This work is part of a large European collaboration that aims to develop novel antibiotics against M. tuberculosis in the fight against ever increasing drug resistance in this bacterium. Your task will be to isolate the target membrane proteins and study these by structural (cryo-electron microscopy or protein crystallography) and biochemical methods and develop an assay suitable for high-throughput inhibitor screening.

We are looking for highly motivated and talented individuals who recently obtained their PhD degree. You should have a background in structural biology and/or membrane proteins. A background in M. tuberculosis is highly valued.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

You will be employed on the basis of a 36-hour week. Appointment is for four years, for the duration of the project. The salary will depend on your qualifications and experience, with a maximum of € 4,361 gross per month based on a full time position (scale 10 of the Collective Labor Agreement for University Hospitals).

LUMC

At the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), we are continually seeking to improve the quality of healthcare. The LUMC aims for excellence in patient care, research, teaching, training and continuing education.

http://www.lumc.nl/

The Lamers laboratory

The Lamers laboratory studies DNA replication and repair and their in role driving antibiotic resistance. The lab furthermore studies membrane efflux pumps that provide tolerance to all commonly used antibiotics. To study the different molecular processes, we use cryo-EM, protein crystallography, biochemistry and single molecule light microscopy. In previous studies, we have determined multiple structures of different protein-DNA complexes (Lamers, Cell 2006, Fernandez-Leiro, eLIFE 2015; Fernandez-Leiro Nat. Struct Mol Biol 2017). We have furthermore discovered a novel DNA proofreader in the replicative DNA polymerase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Rock, Nature Genetics 2015) and determined its structure (Mateos-Banos, Nat. Comm 2018). In addition, we have used single molecule light microscopy to monitor the sequential action of the different proteins during DNA replication (Zhao, eLIFE 2018). Our lab has the most advanced equipment for structural and biochemical research and are closely associated with the Netherland Center for Cryo-Electron Nanospectroscopy (NeCEN) that is equipped with two Titan Krios microscopes and is located 10 minutes from the laboratory.