Post-doctoral position available

[Anita Bentley]

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION
LURE, Orsay, France

	A postdoctoral position to work on an EC-funded project 
described below is available at LURE from October 2001. The candidate 
should be a macromolecular crystallographer, who is also a good 
biochemist with experience in the expression and purification of 
proteins. The EC project involves partners from 10 different groups, 
in France and other countries, including a major vaccine company 
(Chiron, Sienna, Italy). The candidate will perform some of the work 
in the laboratories of other partners, in particular at the Pasteur 
Institute in Paris. The fellowship is on the French scientist scale.
	One of the major toxins secreted by Bordetella pertussis, the 
infectious agent of whooping cough, is the adenylate cyclase toxin 
(CyaA). This large, multidomain protein has the capability to insert 
into the membrane of target cells and to transolcate one of its 
domains, the adenylate cyclase catalytic domain, into the cell. The 
CyaA protein can be detoxified, while still retaining its penetration 
and translocation capacity, by site-directed mutagenesis. This 
detoxified molecule is highly immunogenic and is at the centre of a 
concerted effort to develop a polyvalent vector for vaccines against 
various diseases such as HIV and cancer, funded by the EC. 
Immunological results obtained so far are extremely promising, thus 
making the project particularly exciting. The candidate will work on 
the purification, crystallisation and structure determination of 
defined domains of the toxin molecule, in particular the adenylate 
cyclase domain, in order to optimise the design of vaccine candidates.
	LURE is the French National Synchrotron Facility situated in 
the campus of Orsay University, near Paris. Scientists working there, 
while obliged to apply for beam-time, do have priviliged access to 
available beamlines. There is up-to-date equipment for protein 
purification and crystallisation, as well as good computing 
facilities.
	Interested candidates should send me a full CV with names of 
referees. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further 
information.

Anita Lewit-Bentley
LURE, Bât 209D
Centre Universitaire Paris-Sud
BP. 34, 91898 Orsay cedex
France

Tel: (33-1) 64 46 80 50
Fax: (33-1) 64 46 41 48
e-mail: anita at lure.u-psud.fr
http://lure.u-psud.fr/vacact/

Anita Lewit-Bentley

LURE,
Centre Universitaire Paris-Sud
B.P. 34, 91898 ORSAY Cedex
France

tel. :             (33) 1 64 46 80 50
FAX:           (33) 1 64 46 41 48
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