ERC-funded PhD student in Biology (w/m)

The PhD student will be appointed by the CNRS, one of the most well-established French multidisciplinary research institute in the World. Our unit “Physiology of reproduction and Behavior” is a joint research unit between the CNRS, INRAE, the University of Tours and IFCE, located in the Loire Valley. Our research center is unique as we can study social behaviour in rodents to big farm animals. The PhD student will integrate our pluridisciplinary “System biology of signaling” (BIOS) team, under the supervision of the PI of the ERC THERAUTISM project and co-team leader. Our team studies G protein coupled receptor signaling using mathematical modelling, antibody fragment, innovative pharmacology, from molecular and cellular biology to animal models. In addition, this PhD project belongs to one of the key research question of the Laboratory of Excellence (Labex) MAbImprove (http://mabimprove.univ-tours.fr) on the development of therapeutic antibodies in Tours and Montpellier. The PhD project, which is co-financed by the Labex, will benefit of the expertise and fruitful collaborations of the 28 teams and PhD formations from the Labex.
The PhD student will belong to the “school for PhDs” « Health, Biological Sciences and Chemistry of the life» (SSBCV, https://collegedoctoral-cvl.fr) of the University of Tours, for PhD formations and degree.

Inside brain circuits, upon stimulation, neurons communicate through neurotransmitter release from the pre-synaptic axon terminals to their cognate receptors located at the post-synaptic dendritic spines. Receptor activation triggers long-term post-synaptic plasticity, requiring de novo messenger RNA transcription and transport to the dendrites and local mRNA translation. Studies in patients and animal models suffering from social interaction deficits (Autism Spectrum disorders) have highlighted common global dysregulation in synaptic transmission and plasticity. We hypothesized that one of the synaptic plasticity marker could be a molecular substrate underlying these dysfunctions. Recently, it has been shown that it could exert transport of mRNAs upon stimulation. The objectives of the PhD project are: 1) study the effect of different social stimuli on its regulation in WT and mouse models of social interaction deficits, 2) modulate its activity to decipher its involvement on social behaviours (development of antibody fragment), 3) perform proof-of-concept studies of its use.
The PhD student will use multidisciplinary approaches, including molecular biology, cell biology, virology, antibody fragment display, behavioral and gene therapy studies. During the PhD, three research articles as first author, cooperative articles, reviews and eventually a patent are expected. The PhD project will benefit from financial and material support of our Joint Research Unit, our team, the ERC starting grant (2020-2025) and the Laboratory of Excellence MAbImprove on therapeutic antibodies.