Job ID: 121661
Postdoc in the Laboratory of Cholinergic Signaling
Position: Post-doctoral Position
Deadline: 18 April 2025
Contract Length: 1 year
City: Prague
Country: Czech Republic
Institution: Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Department: Laboratory of Cholinergic Signaling
Description:
The Institute of Physiology CAS is one of the leading research institutes in biomedicine in the Czech Republic. The Laboratory of Cholinergic Signaling investigates the expression and function of acetylcholine receptors in defined neuronal populations, primarily in the striatum and prefrontal cortex. We are using genetic mouse models, viral vectors, imaging techniques and behavioral analysis to determine how acetylcholine receptors shape neural circuits and the whole organism. We also aim to develop new approaches that would allow us to target the receptors in specific neuronal populations by a combination of pharmacological and genetic techniques.
In the newly started project, the successful candidate will use a neuronal-type-specific expression of an engineered bacterial enzyme together with masked nicotinic ligands to modulate the expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in defined neuronal populations in the mouse brain. He/she is primarily expected to have a leading role in some of the following areas:
- testing the distribution, unmasking and activity of the masked/fluorescent ligand in primary neuronal cultures by HPLC-MS, imaging experiments, electrophysiology and/or gene expression measurements
- expression of the exogenous enzyme in specific neuronal types in vivo using neuronal-type-specific AAV vectors and testing its unmasking activity by fluorescence imaging
- validation of the enzyme-masked/fluorescent ligand pair in vivo, testing the distribution and degradation of the ligand after different administration routes, determining the effect of the unmasked ligand on the nicotinic expression in specific neuronal types and ultimately on neuronal function and animals’ behavior