A PhD studentship in macromolecular transport at the blood-brain-barrier

该项目的目的是确定调节血脑屏障大分子运输的分子机制，血脑屏障是人体最重要的代谢障碍之一。因此，它通过特殊的转运蛋白和受体的表达，严格控制特定货物的内吞和转胞作用。虽然已经在血脑屏障上发现了几种跨细胞途径和受体，但关于大分子的进入、细胞内移动和最终退出这些途径的调控因素仍不清楚。为了解决这些问题，将在该项目中开发独特的纳米探针，设计成对特定途径具有高度特异性，并应用于不同的体外血脑屏障模型，包括新型器官型3D和干细胞衍生系统。这是一个参与真正跨学科研究的独特机会，涵盖分子工程、物理生物学、合成生物学和纳米医学。

The aim of the project is to define molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of macromolecule transport at the blood-brain-barrier, one of most important metabolic barriers in the human body. It therefore tightly controls endocytosis and transcytosis of specific cargos by the expression of specialised transporters and receptors. Whilst several transcytosis pathways and receptors have been identified at the blood-brain-barrier, there are still unknowns about what governs and controls these pathways regarding entry, intracellular travel and eventually exit of macromolecules. To address these questions unique nanoprobes will be developed within the project, engineered to be highly specific for particular pathways, and applied to different in vitro blood-brain-barrier models including novel organotypic 3D and stem cell derived systems. This is a unique opportunity to participate in truly interdisciplinary research covers molecular engineering, physical biology, synthetic biology, and nanomedicine.