Research Associate in Protein Design in the Cell  

Job number ACAD104411
Division/School School of Chemistry
Contract type Open Ended
Working pattern Full time
Salary £33,797 - £38,017 per annum
Closing date for applications 27-Feb-2020 

A post-doctoral position is available to develop functional de novo protein designs that operate in living cells. 

This BBSRC-funded post is available for 2 years.  The position is between the protein design laboratory of Prof Dek Woolfson (Chemistry and Biochemistry) and the bacterial cell biology laboratory of Prof Nigel Savery (Biochemistry).  See: Smith et al. (2019) ACS Synth Biol 8 1284. DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00501.

Specifically, the work will be to develop de novo protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that operate in E. coli and mammalian cells and orthogonally to the endogenous proteomes and interactomes.  The project will build on Woolfson’s set of de novo coiled-coil domains (Fletcher, et al. (2012), ACS Synth Biol 1, 240. DOI:10.1021/Sb300028q; Thomas, et al. (2013), J Am Chem Soc 135, 5161. DOI: 10.1021/Ja312310g; Rhys, et al. (2019) J Am Chem Soc 141 8787. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b13354) and Savery’s expertise in transcriptional control (Annunziata, et al. (2017), ACS Synth Biol 6, 1816. DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00109; Haines, et al. (2014) PNAS 111, 4037. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1322350111).  The aim is to build de novo PPIs that can activate and repress targeted genes with tight control.  A further aim, which is in collaboration with AstraZeneca, is to make these de novo PPIs that respond to small-molecule drugs and, thus, to control transcription by switching the PPIs on and off with the small molecules.

The position would be best suited to a talented and ambitious early career researcher with an interest in applying de novo protein design in synthetic biology.  Essential skills for this role include: experience with the de novo design, synthesis and structural characterisation of synthetic peptides; the design, construction and expression of synthetic genes in E. coli; and biochemical and biophysical whole-cell assays such as FACS.  Experience in the design and screening of gene libraries would be an advantage, as would a knowledge mammalian cell biology; however, neither of these are essential for applicants at this stage.

For informal enquiries, please contact: d.n.woolfson@bristol.ac.uk

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join us.