Job opening for a crystallographer to join the Structural Motility team at the Curie Institute Paris, France.
We are looking for a post-doctoral fellow to join the team Structural Motility at the Curie Institute (Paris 5e) directed by Anne Houdusse. The position is immediately available (preference for a start in January 2012). The Structural Motility group at the Institut Curie uses X-ray crystallography to solve atomic structures that are essential for the understanding of how molecular motors produce force, how their activity is regulated and how they are recruited to their cellular targets. Many of these motors are also involved in human pathologies and they are thus good targets for new therapies which we are helping to develop. The research project of the new candidate aims at a better understanding of how molecular motors coordinate their action in the cell and what adaptation acquired by some of these motors allow specific functions to be performed. It consists of a biochemical, crystallogenesis and structural determination study of several complexes that involve molecular motors. Coupled with functional and cellular studies, this project will elucidate how these motors are regulated and what role they play in the context of a cell. A solid experience in crystallization and X-ray structural determination is absolutely required. Experience in the production and purification of recombinant proteins is a plus but we are ready to train a dynamic and motivated candidate. If you are interested, please send a CV and a letter of motivation as well as a letter of recommendation of your previous employer. Contact : Anne Houdusse (anne.houdu...@curie.fr<mailto:anne.houdu...@curie.fr>) http://umr144.curie.fr/en/research-groups/structural-motility-anne-houdusse/structural-motility-00199 Some publications 1- Mukherjea M, Llinas P, Kim H-J, Travaglia M, Safer D, Zong AB, Ménétrey J, Franzini-Armstrong C, Selvin PR, Houdusse A and Sweeney HL. Myosin VI dimerization triggers an unfolding of a 3-helix bundle in order to extend its reach. Molecular Cell, 35:305-15, 2009. 2- Houdusse A, Carter AP. Dynein swings into action. Cell, 136:395-6, 2009. 3- Ménétrey J*, Llinas P*, Mukherjea M, Sweeney HL and Houdusse A. The structural basis for the large powerstroke of myosin VI. Cell 131:300-308, 2007. 4- Ménétrey J, Bahloul A, Wells AL, Yengo CM, Morris CA, Sweeney HL, Houdusse A. The structure of the myosin VI motor reveals the mechanism of directionality reversal. Nature (London) 435, 779-85, 2005. 5- Sweeney HL and Houdusse A, Myosin VI rewrites the rules for myosin motors, Cell, 141:573-82, 2010.
