Organisation/Company: CNRS
Department: Département de Chimie Moléculaire
Research Field: Physics
Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
Country: France
Application Deadline: 6 Dec 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 1 Mar 2025
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description The aim of the "MiniToxoAd" project is to identify and characterize the intermolecular contacts at the host-parasite interface used by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) for helical gliding. This research is carried out in close collaboration between IAB (I. Tardieux: parasitology, cell biology, biophysics) and DCM (G. Dubacheva: biomimetic surfaces, physico-chemical characterization). One of our main objectives is to investigate the role of various components in the extracellular matrix that T. gondii traverses, including glycosaminoglycans highlighted in our recent study (Nat. Microbiol., https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01818-3). In addition to the tunable nature of molecular ligands, the team has developed approaches to explore the impact of other interfacial parameters such as surface ligand density, lateral mobility, and clustering, which have been difficult to assess so far. The design of tunable biomimetic surfaces at DCM will be complemented by live and super resolution imaging at IAB, providing a combinatorial toolkit for probing biomolecular interactions and addressing a large set of biophysical questions relevant to T. gondii and beyond.
Duration of contract: 12 months (with possibility to prolong up to 24 months).
The candidate will join the I2BM team at DCM, where he/she will use advanced surface chemistry and state-of-the-art physicochemical characterization techniques (QCM-D, ellipsometry, SPR) to design well-defined and tunable biomimetic surfaces. To understand the role of specific biomolecular interactions and their multivalent nature in the T. gondii motility, the study will be completed by fluorescence imaging experiments at IAB.
The work will be performed in the I2BM team of DCM (Département de Chimie Moléculaire, CNRS-UGA). I2BM research focuses on the design of supramolecular architectures and functional interfaces for bioanalysis, diagnostics and therapeutic applications (https://dcm.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/research/ingenierie-et-interactions-… ). The work will be conducted in tight collaboration with IAB (Institute of Advanced Biosciences, UGA-INSERM-CNRS) in the framework of a research project granted by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, PRC "MiniToxoAd", 2024-26).
The candidate should be motivated to work in an interdisciplinary research team. A PhD in chemistry with a background in physical chemistry or biophysics is required. Skills in surface characterization techniques would be appreciated. Experience in scientific communication (article writing, conference presentations) is desirable. Working language will be English or French.
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