SARS-CoV-2, agent of the recent CoViD-19 pandemic, has and still is affecting billions of people world wide. It is well known that viruses make extensive use of the host cell's machinery, hijacking it for the purpose of viral replication. Upon cell entry, viral proteins exhibit
complex interactions with the host's protein-protein-interaction (PPI) network and function as regulatory hubs, bridging distant parts of the host's PPI network, thus rewiring it to promote viral replication.
 The goal of this project is to analyze the role of SARS-CoV-2 in context of the human PPI network. Specifically, we aim to identify potential viral regulatory hubs and analyze their interaction partners in order to prioritize human proteins which are likely crucial in the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2, contributing to our understanding of a SARS-CoV-2 infection on a molecular level and potentially paving the way to the discovery of novel drug targets.
 During the project, the student will perform a network analysis on the joined human and SARS-CoV-2 PPI network. Using differential expression and co-expression analysis on proteomics and/or transcriptomics data, the student will identify human proteins and/or transcripts that undergo expression changes in the course of viral infection.
 The student might benefit from experience in the following fields:
    Proteomics / Transcriptomics
    Differential (Co-)Expression Analysis
    Network Analysis / Graph-based Methods
    Programming in Python and/or R

Please send applications (including a recent copy of your course transcript) to marc.horlacher@helmholtz-muenchen.de , rainer.koenig@uni.jena.de or rosariomichael.piro@polimi.it

Marc Horlacher M.Sc., Computational RNA Biology / MarsicoLab
Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute for Computational Biology
https://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/icb/research/groups/marsico-lab/overview/index.html
or Prof. Dr. Rainer König, RG Systemsbiology
Center for Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC), Jena University Hospital
https://www.uniklinikum-jena.de/cscc/en/koenig.html
Prof. Rosario M. Piro, Politecnico di Milano
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB)
Milano, Italy,www.rmpiro.net