A PhD student position is available in the Freund group at FU Berlin (https://www.bcp.fu-berlin.de/en/chemie/biochemie/research-groups/freund-group/index.html) for 4 years in the project “Switching antigens by the exchange catalyst HLA-DM”. Antigen presentation by so-called MHC proteins is critical for T cell mediated immunity and determining the compositional landscape of immunodominant epitopes as well as the molecular and cellular requirements of antigen presentation is an active field of research with medical implications. Our group has contributed to the field by investigating the compositional and conformational dynamics of antigen presentation (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00292/full, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29774024/, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24401-4).

Job description:
The goal of the project is to understand catalyzed peptide exchange with regard to autoimmunity relevant peptides. Motivated by recent findings that the molecular dynamics of peptide-MHCII complexes are influencing the allotype-specific susceptibility to the exchange catalyst HLA-DM (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-023-01316-3) we are now in the position to question the presentation of autoantigens in vitro and in cellular models. We expect these findings to have a profound impact on understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of autoimmune disease. Moreover, the project is based on a tight collaboration of the Freund group with the group of Thomas Höfer at the DKFZ (https://www.dkfz.de/en/modellierung-biologischer-systeme/). The work serves one's own scientific qualification. Participation in research and teaching are expected.

Requirements:
Completed university degree (Master) in biochemistry, biology or related areas.

Desirable:
Candidates are expected to have a good understanding and an experimental background in protein biochemistry and molecular biology. Since the project is part of a large and active trans regional consortium (https://trr186.uni-heidelberg.de/), the successful candidate will be part of a research endeavor that has the overarching goal to unravel the molecular switches that govern cellular behavior. Annual PhD retreats between Heidelberg and Berlin students of the consortium guarantee the candidate to be part of a scientific community that addresses seminal aspects of modern biology. Applications should comprise study records, the name of two reviewers for letters of recommendation, a motivation letter, and a CV, stating the reference Freund_TRR186_MHC and are to be sent to: chfreund@zedat.fu-berlin.de and steffen.daehn2@fu-berlin.de