Positions/Internships

SFB 1328 - W3 Professorship - Announcement

Open PhD position – Schrader Lab/Duesseldorf
 

Regulation of CD73 activity and adenosine signaling via A2B to IL-6: mechanisms and disease implications

CD73 is a GPI-anchored ectoenzyme which catalyzes the formation of immunosuppressive adenosine from extracellular AMP. Adenosine regulates both innate and adaptive immunity and our lab has shown that CD73 on T cells orchestrates the healing process after myocardial infarction.
We have recently made the observation that CD73 can be posttranslationally modified, which results in the inactivation of this enzyme. We have also found, that in cells of the cardiovascular system (cardiomyocytes und immune cells subsets) there is a close link between adenosine A2B receptor activation and IL-6 formation. We therefore propose that cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes are important sources of various pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 that are controlled by T cell CD73-derived adenosine, which shapes the overall immune response in the infarcted heart.
The aim of this DFG funded project is to further characterize the regulation of CD73 as well as the A2B-IL-6 link in rodent and human immune and stromal cell populations and to explore some clinical implications. Various transgenic mouse lines with modifications in A2B and IL-6 signaling will be available, the different cardiac cell types will be isolated and signaling will be investigated including cytokine profiling by in-situ hybridization, quantitative Real-Time PCR and on protein level. These findings will be correlated to functional analysis at the cellular and organ level.
Our group - characterized by a high degree of interdisciplinary interactions - has a cardiovascular orientation with expertise in adenosine metabolism and signaling. This includes metabolite analysis (HPLC), imaging techniques with MRI at 9.4T, flow cytometry and cytokine analysis of immune cells from blood and tissue and use of various transgenic mouse models. We are looking for a motivated PhD student with background in cell biology/immunology, who is interested in translational research and likes to drive novel concepts in a stimulating research environment. If interested and/or want to have further information, please contact [Email protection active, please enable JavaScript.].