Postdoctoral Position in Immunology (M/F)

Réf. 1122725 - publié le 27 novembre 2024

Informations générales

Missions

Institut Curie vous propose une offre d'emploi dans les domaines Santé - Social, Hôpitaux, Médecine à Paris.

The Innate Immunity in Physiology and Cancer team belongs of the Immunity and Cancer Unit (INSERM U932) of Institut Curie. The first goal of the team is to identify and study novel immune mechanisms of defence in mammals, with a focus on innate immunity. We are currently working on 1) understanding the protective roles of the RNA interference pathway and 2) identifying immune proteins conserved between bacteria and humans, in collaboration with the team of Aude Bernheim (Institut Pasteur). Equipped with this knowledge, we then engineer innovative anticancer immunotherapies, in link with translational researchers and MDs of Hospital Curie. The Poirier team is currently funded by an ERC Starting Grant, as well as by national and international funding.
Project: Deciphering the modules of ancestral immunity
Context
Innate immune mechanisms protect mammals from pathogen infection and play a role against tumors. Recent work documented that a subset of innate immune proteins encoded by mammals, including humans, originate from bacterial defence proteins ( 1, 2 ). Bacteria indeed utilize antiphage systems to fight off viruses named phages. There is currently a dozen examples of antiphage proteins that were conserved during evolution, and gave rise to prominent members of innate immunity, including cGAS/STING and gasdermins. In collaboration with the team of Aude Bernheim (Institut Pasteur), we coined the notion of ancestral immune modules, which correspond to the proteins and protein domains playing an immune role in bacteria and eukaryotes ( 3 ). We demonstrated that exploring ancestral immunity allows to discover novel immune proteins in eukaryotes. By combining protein sequence analysis and phylogeny, we were able to identify human homologs of recently-discovered antiphage proteins of bacteria, and document their antiviral potential ( 4 ).

The project
The novel human immune proteins identified in this proof-of-principle study appear to be the tip of the iceberg, as recent unpublished analysis by our teams suggest that the human genome encodes for dozens of uncharacterized ancestral immune modules. In collaboration with the Bernheim team, the postdoctoral (M/F) fellow will choose one or several candidate modules and interrogate their immune role and molecular mechanisms of action in mammals. We expect this work to uncover previously-unknown actors of human immunity, which may play a role in pathology and be utilized in antitumor immunotherapy. This position is funded within the frame of EvoCure, a project part of the Impact Santé scheme, dedicated to bolster high-gain biomedical research.

References
1. F. Rousset, Trends Immunol. 44, 945–953 (2023).
2. H. E. Ledvina, A. T. Whiteley, Nat Rev Microbiol (2024), doi:10.1038/s41579-024-01017-1.
3. A. Bernheim, J. Cury, E. Z. Poirier, PLoS Biol. 22, e3002717 (2024).
4. J. Cury et al., Cell Host & Microbe, S1931312824002890 (2024)

Profil

Training and skills required
- Training: PhD in Life Sciences are welcome to apply
- Scientific skills: Experience in basic cellular and molecular biology techniques will be considered favourably
- Language skills: English, oral and written
- Transferable skills: ability to work in a team, excellent communication skills including oral presentations to specialized and non-specialized audiences



All our opportunities are open to people with disabilities


Contract information



Type of contract : Fixed-term contract.
Starting date: To be discussed
Duration : 36 months
Working time : full time
Remuneration : according to the current grids
Benefits : Collective catering, reimbursement of transportation fees up to 70%, supplementary health insurance
Location of the position : Paris, France
Reference: NA



Contact

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