Overview

Doctoral study program: Biomedical Sciences (at the Department of Biology)

Form: doctoral (present)

Department: Mechanobiology of Disease, FNUSA-ICRC

Supervisor: Pavel Šimara, Ph.D.

Ph.D. position: The effect of mechanical stimuli on the RNA splicing

Annotation
Several studies published in recent years brought evidence that RNA-splicing is altered when
mechanical stimuli are applied. This is catalysed through RNA-binding proteins (mainly heterogenous
nuclear ribonucleoproteins, hnRNPs, and serine/arginine-rich proteins, SR) that play a major role in
splicing regulation. The process is closely related to three-dimensional spatial re-organization of
splicing regulators. Recent data also associate the abnormal regulation of alternative splicing to the
occurence and development of tumors and therapeutic approaches based on targeting the splicing
machinery emerge. Tumors display altered mechanical properties compared to healthy tissues that
reflect into changes in proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and metabolism of
the tumor cells.

The overall aim of the doctoral thesis is to elucidate the relationship between mechanical signalling and
splicing regulation. This topic is novel and ambitious with possible outcomes ranging from describing
mechanisms fundamental for cellular biology in the early stages of development to the new insights into
the regulation in cancer cells.

Funding of the research
The research will be funded by sources from MUQUABIS (Grant agreement ID: 101070546),
institutional support, and further grants which will be obtained in the future

Information on funding PGS positions
The program requires that all PhD students have some means of financial support of min. 25 000 CZK
per month. This is often a combination of various sources (grants, scholarship etc.)

Requirements for the student according to the Board for the PhD studies
The student’s minimum publication activity within the course of study is one first-author publication
with an IF value above the median in the field or 2 first-author publications in journals with an IF value
in the 3rd quartile in the field (Q3). A condition for successful completion of the studies is also a
foreign internship of at least 1 month, which is an inseparable part of the studies. As part of their
studies, students will also participate in the teaching.