Quantitative analysis of coenzymes in cancer cells (ESR 7)

 Project Description

1) Job Summary: BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG – The “Deep Phenotyping” Company, Headquartered in Innsbruck/Austria, is a global leader in the dynamically-growing field of Targeted Metabolomics. Biocrates offers the possibility to identify potential biomarkers for diagnostic investigation as well as drug therapy monitoring. With its mass spectrometry based products the company is providing tools for a comprehensive insight into pathways and metabolic signatures of diseases (such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases). In our Research & Development department in Innsbruck an early stage researcher (ESR) position is available.

2) Job description: As central metabolic organelles, mitochondria execute critical biochemical functions for the synthesis of the fundamental cellular components. Coenzymes have a major role in mitochondrial functions including the respiratory chain and biosynthesis of structural components. Analysis of cofactors will improve the understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction and facilitate identification of new therapeutic targets. However, a precise and accurate quantitative analysis of these metabolites is a highly challenging bioanalytical task due to the low intracellular concentrations and instability. Aims of the study are the development of a novel LC-MS/MS based metabolomics method for the quantitative analysis of coenzymes in cancer cell samples and the application of the method to identify the role of coenzymes in different cancer cell types.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Guido Dallmann

ESR 7: Maheshwor Thapa

Key personnel:

Dr. Therese Koal, Head of Research & Development

Prof. Johannes Mayr, Associate Professor at SALK, mentor of ESR 7 in the PhD Program in Medical Science at the Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg.