Doctoral Candidate Position 4 - University of Groningen the Netherlands
Therapeutic targeting of mitochondrial antigen presentation
Rebecca obtained her bachelor's degree in biology from the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf in 2021. She then studied Medical Biology in her master's program at the University of Duisburg-Essen. During her studies, she completed a six-month internship at Bayer, where she worked on targeted protein degraders. For her master’s thesis, she further strengthened her expertise in cancer research by investigating the role of autophagy in radiation therapy and completed her degree in 2024.
In April 2025, Rebecca joined the group of Molecular Immunology at the University of Groningen. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Geert van den Bogaart and Dr. Frans Bianchi, she is working on establishing a diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease based on patients' immune responses.
Description of project
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. Increasing evidence points to mitochondrial dysfunction as a key factor in PD pathology, with damaged mitochondria contributing to immune activation and neuroinflammation. In this context, mitochondria can serve as sources of antigens, which are presented by immune cells like dendritic cells (DCs), potentially triggering autoimmune-like responses. This PhD project aims to investigate how novel small molecule inhibitors affect the presentation of mitochondrial antigens by dendritic cells, focusing on pathways relevant to PD. By exploring mitochondrial antigen presentation, the project seeks to uncover new therapeutic strategies to modulate immune responses in PD.
The research will first adapt existing cancer epitope presentation assays to create a novel method for measuring mitochondrial-antigen presentation in human monocyte-derived DCs. This will be followed by the development of a high-throughput screening platform to test various small molecules targeting mitochondrial antigen presentation pathways. The platform will then be validated using known inhibitors and activators, such as those affecting the PINK1/PARKIN, LRRK2, and PP2A pathways, as well as antioxidants and mitochondria-targeting drugs. The project integrates techniques from biochemistry, immune cell culture, and advanced microscopy, providing a multidisciplinary approach to investigating immune regulation in PD. Ultimately, this work could lead to the identification of novel drugs that modulate mitochondrial antigen presentation, offering potential new avenues for treating PD and related disorders.