We are looking for a motivated PhD student that would like to work on the following project funded by the ERC (European Research Council) Starting grant. Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a type of blood cancer that originates from B-lymphocytes, and it is the most common type of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The clinical course of FL patients can be surprisingly variable (survival from months to decades) and FL still remains incurable. The course of the disease is characterized by repeated relapses leading to the evolution of resistant disease or to the high-grade transformation to a more aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). This is associated with remarkably poor prognosis and a high risk of early death.
Number of studies showed that multiple genetic lesions are associated with FL transformation (tFL); however, precise molecular mechanisms underlying this process is largely unclear. Importantly, the role of long non-coding RNAs in this process is completely unknown. However, we have recently described the role of short-noncoding miRNAs roles in transformed FL (Musilova et al…Mraz, Blood, 2018). The aim of the project is to reveal the molecular mechanisms involving lncRNAs and/or miRNAs responsible for FL transformation. The primary samples collected before and after high-grade transformation will be analyzed on the level of protein-coding as well as non-coding genes (NGS with Illumina, preliminary data available). This will be followed by searching for function of tFL-associated lncRNAs. This will help to better understand the disease biology and possibly to identify novel molecular targets that could be used therapeutically.
PLEASE NOTE: before initiating the formal application process to doctoral studies, all interested candidates are required to contact Marek Mráz ([Email Address Removed] ) for an informal discussion.
Information about the laboratory at: http://mrazlab.ceitec.cz/.
More information about CEITEC PhD School are available at http://ls-phd.ceitec.cz/.
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