Name and Surname of the Supervisor: Rima Budvytyte
Institution (Company), Department: Life Sciences Center
Preliminary Topic: The Interaction of Heat Shock Proteins with Lipid Membranes: a Novel Diagnostic Target
Short Description of the Internship Work: Our research experiments will be designed and performed with heat shock proteins (HSP90 and HSP70) that play a key role in the cell membrane damage mechanisms identified in Acute Pancreatitis (AP) and cancer, etc., cases, which later can be used as biomarkers for AP and cancer detections. To study HSPs interactions with membranes, we will use tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) as an experimental model for protein reconstitution and lipid-protein interaction studies.
In this work, different isoforms of HSP’s will be used to investigate their interaction with tBLM. These HSP’s proteins exhibited the membrane damaging properties as probed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The lipid composition is one of the important factors affecting the interaction of the HSP proteins with phospholipid membranes. In our work, for more sensitive detection and interaction of HSP with membrane, we will change the lipid composition of tBLMs, by including synthetic and natural lipid extracts, mimicking natural phospholipid membranes.
Qualification Requirements (Degree): BSc, MSc
Application Deadline: 2024-12-31