Description

**PhD Position Available — Uncovering How ZNF768 Controls Cell Cycle Progression and Genome Stability**

 

ELOWE Lab, Axe of Oncology and department of Pediatrics, CR-CHU de Québec and Université Laval, Québec City, Canada

We are seeking a motivated PhD candidate to investigate the biology of ZNF768, a recently identified, fast-evolving zinc-finger transcription factor with a unique structural feature: heptad repeats otherwise found only in the C-terminal domain of RNA Pol II. ZNF768 promotes euchromatin formation and sustains expression of pro-proliferative genes, and our unpublished data show it is cell-cycle regulated, degraded at mitotic entry, and essential for genome stability — its misexpression triggers mitotic catastrophe. ZNF768 is also strongly upregulated in lung cancer and implicated in tumor progression.

This project will pursue three aims: (1) determine how loss of ZNF768 disrupts G0 exit and cell cycle progression; (2) uncover how ZNF768 overexpression drives unchecked proliferation; and (3) define its mechanistic role in lung adenocarcinoma. The successful candidate will use high-resolution and live-cell imaging, mutagenesis, and bioinformatics to explore how this newly discovered transcription factor links growth signaling, chromatin regulation, and cancer.

Ideal candidates will hold (or expect to complete) an MSc in molecular/cell biology, cancer biology, or a related field, with interest in microscopy, cell cycle biology, and transcriptional regulation.

Funding: 4 years

Start date: May or September 2027

We thanks all applicants in advance for their interest, but only candidates shortlisted for interviews will be contacted.