MRes - Mapping the human GTPome

Supervisors: Dr Patrick Lewis and Ms Susanne Herbst 

Department: Comparative Biomedical Sciences 

Project Details

GTPases are the intracellular light switches of the enzyme world, acting as key regulators of signal transduction and the flow of information within the cytoplasm. The goal of this project is to carry out a global mapping exercise, examining the totality of the human GTPome (consisting of over 150 GTPases). This will be achieved by using protein network analysis to establish individual protein/protein interactomes for each GTPase, and then merging these together to provide an atlas for human GTPases. This resource will then be integrated with genome wide expression data and catalogues of post-translational modification to seek for patterns in how GTPases act and are themselves regulating in the cell – with the goal of identifying novel pathways to regulate these proteins in health and disease. 

References

  1. Rojas AM, Fuentes G, Rausell A, Valencia A. The Ras protein superfamily: evolutionary tree and role of conserved amino acids. J Cell Biol. 2012 Jan 23;196(2):189-201. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201103008.  

  2. Tomkins JE, Dihanich S, Beilina A, Ferrari R, Ilacqua N, Cookson MR, Lewis PA, Manzoni C. Comparative Protein Interaction Network Analysis Identifies Shared and Distinct Functions for the Human ROCO Proteins. Proteomics. 2018 May;18(10):e1700444. doi: 10.1002/pmic.201700444 

  3. Zhao Y, Vavouraki N, Lovering RC, Escott-Price V, Harvey K, Lewis PA, Manzoni C. Tissue specific LRRK2 interactomes reveal a distinct striatal functional unit. PLoS Comput Biol. 2023 Jan 30;19(1):e1010847. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010847 

Requirements

Essential:

Desirable:

  • Experience with bioinformatic approaches and/or coding experience 

This can be taken full-time or part-time (12months FTE) project commencing in October 2024, based at RVC's Camden campus.

Funding

Partially funded: The lab will be covering the project costs, with the MRes student expected to meet the course fees and their living expenses.

International applicants are welcome to apply but must be able to fund the difference between "Home" and "Overseas" tuition fees. Please note that EU/EEA and Swiss national students may no longer be eligible for the “Home” rate of tuition fees, dependent on personal circumstances (including immigration status and residence history in the UK) and UK government rules which are currently being developed. For up-to-date information on fees for EU/EEA and Swiss national students following Brexit please see our fees and funding page. 

How to Apply

For more information on the application process and English Language requirements see How to Apply.

Deadline: Sunday 14th July 2024

We welcome informal enquiries - these should be directed to Dr Patrick Lewis (plewis@rvc.ac.uk)

Interviews will take place remotely over Zoom during the week of the 15th April 2024

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