Subject: PhD student position available in the Kidney development lab located in Meilahti campus at HiLIFE, University of Helsinki

PhD student position available in the Kidney development lab located in Meilahti campus at HiLIFE at the University of Helsinki

The projects focus on studying stem / progenitor cell biology developing kidney and aim to understand causes of congenital renal malformations in humans.

Our group studies renal development with the help of different genetically modified mouse models and different in vitro culture systems. We are specifically interested in understanding how kidney growth through ureteric bud branching morphogenesis is regulated and which kind of cellular events drive its complex pattern. Our projects also explore how growth factor induced signaling controls nephron progenitors during their self-renewal and differentiation into the functional units of the kidneys, the nephrons.

All applicants with genuine interest in developmental and stem cell biology are encouraged to submit a motivation letter, CV and possibly reference letter (if applicable) to satu.kuure(at)helsinki.fi before the deadline on February 28, 2020.

For further information, see Kuure lab or contact the group leader Satu Kuure (satu.kuure(at)helsinki.fi , +358 2941 59395).

Selected publications:

Takko, H., Pajanoja, C., Kurtzeborn, K, Hsin, J., Kuure, S. and Kerosuo, L. ShapeMetrics: a userfriendly pipeline for 3D cell segmentation and spatial tissue analysis Dev. Biol., Conditionally accepted.

Kuure, S. Sariola, H. Mouse models of congenital kidney anomalies. Chapter 5 in book Animal models of human birth defects, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. In press.

Dapkunas A, Rantanen V, Gui Y, Lalowski M, Sainio K, Kuure S, Sariola H. Simple 3D culture of dissociated kidney mesenchyme mimics nephron progenitor niche and facilitates nephrogenesis Wnt-independently. Sci Rep. 2019 9(1):13433.

Kurtzeborn, K., Kwon, H.N., Kuure, S. 2019. MAPK/ERK signaling in regulation of renal differentiation. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 20(7).

Li, H., Jakobson, M., Ola, R., Gui, Y., Kumar, A., Sipilä, P., Sariola, H., Kuure, S*. Andressoo, J-O*. 2019. Development of the urogenital system is regulated via the 3'UTR of GDNF. Sci Rep, 9(1):5302.

Zhang, H., Bagherie-Lachidan, M., Badouel, C., Enderle, L., Peidis, P., Bremner, R., Kuure, S., Jain, S., McNeill, H. 2019. FAT4 fine-tunes kidney development by regulating RET signaling. Dev Cell, 48(6):780-792.e4. Ihermann-Hella, A., Hirashima, T., Kupari, J., Kurtzeborn, K., Li, H., Kwon, H.N., Cebrian, C., Soofi, A., Dapkunas, A., Miinalainen, I., Dressler, G.R., Matsuda, M., Kuure, S. 2018. Dynamic MAPK/ERK Activity Sustains Nephron Progenitors through Niche Regulation and Primes Precursors for Differentiation. Stem Cell Reports, 11(4):912-928.