Cell-autonomous immunity
PI: Barbara Susanne Sixt, Ph.D., assistant professor
Department of Molecular Biology
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Sixt lab strives to uncover the hidden protective potential of pathogen-suppressed cellular defense pathways, to identify the molecular determinants of host defense and pathogenic countermeasures, and to find means to disturb their balance to the benefit of the host. Our main experimental model is the interaction of human cells with the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis.
PostDoc project (Drug Discovery and Cell-Autonomous Immunity)
This projects aims to identify and characterize small chemical compounds that can counteract growth of the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis either by activating cell-autonomous defense responses in infected cells or by repressing the pathogen’s ability to counteract these cellular defenses. The project is expected to provide deeper insights into mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction and to uncover starting points for the development of new host-directed or anti-virulence drugs.
Specific aims of the project include:
- The development and optimization of an experimental protocol for high-throughput small compound screening.
- The implementation of the screening and candidate validation.
- The characterization of the mode of action of validated candidate compounds.
PhD and PostDoc projects
We are constantly seeking highly motivated students and post-docs who would like to join our team. If you are interested in applying state-of-the-art tools in molecular genetics to debunk the power of cell-autonomous immunity, please send me your CV and a short letter of motivation (preferentially as single PDF file) (email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
