MIMS Investigator Lars-Anders Carlson, Associate professor at Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, and UCMR Director Prof. Yaowen Wu, Department of Chemistry, are looking for a postdoctoral fellow for their joint project on autophagy in viral infection.
Application deadline: 31 May 2023.
Project description
Positive-sense RNA viruses (+ssRNA viruses) are a large group of human pathogens including coronaviruses. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process to eliminate or recycle dysfunctional cellular organelles or unused proteins. The project focuses on the involvement of autophagy in +ssRNA virus infection.
The Wu lab has elaborated a novel mode of action for virulent bacteria (Legionella pneumophila, Vibrio cholerae) affecting host autophagy (eLife 2017, JCS 2021, JCB 2022). We have identified novel chemotypes for autophagy modulation and new cellular pathways involved in new mechanisms of autophagy regulation (Angew Chem 2017, Nat Chem Biol 2019, Autophagy 2021, Angew Chem 2022).
The Carlson lab studies biochemical and structural aspects of +ssRNA virus replication. We used cryo-electron tomography to show that poliovirus assembly takes place directly on membranes and is dependent on the autophagic lipid kinase VPS34 (Nat Comms 2022). We further elucidated the first structures of the full replication organelle of alphaviruses (eLife, 2022).
The project will combine expertise from both labs, using novel cell biology methods combined with high-end proteomics and cryo-electron tomography to understand how the autophagy machinery is used for the replication or restriction of a diverse set of positive-sense RNA viruses.
To see the full advertisement with details and how to apply, please go to https://www.researchgate.net/job/993223_Postdoctoral_Fellowship_autophagy_in_viral_infection .
