The Zaidel-Bar group studies Actomyosin Contractility and Tissue Morphogenesis from single proteins to the organism level.

After seven successful years at the Mechanobiology Institute in Singapore the lab is moving to Tel-Aviv university in October 2017. This is an exciting opportunity for highly motivated young scientists to join as MSc, PhD or Postdoctoral fellows.

Tel-Aviv University is a top research and teaching institution in the most vibrant and cosmopolitan city in Israel (https://english.tau.ac.il/ and https://international.tau.ac.il/)

(2 votes)

Loading...

Meeting Report: Congress of the International Society for Developmental Biology (ISDB 2017)

Singapore, the Lion City, attracted hundreds of developmental biologists from around the world to attend the 18^th Congress of the International Society for Developmental Biology (ISDB 2017), June 18-22, at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The meeting takes place every 4 years, and gathers those fascinated by the early steps in life. I had the intention to attend one of the ISDB meetings since my early PhD months, but for different reasons it ended up not being possible – this year (already as a post-doc), I managed to join the international community in ‘the Garden of Asia’, and really enjoyed a vibrant and diverse program.

The opening ceremony kicked-off to welcome everyone with the traditional Lion dance. The main local host (and Singapore enthusiast) Phil Ingham, together with other members of the vibrant scientific community in Singapore, put together a phenomenal program that included 6 Nobel laureate lectures and many talks covering a variety of topics and (model) organisms. Based on my notes from the meeting, I will give an overview of the diverse sessions and highlight some talks – thus, my own personal bias to select certain topics will likely emerge.

The D’Arcy Thompson Symposium

The first day included the D’Arcy Thompson Symposium, celebrating 100 years since the publication of the landmark ‘On Growth and Form’ (a topic that was already highlighted in previous posts on the Node). The symposium, naturally, focused on physical and quantitative approaches in developmental biology. It was a great way to start the meeting, reminding us all about the benefits of talking to scientists in other field and join efforts to address important questions from different angles. Speakers included James Briscoe (The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK), employing experimental and computational modelling of transcription networks in neural tube cell fate specification; Thomas Gregor (Princeton University, USA), visualizing long-range promoter-enhancer interactions and transcription regulation in the fly embryo; Hiroshi Hamada (RIKEN CDB, Japan), addressing symmetry breaking in the mouse embryo; Tim Saunders (Singapore), exploring the zebrafish myotome as a model in addition to his work in the fly embryo (and who co-edited, with Phil Ingham, a special issue of MoD that also celebrated the topics covered in the symposium); Olivier Hammant (ENS Lyon, France), exploring the effects of forces and tension on tissue shape; and Carl-Philip Heisenberg (IST, Austria), who also focuses on how forces are generated and propagated in tissues using zebrafish as a model.

Nobel Lectures

We were all lucky to have a stellar selection of speakers and participants in all sessions of the meeting, and the organizers could additionally go the extra mile and gather 6 Nobel laureates all under the same roof (an organizational achievement in itself, as we know agendas do not often allow it). Unfortunately, we learned the one of the lectures had to be cancelled due to health issues (Sydney Brenner), but all other laureates gave fantastic talks: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (from fly and zebrafish early development to skin colours), Eric Betzig (beautiful movies of unmatched resolution that will surely inspire generations of developmental biologists), John Gurdon (from somatic cell nuclear transfer to cellular memory and histone modifications), Martin Chalfie (Hox genes as guarantors of cell fate specification in C. elegans), and Eric Wieschaus (Interpretation of the bicoid gradient and the role of chromatin accessibility).

On a personal account, as my current projects lie at the intersection of developmental biology and chromatin regulation, I have particularly enjoyed two of the talks that focused on these aspects. Sir John Gurdon, always with an inspiring clarity, showed us recent data about resistance to reprogramming by oocyte factors, not only identifying genes resistant to transcriptional reactivation but also by using chromatin modifiers to erase several histone modifications. Eric Wieschaus, in a talk that I have particularly enjoyed, explored how the maternal bicoid gradient is differentially interpreted by the genome of cells in different regions of the embryo. One of the key aspects is the regulation of chromatin accessibility, and one of the conclusions is that chromatin structure, rather than the underlying sequence, is what determines the concentration-dependent cohort of bicoid enhancers, with different degrees of affinity along the embryonic anterior-posterior axis. It was nice to hear another example of how chromatin remodelling is crucial during early development.

The Ross Harrison Medal Lecture

The prize is awarded every four years at the ISDB and is named after the American biologist who pioneered experimental embryology, and ‘applied tissue culture techniques to the study of embryonic tissue development and axon outgrowth’. The prize was awarded this year to Claudio Stern (UCL, London), who gave a talk on the fascinating links between twinning and the pathways that regulate asymmetry. With a well-balanced mix between the classical experiments that are always inspiring, and modern studies on human genetics, Claudio covered a range of the research in his lab over several years. I found it particularly interesting to see how topics connected from the early days to the current times, with very curious aspects that are more than coincidence!…

In general, the meeting had a wonderful mix of topics as well as model systems. From well-established model organisms to exquisite animals that are now becoming more amenable to use experimentally, of course due to the potentials of genome editing brought by the CRISPR/Cas9 technologies. In particular, I enjoyed the work from Antonia Monteiro’s lab (Singapore) on the evo-devo aspects of Butterfly eyespot formation and wing patterning; an amazing variety of fly species and other diptera resulted in a phenomenal talk by Claude Desplan (NYU) on the visual system and its evolution. It was also cool to hear about using Emu embryos as models (Craig Smith, Australia), or even about turtle shell development (Shigeru Kuratani, Japan)!

To highlight a few more speakers, I was marvelled with the identification of multinucleated cells during regeneration in the zebrafish heart (Ken Poss, Duke University, USA), which are temporarily generated and migrate to cover the wound. Norbert Perrimon (Harvard) explored inter-organ communication, giving several examples of how tissues send signals to each other within the organism, making us all aware that the processes we may be interfering with can have impact at distant target organs or tissues. François Schweisguth (Institut Pasteur, Paris) employed experimental and modelling approaches to beautifully tackle a long-lasting question about patterning: how stereotyped sensory organ patterns are self-organized (through Notch dynamics) in the developing fly notum. Finally, Denis Duboule (EPFL, Switzerland) gave an overview of limb development from the point of view of chromatin organization and genome topology. Given my own interests, I found it fascinating as work from his lab could uncover how enhancer regions may activate certain Hox genes in the forelimb or the digits, starting to reveal how development is orchestrated in connection with the structural organization of the genome in topological-associated domains (TADs).

There would certainly be more to tell, and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of my scientific heroes and openly discuss science with old colleagues and meet new students/post-docs from all over the world! It was also great for me to meet the Portuguese community (and make me feel at home even half a world away), who were also representing the Portuguese Developmental Biology Society (SPBD).

I can only look forward to the next ISDB, in 4 years’ time…! We already know it will take place in Vancouver, Canada (Summer 2021), and it will surely be a calendar highlight for all of us developmental biologists! Also, a new ISDB President will be in charge over the next 4 years up to the meeting – Angela Nieto (Alicante, Spain) is the newly elected ISDB President. Angela has committed to increase the interactions among developmental biologists around the world, as well as making funding agencies and the lay public aware of the importance of basic research in these fields to further the understanding of mechanisms that will be relevant other fields. This is certainly a point of view that I also share, so we can all hope Angela has a successful term!

Jorge Beira

ETH Zurich

(6 votes)

Loading...

To promote Developmental Biology and bring across the importance of fundamental research in this field, we all should have our elevator pitches ready at all times – whenever there is an opportunity to engage with audiences about our discipline – be it with the public, students, fellow scientists or policy makers. This is a first attempt at providing a concise rationale and ideas that can be woven into such conversations. The arguments presented can and must still be improved and complemented. Therefore, we would like to invite you to send in your thoughts and ideas, potential corrections, suggestions for improvement, additions, new arguments and/or potential links to supporting resources – all with the aim of further strengthening the message that we need to bring across (please, send to Andreas.Prokop@manchester.ac.uk). In particular those working in evo-devo or plant development, please come forward and make your contributions by helping us explain the importance of your subjects and extend this resource for the benefit of all.

Why should we engage in Developmental Biology?

————————–

[1] In the sense used here, Physiology comprises disciplines like immunology or functional studies in the field of neurobiology

[2] Arguments and examples given so far concern studies of animal development, and those for plant development will follow soon

————————————————————————–

Appendix: Societies promoting Developmental Biology (DB)

	APDBN	Asian-Pacific DB Network
	ABCD	Associazione di Biologia Cellulare e del Differenziamento (@Abcdsciencenews)
	ANZSCDB	Australia & New Zealand Soc. for Cell & DB (@ANZSCDB)
	BSCDB	Belgian Soc. for Cell & DB
	BSDB	British Soc. for DB
	CSDB	Colombian Soc. for DB (@ColSDB)
	DSDB	Dutch Soc. for DB
	EED	European Soc. for Evolutionary DB
	FSDB	Finnish Soc. for DB (Suomen kehitysbiologian yhdistys ry)
	GfE	Gesellschaft für Entwicklungsbiologie (@GfEeV)
	HKSDB	Hong Kong Soc. for DB
	InSDB	Indian Soc. for DB
	ISDB	Internatnl. Soc. for DB (@IntSocDevBiol)
	ISD	Internatnl. Soc. of Differentiation
	IsSDB	Israeli Soc. for DB
	JSDB	Japanese Soc. for DB
	KSDB	Korean Soc. of DB
	LASDB	Latin American Soc. for DB (@LASDB_DevBiol)
	PASEDB	Pan American Soc. for Evolutionary DB (@EvoDevoPanAm)
	RiBiD	Red de Investigadores en Biología del Desarrollo (@RiBiD_Chile)
	SMBD	Sociedad Mexicana de Biología del Desarrollo
	SPBD	Sociedade Portuguesa de Biologia do Desenvolvimento (@SPBioDev)
	SEBD	Sociedad Española de Biología del Desarrollo (@SEBiolDev)
	SIERR	Societa’ Italiana Embriologia Riproduzione e Ricerca
	SEDBO	Swedish DB Organization (@swedbo)
	SFBD	Société Française de Biologie du Développement (@sfbd_biodev)
	SDB	Soc. for DB (@___SDB___)
	TSDB	Taiwanese Soc. of DB
	XXX	XXX

(15 votes)

Loading...

Illustrator Natalya Zahn on the role of observation and visual interpretation in her work creating an addendum to Nieuwkoop and Faber’s classic Normal Table of Xenopus laevis

As an artist of science and nature subjects, I’m often asked what makes the work I do better than a photograph. It makes perfect sense to imagine that a direct photographic capture of an object would offer the very most accurate description of that object – and photography certainly is a brilliant format for capturing detail. What that imagination fails to take into account is that a camera must capture everything that it sees in any given shot. Depending on the complexity or ambiguity of the subject, a highly detailed photograph may just as easily overwhelm or confuse a viewer, rather than offer clarification. The beauty of illustration is that it can precisely isolate specific forms or features of a subject, omitting irrelevant details and making clear essential attributes. It is this quality of simplified clarification, produced through execution and interpretation, that can, under the right circumstances, make scientific illustration a more successful form of visual communication than photography.

In early 2016 I was commissioned by Dr. Michael Levin and Dr. Dany Adams, at the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, to create a new series of embryo development illustrations for Xenopus laevis, in the style of Nieuwkoop and Faber’s classic Normal Table, originally illustrated by J. J. Prijs in 1956. The new illustrations would be similar enough in drawing quality so as to seamlessly fit into the existing atlas, but they would feature views of embryos and tadpoles that had not previously been generated (including anterior and ventral views that highlight craniofacial changes).

My work began with many hours observing and sketching live specimens under a Nikon SMZ1500 stereomicroscope; multiple individuals from each stage were used as models. Photographic captures were made using digital micrograph, for later reference, but even high-quality photos can include areas of vague detail. The subtle surface contours in early stage embryos, and the intricacy of numerous visible layers of translucent anatomy in later tadpole stages, made the value of snapshots in time a distant second to my live study. By personally observing numerous embryos of the same stage (taking variation and anomaly into account), and periodically adjusting the angle of my view (to illuminate areas of ambiguity), I was able to completely understand each developmental stage in three dimensions, which brought significantly higher accuracy to my interpretation and rendering of each two-dimensional illustration.

Once I was satisfied with the form and detail of my sketches, I imported each drawing into Adobe Illustrator. Drawing in a vector-based application allowed me to generate the final illustration outlines in extremely clean and consistent line weights. Minimal shading was added in Photoshop, though many of the illustrations are available for use in both shaded and outline-only versions (the later potentially being useful to those interested in adding their own visual notation to an illustration).

My hope for this body of work is that it becomes an invaluable standardized reference for the scientific community, just as Mr. Prijs’ beloved Xenopus illustrations have been for the last half century. Micrographs have only improved since the 1950s but the enduring nature of the drawings within the Nieuwkoop and Faber classic Normal Table is a testament to the enormous teaching power and utility of well executed illustration.

 

Natalya Zahn is a Boston-based illustrator, designer and visual story-teller. Deeply inspired by animals and nature, her award-winning work explores the intersection of art, design and science and has been featured by National Geographic, Longwood Botanical Gardens, the San Diego Zoo, and MIT Media Lab, among many others. She is skilled in both traditional media and digital techniques, and works fluently across commercial, educational, editorial, and corporate industries.

http://www.natalya.com

(10 votes)

Loading...

Here are the highlights from the current issue of Development:

AdamTS-A keeps the CNS in shape

The Drosophila central nervous system (CNS) is covered by a thick basement membrane that mediates interactions with glial cells and governs the shape of the tissue. Basement membranes are formed from a meshwork of secreted extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and must be continually remodelled to accommodate growth during development. Metalloproteinases, such as those in the AdamTS family, can break down ECM proteins in the basement membrane and thus allow for tissue expansion. On p. 3102, James Skeath and colleagues identify one protein in the family, AdamTS-A, that is critical for both maintaining the structural integrity of the Drosophila CNS and keeping cell lineages anchored in the tissue. When the function of this protein is reduced, neurons escape the CNS and invade the peripheral tissues of the developing larva. AdamTS-A acts through protease-dependent and possibly protease-independent mechanisms to retain neurons within the developing CNS, and regulates tissue stiffness by restricting Collagen IV/Viking accumulation in the basement membrane. These findings demonstrate the crucial role for extracellular proteases in tissue development and highlight the importance of the basement membrane in shaping the nervous system.

Morphogens and microcolonies: directing stem cell fate

Morphogens are long-range signals that provide cells in the embryo with positional information, helping to ensure cells differentiate appropriately for their position along the body axes. In vivo, and in vitro when cell colonies are large, the function of a single morphogen is difficult to study in isolation. This is because interaction between cells and crosstalk from other signalling factors can confound results. On p. 3042, Aryeh Warmflash and colleagues show that upon stimulation with BMP4, which induces a mixture of fates in large colonies of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), colonies of just one to eight cells instead acquire trophectoderm-like fate uniformly. They show that above a threshold concentration, BMP4 acts as an ‘on-off’ switch to specify trophectoderm-like cells in these microcolonies, and that a community effect ensures all cells acquire the same fate. In contrast, the mixed cell fates in larger colonies result from the activity of a secondary signal, Nodal, which is produced endogenously by the cells. These findings provide insight into how cells in culture might be directed to specify a single lineage more reproducibly, and demonstrate how the same morphogen signals can be used repeatedly in development to achieve different outcomes, depending on their context.

Pax8+ secretory cells: progenitors of the oviductal epithelium

The mammalian oviduct is lined by a pseudostratified epithelium comprising two main cell types: secretory cells and ciliated cells. Like many other epithelia, it is thought to also contain a population of stem cell-like progenitors, which are important to maintain tissue homeostasis. Such progenitors are hypothesised to actively divide, to facilitate epithelial regeneration upon wounding and to ensure the tissue remains healthy. However, these cells have remained unidentified. On p. 3031, Pradeep Tanwar and colleagues use lineage tracing in mice to identify the oviductal progenitors as secretory cells expressing the Pax8 marker gene. They show that these cells actively divide in the oviductal epithelium, and that this cell population is expanded in humans who are predisposed to ovarian cancer. Like progenitor populations in other tissues, the Pax8⁺ cells respond to canonical Wnt signalling, which governs their differentiation into ciliated cells and simultaneously maintains the stem cell-like population. These results are a step forward in understanding tissue homeostasis in the oviduct, and may provide insight into how cell proliferation is regulated and subsequently becomes dysregulated in ovarian cancer.

Meeting Review

Alecia-Jane Twigger and Christina H. Scheel report from an EMBO meeting on advances in stem cells and regenerative medicine

Reviews

Andrew Muroyama and Terry Lechler  summarize current knowledge of how microtubule organization and dynamics change upon cellular differentiation, and Dirk G. de Rooij provides an overview of the organization and timing of spermatogenesis.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Laboratory of Protein Metabolism in Development and Aging

International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw

is seeking a talented Postdoctoral fellow

Location: Warsaw, a vibrant city with an international academic research environment. International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (www.iimcb.gov.pl) – one of the most dynamic and top ranked Polish research institutes.

Job description: Laboratory of Protein Metabolism in Development and Aging, which will be opening on August 2017, is seeking highly motivated and talented Postdoc to join young team investigating the protein homeostasis in development and aging. We use both genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches, primarily in the C. elegans, to study proteolytic networks. Postdoc fellowship is funded in frame of National Science Centre OPUS grant.

Summary: Organismal development or environmental stimuli challenge the homeostatic protein balance (proteostasis) of individual cells, tissues or the entire organism. The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is a key determinant of proteostasis as it regulates the turnover of damaged proteins supporting cellular protein homeostasis and thereby maintains the proteome during stress and aging. Our long-term objective is to understand the mechanistic and developmental aspects of protein degradation pathways defined by combinations of particular ubiquitin ligases (E3). The identification of stress and aging-induced signals that coordinate the interplay between specific E3s will offer intriguingly new mechanistic insights how proteolytic networks are fine-tuned to maintain the cellular proteome and support development and longevity.

Qualifications:
• PhD (or be close to completion) in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Protein Chemistry, Genetics or a related discipline;
• experience in C. elegans or cell culture is an advantage;
• experience in Next Generation Sequencing techniques (RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq) and genomic engineering is an advantage;
• good writing and oral communication skills in English, and competence in scientific writing.

How to apply: 
Please send your application including CV, motivation letter and the list of publications to the e-mail address: wpokrzywa@iimcb.gov.pl, until 20th September 2017. Thanking all applicants for their interest, we will contact only selected candidates for an interview.
Please include in your application the following statement: “In accordance with the personal data protection act from the 29th of August 1997, I hereby agree to process and to store my personal data by the Institution for recruitment purposes”.
The recruitment procedure fulfills the National Science Centre’s regulations on granting the scholarships to young scientists.

Selected publications:

Riga T*, Pokrzywa W*, Kevei E, Akyuz M, Vishnu Balaji, Svenja Adrian, Hoehfeld J, Hoppe T. (2017). The ubiquitin ligase CHIP integrates proteostasis and aging by regulation of insulin receptor turnover. Cell. 169: 470-482.

Ackermann L., Schell M., Pokrzywa W., Gartner A., Schumacher B., Hoppe T. (2016). E4 ubiquitin ligase specific degradation hubs coordinate DNA double strand break repair and apoptosis. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 23: 995-1002

Kaushik S, and Cuervo AM (2015). Proteostasis and aging.  Nat Med. 21, 1406-15

Frumkin A, Dror S, Pokrzywa W, Bar-Lavan Y, Karady I, Hoppe T, Ben-Zvi A. (2014). Challenging muscle homeostasis uncovers novel chaperone interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans. Front Mol Biosci., doi: 10.3389

van Oosten-Hawle P, and Morimoto RI (2014). Organismal proteostasis: role of cell-nonautonomous regulation and transcellular chaperone signaling. Genes & Dev. 28: 1533-43

Segref A, Kevei E, Pokrzywa W, Mansfeld J, Schmeisser K, Livnat-Levanon N, Ensenauer R,  Glickman M.H, Ristow M, Hoppe T. (2014). Pathogenesis of human mitochondrial diseases is modulated by reduced activity of the ubiquitin/proteasome-system. Cell Metab. 4:642-652

Pokrzywa W. and Hoppe T. (2013). Chaperoning myosin assembly in muscle formation and aging. Worm. 2:e25644

Gazda L*, Pokrzywa W*, Hellerschmied D, Loewe T, Forné I, Mueller-Planitz F, Hoppe T, Clausen T. (2013). The myosin chaperone UNC-45 is organized in tandem modules to support myofilaments formation in C. elegans. Cell. 1, 183-195.

Kuhlbrodt K, Janiesch PC, Kevei E, Segref A, Barikbin R, and Hoppe T (2011). The Machado-Joseph disease deubiquitylase ATX-3 couples longevity and proteostasis. Nat Cell Biol. 13, 273-81

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Laboratory of Protein Metabolism in Development and Aging

International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw

is seeking PhD student

Location: Warsaw, a vibrant city with an international academic research environment. International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (www.iimcb.gov.pl) – one of the most dynamic and top ranked Polish research institutes.

Job description: Laboratory of Protein Metabolism in Development and Aging, which will be opening on August 2017, is seeking highly motivated PhD candidates to join our young team investigating the protein homeostasis in development and aging. We use both genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches, primarily in the C. elegans, to study proteolytic networks. PhD fellowship is funded in frame of National Science Centre OPUS grant.

Summary: Organismal development or environmental stimuli challenge the homeostatic protein balance (proteostasis) of individual cells, tissues or the entire organism. The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is a key determinant of proteostasis as it regulates the turnover of damaged proteins supporting cellular protein homeostasis and thereby maintains the proteome during stress and aging. Our long-term objective is to understand the mechanistic and developmental aspects of protein degradation pathways defined by combinations of particular ubiquitin ligases (E3). The identification of stress and aging-induced signals that coordinate the interplay between specific E3s will offer intriguingly new mechanistic insights how proteolytic networks are fine-tuned to maintain the cellular proteome and support development and longevity.

Qualifications:
• master degree in any field related to biological sciences obtained within the last two years;
• general laboratory experience;
• expertise in either of the following areas will be preferred: cell biology, molecular biology, genetics,  biochemistry, fluorescence microscopy
• analytical and creative thinking;
• ability to communicate knowledge in English (written and spoken);
• motivation and passion for experimental work;
• excellent interpersonal skills.

How to apply: 
Please send your application to the e-mail address: wpokrzywa@iimcb.gov.pl, until 20th September 2017. The application should include cover letter, CV including candidate’s research achievements, university scores, and marks for candidate’s master degree. Thanking all applicants for their interest, we will contact only selected candidates for an interview.
Please include in your application the following statement: “In accordance with the personal data protection act from the 29th of August 1997, I hereby agree to process and to store my personal data by the Institution for recruitment purposes”.
The recruitment procedure fulfills the National Science Centre’s regulations on granting the scholarships to young scientists.

Selected publications:
Riga T*, Pokrzywa W*, Kevei E, Akyuz M, Vishnu Balaji, Svenja Adrian, Hoehfeld J, Hoppe T. (2017). The ubiquitin ligase CHIP integrates proteostasis and aging by regulation of insulin receptor turnover. Cell. 169: 470-482.

Ackermann L, Schell M, Pokrzywa W, Gartner A, Schumacher B, Hoppe T. (2016). E4 ubiquitin ligase specific degradation hubs coordinate DNA double strand break repair and apoptosis. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 23: 995-1002

Kaushik S, and Cuervo AM (2015). Proteostasis and aging.  Nat Med. 21, 1406-15

Frumkin A, Dror S, Pokrzywa W, Bar-Lavan Y, Karady I, Hoppe T, Ben-Zvi A. (2014). Challenging muscle homeostasis uncovers novel chaperone interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans. Front Mol Biosci., doi: 10.3389

van Oosten-Hawle P, and Morimoto RI (2014). Organismal proteostasis: role of cell-nonautonomous regulation and transcellular chaperone signaling. Genes & Dev. 28: 1533-43

Segref A, Kevei E, Pokrzywa W, Mansfeld J, Schmeisser K, Livnat-Levanon N, Ensenauer R,  Glickman M.H, Ristow M, Hoppe T. (2014). Pathogenesis of human mitochondrial diseases is modulated by reduced activity of the ubiquitin/proteasome-system. Cell Metab. 4:642-652

Pokrzywa W. and Hoppe T. (2013). Chaperoning myosin assembly in muscle formation and aging. Worm. 2:e25644

Gazda L*, Pokrzywa W*, Hellerschmied D, Loewe T, Forné I, Mueller-Planitz F, Hoppe T, Clausen T. (2013). The myosin chaperone UNC-45 is organized in tandem modules to support myofilaments formation in C. elegans. Cell. 1, 183-195.

Kuhlbrodt K, Janiesch PC, Kevei E, Segref A, Barikbin R, and Hoppe T (2011). The Machado-Joseph disease deubiquitylase ATX-3 couples longevity and proteostasis. Nat Cell Biol. 13, 273-81

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

With a new grant of almost 15 million EUR from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, DanStem scientists will be focused on a new programme for translational hematology.

The Programme could have a major impact on treatment of haematological malignancies. The primary aim is to identify novel treatments for patients with blood cancers AML (Acute Myeloid Leukaemia) and MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome) for which treatments and success rates have changed little in the last decades.

Professor Kristian Helin will head the Programme, which will include collaboration with researchers from Rigshospitalet, Denmark’s largest hospital. Major activities include:

• Identifying and characterizing cancer stem cells from patients with blood cancer;
• Identifying the best available treatment for individual patients by screening patient-derived cancer stem cells for sensitivity toward a panel of approved drugs (personalized medicine); and
• Collaborating with companies to develop new drugs for treating blood cancer.

See more information here.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

The Division of Developmental Biology at the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, invites applications for a

PhD student position (Salary Scale E13 TV-L/65%) on

Molecular mechanisms of muscle lineage reprogramming

in the group of Dr. Christoph Schaub. The position will start at the earliest possible date and will be limited to three years with a possible extension.

The Schaub group is interested in the molecular mechanisms that regulate syncytial muscle cell lineage commitment, maintenance and plasticity using the Drosophila embryonic and adult musculature as a model. The PhD project will focus on the molecular mechanisms that guide a naturally occurring direct lineage reprogramming process during the metamorphosis of the Drosophila musculature. In particular, the project will define the molecular processes that initiate and execute the dedifferentiation of syncytial embryonic muscles into mononucleate myoblasts which in turn are reprogrammed into the progenitors of adult heart associated muscles (Schaub et al. 2015, Curr Biol (25), 488-494). The PhD student will use a broad spectrum of state of the art techniques ranging from genome editing to modern live imaging approaches to analyse these questions.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with experience in Drosophila genetics and/or cell and molecular biology. Experience in microscopic tissue dissections is an advantage but not a requirement. We offer an exciting project utilizing our combined expertise in muscle cell biology and Drosophila genetics in a well-equipped lab. The project is embedded in an interdisciplinary scientific landscape in association with the Muscle Research Center Erlangen (MURCE, http://www.murce.fau.de/) and the Optical Imaging Center Erlangen (OICE, http://www.oice.uni-erlangen.de/) and will have access to high end imaging microscopes (Confocal, Spinning disk and Light-sheet microscopy).

If you are interested in the position please send a cover letter stating your motivation, your curriculum vitae, copies of Bachelor/Masters certificate (or equivalent) and two letters of recommendation or contact information for two scientific references in a single PDF to christoph.schaub@fau.de.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

The Marsden Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University is seeking a full-time Research Assistant/Lab Manager. The successful applicant will facilitate the lab’s day-to-day operations, participate in training undergraduate and graduate students, and engage in research projects focused on understanding the genetic and neural circuit basis of behavior. 

This is a 12-month, full-time, exempt position with a comprehensive benefits package. The position will present opportunities for co-authorship of publications, and training in essential techniques will be provided.

Who you are:

• You are a biologist, preferably a neuroscientist, with previous experience working with zebrafish.
• You have excellent organizational skills and pay keen attention to detail.
• You think strategically and communicate clearly.
• You enjoy working in a team, teaching, and mentoring others.
• You are curious and love to learn.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...