Job ID: 119917
PhD position in Neuroscience available at the University of Regensburg (Germany) in collaboration with the TU Graz (Austria)
Position: Ph.D. Student
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Employment Start Date: 1 November 2024
Contract Length: 3 years
City: Regensburg
Country: Germany
Institution: University of Regensburg
Department: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Description:
“Sex-specific contribution of astrocytes and endothelial cells to the leaky blood-brain barrier in major depressive disorder”
In the Central Nervous System (CNS), astrocytes regulate a variety of physiological processes, including synaptic communication and integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a complex psychiatric illness representing one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, with a higher prevalence in women than men. Morphological and functional alterations of astrocytes and reduced coverage of blood vessels with astrocyte endfeet characterize postmortem brains of depressive patients and animal models of MDD.
However, it is currently unknown whether dysfunctional astrocytes, dysfunctional endothelial cells forming blood vessels, or both contribute to the pathology of MDD and how sex differences may impact these processes and possibly lead to the observed higher incidence in women.
The project combines experimental and theoretical approaches to understand: 1) how sex differences influence astrocytes and/or endothelial cells during the formation/function(s) of the BBB; 2) which of those processes are disrupted in MDD and could be targeted and restored by pharmacological interventions.
Methodology: in the experimental part, we will combine a recently developed 3D system to study the BBB (SynBBB), a 2D system, and primary cell cultures prepared from either control animals or animal models of MDD in different combinations to evaluate which cell types are dysfunctional in MDD and may primarily affect BBB (dys)functionality.
For the computational modeling, we will analyze the experimental data and use the results to develop multi-compartment astrocyte models, including astrocytes and EC.