Overview

Supervisor

Vladimír Varga

Project description

Cilia are elongated organelles on the surface of many human cell types. They have important motility, signaling and sensory roles, and their malfunctioning causes diseases called ciliopathies. There are two major types of cilia, motile and primary cilia. Their cytoskeleton, the so-called axoneme, is based on microtubules. Recent studies revealed that the axoneme of the primary cilia significantly deviates from the classic pattern of 9 outer doublet microtubules arranged circularly around the central pair, which is found in the motile cilia. The project aims to investigate how is the microtubule arrangement of the primary cilium axoneme established and what are the implications of this arrangement for ciliary functions and transport of material along the cilium. To answer these questions advanced live cell imaging approaches, such as TIRF and FRAP, as well as high-resolution approaches, such as correlative light and electron microscopy and expansion microscopy, will be employed. This will lead to better understanding of primary cilium biology and causes of certain ciliopathies.

Candidate profile

We are looking for a highly motivated student with a degree in cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology or related disciplines, and with an interest in the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. The candidate should be eager to learn new techniques and eventually be able to drive the project. We offer a friendly environment of a young group with a deep interest in cilia biology and an access to state of the art equipment in the laboratory and institute facilities.

Suggested reading

Kiesel P, Alvarez Viar G, Tsoy N, Maraspini R, Gorilak P, Varga V, Honigmann A, Pigino G: The molecular structure of mammalian primary cilia revealed by cryo-electron tomography. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2020 27(12):1115-1124.
Binó L, Mikulenková E, Štepánek L, Bernatík O, Vysloužil D, Pejšková P, Gorilák P, Huranová M, Varga V, Čajánek L: A protocol for generation and live-cell imaging analysis of primary cilia reporter cell lines. STAR Protoc 2022 3(1): 101199.
Gorilak P, Pružincová M, Vachova H, Olšinová M, Schmidt Cernohorska M, Varga V: Expansion microscopy facilitates quantitative super-resolution studies of cytoskeletal structures in kinetoplastid parasites. Open Biol 2021 11(9): 210131.

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