Equipe Neurodéveloppement
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon
ENS de Lyon
46 allée d’Italie
69364 Lyon Cedex 07
France
http://igfl.ens-lyon.fr/equipes/f.-flamant-neurodevelopment
Internship supervisor:
Sabine RICHARD
E-mail: sabine.richard@ens-lyon.fr
Tel.: 04 26 73 13 33
6 month internship offer (First half of 2014): Involvement of brain thyroid hormone receptors in emotional behaviour in mice
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The aim of the Neurodevelopment group at IGFL is to decipher the role of transcription factors, notably thyroid hormone receptors, in brain development and function. The internship offer is part of a project more specifically designed to investigate the role of brain thyroid hormone receptors in controlling behaviour.
In humans, adult onset of hypothyroidism is often associated with alterations in mood, characterised by increased rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, the role played specifically by brain thyroid hormone receptors in this phenomenon is unclear, given the wide range of effects of thyroid hormone throughout the body. Transgenic mice at IGFL express a mutation of thyroid hormone receptors that is specifically expressed in the brain, allowing us to study the role of these brain receptors without altering thyroid signalling in peripheral organs. In a first row of experiments, increased anxiety has been detected in mice expressing a neuron-specific mutation of type thyroid hormone receptor (TR). The next step is to assess whether brain targeting of such a mutation would induce alterations in depressive-like symptoms.
The aim of the project, which is planned for the first half of 2014, is to study the behavioural phenotype of mice expressing a mutation of TR specifically in GABA-ergic neurons. The study of depressive-like symptoms will be achieved by the way of an unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol, which implies daily manipulations in the animal house for several weeks. At the end of the stress protocol, the emotional state of the mice will be evaluated in a battery of behavioural tests. The behavioural analysis will be carried out off line on video recordings with specialised software. A minor part of the time will be dedicated to a small anatomy study aiming at better characterising the cell types where the mutation is expressed, using immunohistochemistry on brain sections.
CANDIDATE SKILLS:
M2 internship in neuroscience/ethology ; MSc in Agricultural Engineering (final specialist internship project)
Marked interest for the study of animal behaviour and neuroscience
Ability to work in autonomy
Good writing skills
GRANT:
436.05 euros/month