Internship / PhD offers
Framework : Immune cell early mechano-activation
Cell/cell interactions are a paradigm in cell biology since they establish, through biochemical and mechanical contacts, the structures of the living, allowing the cell’s function to take place and potentially synchronise their action. While the biochemical side has been intensively studied, the mechanics , and its articulation with biochemistry, together termed as mechanotransduction, is a current topic of enormous interest. Its importance is more and more recognized to be instrumental to finely regulate cellular functions. A prototypical case is the interface formed between a T cell and an antigen presenting cell during immune response, often called the immune synapse, is a prototypical interaction where mechanotransduction is a key regulating mechanism. This particular moment is crucial for adaptive immunity as this is when the pathological antigen is recognized by the T cell and the decision is taken whether to mount a response or not. The formation of the immune synapse ultimately leads to the production of inflammatory signals and mutual exchange of signals between the cells, as a prelude to the elimination of the pathogenic condition.
The proposals
The following internships topics (Master 1/2 ; Ingenieer) that can be, if the funding is or become avaible turned into a full PhD project, propose to tackle some biophysical aspects of the T cell early mechanoactivation. Usually, these topics will be co-advised by a collaborator in the field of expertise, to have a dual and complementary view over the difficulties and an extra brain to find out solutions !
All of them are co-advised, please refer to the PDF file !
Please contact us to know more, if you are interested !
M2 / PhD (funded) : Criticality in T cell early mechanoactivation Proposal, PDF
M1 / M2 / PhD (funding under examen): Forces in T cell early mechanoactivation Proposal, PDF
M1 / M2 / PhD : Oscillations in T cell early mechanoactivation Proposal, PDF
M2 / PhD : LLMs/AI on text to build protocols for experiments on T cell early mechanoactivation Proposal, PDF
M1 / M2 : Biomechanics of parasite / host interactions : role of the mucus Proposal, PDF