The lab: Gotthardt group
We are interested in understanding how alternative splicing relates to diastolic heart failure, how increased filling of the cardiac ventricle leads to improved contraction. Our main translational focus is on harnessing alternative splicing to improve cardiac function using a pharmacological screen with custom splice reporter assays. This work aims to identify and characterize patients with splice related heart disease towards improved personalized diagnostics and therapy. The group consists of Groupleader MD, Technicians, Postdocs, PhD students, Master students of different nationalities (Germany, Spain, India, Indonesia) with ~50% male/female balance. The lab closely collaborates with the department of Cardiology on heart faiure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) – Prof. Burkert Pieske and Prof. Frank Heinzel.
The position
Cardiovascular disease remains the primary cause of death in the developed world. Notwithstanding improved prevention and therapy, the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise. The role of alternative splicing in cardiovascular disease has only recently been appreciated, with mutations in the splice factor RBM20 associated with particularly severe cardiac phenotypes, including early-onset sudden cardiac death.
Translating our findings to improve patient care, we will study (1) how alternative splicing is regulated in the heart, (2) how it contributes to cardiac adaptation in perinatal development versus myocardial disease and (3) how exon-level information across RNA species can be obtained, analyzed, and leveraged to improve personalized diagnosis of heart disease. Thus, we will evaluate how the cardiac splice regulatory network can be mined for novel therapeutic targets and utilized for the development of novel therapeutic approaches to cardiac disease.
Other positions
IDIBAPS#4 – Mechanisms involved in strenuous exercise-induced atrial myocardial fibrosis
IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegeneration
IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patients
IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumors
IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitis
IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathies
IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicine
BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive disease
IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cells
MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biology
MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavior
MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular disease
NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistance
VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseases
VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validation
VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasis
VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseases
VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCs
VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration
VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistance
VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnostics
BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavior
