Download Title: Involvement of fibroblast growth factors in cardiac

Title: Neuropeptide discovery and quantification in tree shrew
Introduction: Neuropeptides expressed in the brain have diverse functions ranging from
neurotransmitters and neuromodulators to growth factors. Neuropeptides are of particular importance
when the nervous system has to cope with stress, injury or drug abuse. They can serve as biomarkers
for neurodegenerative disorders or provide novel targets for drug action. Mass spectrometry provides
a powerful tool to study the regional distribution of known neuropeptides in different brain regions, as
well as for the discovery of novel neuropeptides. Tree shrews are small mammals that are close
relatives of primates and have a fully sequenced genome. They are thus a well suited animal model
for the study of in vivo neuropeptides.
Research work: You will work closely with our team in two areas: (i) Work with animals, including drug
application, behavioral monitoring and neuropeptide sample preparation. (ii) Detecting and quantifying
neuropeptides by using state of art techniques such as Mass Spectrometry (MALDI, Orbitrap) and
nano Liquid Chromatography, in conjunction with data analysis including database screening. You will
contribute to the enhancement of extraction efficiency by optimizing protocols to make sure that
relevant neuropeptides are reliably extracted from brain tissue. You will also assist in the refinement
of methods for separation and characterization of neuropeptides.
Relevance: This project will greatly promote your knowledge and skills in drug treatment and studying
their effects at behavioural and molecular levels. It will also allow you to familiarize yourself with state
of the art methods of analytical chemistry, including mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography for
the analysis of biological samples. These methods are widely used in the pharmaceutical and other
industries for high resolution detection of compounds.
References:
http://www.unifr.ch/inph/vclab/assets/files/PDFs/pdf_1/ac050712d.pdf
http://www.unifr.ch/inph/vclab/assets/files/PDFs/pdf_1/microproteomics.review.pdf
Requirements: You should be willing to work with animals. Any prior experience in analytical
chemistry or neurochemistry would be helpful.
Date of start: The master thesis can be started upon mutual agreement (earliest start on
July 1st 2010)
Contact: Prof. Gregor Rainer phone: 026 3008689
Visual Cognition Laboratory http://www.unifr.ch/inph/vclab/
Department of Medicine e-mail: [email protected]
Chemin du Musee 5, 1700 Fribourg