proteins with a Gα-Binding and Activating motif. Nature Communications. 2017. May 18;8:15163. PMID: 28516903. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15163

Leyme A, Marivin A, Maziarz M, DiGiacomo V, Papakonstantinou MP, Patel PP, Blanco-Canosa JB, Walawalkar I, Rodriguez-Davila G, Dominguez I, Garcia-Marcos M. Specific inhibition of GPCR-independent signaling by a rationally engineered protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2017 Nov 28;114(48):E10319-E10328. PMID: 29133411. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707992114