The role of β-arrestin in mGlu5 internalization and receptor signalling

Examensarbete på Karolinska Institutet.
Principal Investigator
Gunnar Schulte, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Dept. Physiology & Pharmacology, Sec Receptor Biology & Signalling, Tel. 08-52487933 [email protected]

Project:

The role of β-arrestin in mGlu5 internalization and receptor signalling

The 6 months project (from beginning of January 2007, possibilities for continuation with PhD thesis) will deal with the investigation of metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor desensitization and the role of -arrestin in receptor dynamics and signalling. Hek293 cells will be used as an overexpression system for tagged mGlu5 receptors and -arrestin in order to follow the agonist-induced receptor/-arrestin redistribution with live cell imaging confocal microscopy. Furthermore, biochemical techniques such as immunoblotting in combination with immunoprecipitation will be used to characterize signalling to mitogen-activated protein kinases and protein-protein interactions.
The project is based on international collaborations with e g Robert J Lefkowitz (Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA) and supported by AstraZeneca.

For background information: Reiter E and Lefkowitz RJ (2006) GRKs and -arrestins: roles in receptor silencing, trafficking and signaling. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2006 May;17(4):159-65.

Applicants:
Applicants (excellent students in biochemistry, biology, medicine, biomedicine, molecular biology etc) should send a letter of interest, a CV (including a list of laboratory techniques and practical, laboratory experience) and contact information for at least two reliable references to [email protected]. Applicants should have a basic interest in intracellular signalling, be technically well trained and speak/write English fluently. Applicants should have a theoretical and practical background for the following techniques: aseptic cell culture techniques, immunoblotting, plasmid preparation and possibly light microscopy.