témavezető: Vellai Tibor
helyszín (magyar oldal): Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Genetics helyszín rövidítés: ELTE
A kutatási téma leírása:
Ageing is driven by the lifelong, progressive accumulation of cellular damage. Such damages mainly include misfolded, oxidized and aggregated proteins, which affect cellular homeostasis and thereby act as cellular toxins. A shared feature of non-ageing cells, including germline cells, cancer cells, and somatic cells of some lower animal organisms (Hydra and Planaria), is the activity of the Piwi-piRNA (P element induced wimpy testis in Drosophila-Piwi-interacting RNA) pathway, which mainly functions in repressing transposable elements (TEs), also called jumping genes or transposons. In contrast, ageing somatic cells lack the effects of the pathway. This suggests that TEs significantly contribute to the ageing process, and may protect tissues from undergoing tumorigenesis. We intend to identify and characterize small molecules with the ability to inhibit human Piwi proteins. These drug candidates (potential chemotherapeutic agents) will be tested for their anti-proliferative capacity, and used in cell culture paradigms. They will be also assayed in in vivo ageing models to select compound with potent anti-ageing capacity.
előírt nyelvtudás: fluent English (at least B2) további elvárások: MSc degree in biology or a related topic; motivation. Experience in molecular biology (e.g. cloning) is an advantage.
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