PhD position for the project Illuminating Biophotonic Switches, Netherlands

July 12, 2010

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Job Description: The Department of Physics and Astronomy and Laser Centre at VU University Amsterdam has an PhD position for the project Illuminating Biophotonic Switches funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through the Council for Chemical Sciences (CW) For 1.0 fte

Vacancy number: 1.2010.00163

The Faculty of Sciences consists of four departments; Physics and Astronomy, Informatics, Mathematics and Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences with 600 employees including researchers, lecturers, full- and part-time professors. The faculty offers 10 bachelor and 12 master courses and has over 1600 students

Project description: Illuminating Biophotonic Switches
Biological photoreceptors are exceptionally interesting objects of study, not only in relation to their biological function but also because they can be triggered by a short flash of light, allowing the study of functional protein dynamics over a wide span of timescales. In an important new development, biological photoreceptors have been engineered for use as photonic switches and sensors in cells and tissues. They have a modular architecture with conserved ‘input’ and ‘output’ domains, which can be swapped so that an effector domain with desired properties can be rendered lightsensitive. As the light-absorbing chromophore often is a naturally occurring cofactor in cells (such as flavins or biliverdin), photoreceptor proteins can readily be genetically encoded. The light activation mechanisms of biological photoreceptors are therefore of considerable significance for biomedical technology. Thus, biological photoreceptors represent true biological photonic material, tailored for efficient optical switching through natural selection and amenable to engineering through their modular architecture.

To understand the complex relation between photon absorption and the resulting dynamics that characterize the photoswitched function, the structural changes upon light activation need to be determined. Here, we propose to conduct a comprehensive study of a new type of flavin-binding photoreceptor: the BLUF domain. We aim to resolve its photochemical reaction mechanism, how this mechanism alters the local structure around the flavin cofactor, how this local structural perturbation is transmitted to the molecular surface and in what way the molecular surface is affected. To this end, we will employ novel, state-of-the-art time-resolved vibrational techniques to determine the functional-structural changes and their associated timescales that make the BLUF photoreceptor work, and thus understand its photoswitched function at the molecular level. Importantly, we will use BLUF domains with isotopically labeled flavin chromophores, as well as isotopically labeled amino acids incorporated at critical ‘hot spots’ in the protein. The unique combination of isotopically labeled flavin and amino acids, and time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy will enable unambiguous assignment of transient local structure, in space and in time.

Application Deadline 15 September 2010

For further information

Scholarship Tags: Biophotoni, Netherlands, Switches, Technology, University