Doktorander/utbildningsplats

Sahlgrenska akademin utlyser doktorandplatser med placering vid institutionen för biomedicin, institutionen för medicin och institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi.
Doktorandplatserna avser två års utbildningsbidrag och två års doktorandanställning, alternativt fyra års doktorandanställning, och beräknas leda fram till doktorsexamen.
För mer information och ansökningsblankett se: http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/doktorandportalen/doktor_fran_start_till_mal/soka_doktorandplats/

http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/doktorandportalen/Doktor_Fran_start_till_mal/doktorandplatser/


Molecular mechanism of the orphan nuclear receptor TLX in self-renewal, cell division, and differentiation of neuronal stem cells

Application deadline: 2010-12-08

Description of the research project
Our aim in this project is to clarify the mechanism of TLX in self-renewal, cell division, lineage determination and differentiation of neuronal stem cells.TLX was identified as an orphan nuclear receptor expressed in vertebrate brains, which has been shown to be important to maintain adult neural stem cells in an undifferentiated state.The depletion of TLX gene renders blindness and reduced cerebral hemispheres as well as cognitive deficiency in adulthood, which is concordant with defective neuronal stem cells.It is recognized that TLX acts as repressor down-regulating cell-cycle inhibitors such as p21 and PTEN in order to maintain progenitors.However, we found recently that TLX targets the pluripotency-associated gene Oct3/4 promoter and also plays active roles in mitosis of adult hippocampal progenitors.In accordance, TLX rapidly disappears after entry in the anaphase during mitosis.We could also conform that TLX physically binds a battery of molecules that are accumulated in mitotic spindles, playing a major role in separation of two chromatids into two daughter cells.In fact, many genes that play indispensable roles in mitotic events have been shown to be associated with an inborn error microcephaly but also some cognitive diseases such as schizophrenia.Furthermore, we have found that both neuroblastoma and glioma express enhanced levels of TLX.In conclusion, studying the mechanism of TLX in cell division will enable us to understand fundamental mechanisms deranged in severe neurological diseases including tumors, leading to discovery of new therapies.