Lotta tom Dieck

EDUCATION

College / University

Philipps University Marburg

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Biomedical Sciences (with focus on molecular and cell biology)

Country

Germany

Lab Experience

Molecular Biology techniques: Cloning, Plasmid preparation, baculovirus expression system, PCR, qPCR, DNA/RNA/Protein extraction, cDNA synthesis, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, Western blot, mitochondria preparation, ELISA Imaging techniques: light microscopy, Immuno fluorescence staining and confocal microscopy, expansion microscopy, superresolution microscopy using DNA-PAINT
Protein interaction and purification techniques: Immuno precipitation (IP), Co-IP, His-tag purification, Ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography
Targeted protein degradation: GFP-Degron system
Cell culture: S2, Sf9, primary neuronal cell culture, HeLa, yeast
Dissection: mouse brain and immune organs
Neurobiological and -physiological techniques: synaptosome preparation, two electrodes voltage-clamp (TEVC)
Computational skills: SnapGene, GraphPad Prism, ImageJ, Primer Design

Projects / Research

2024: Tag-targeted depletion of the Drosophila transcriptome regulator U-shaped and its role in hemocyte transdifferentiation (Brehm Lab at the Institute for molecular biology and tumor research, Philipps University Marburg, Germany)
2024: Synaptic Calcium Homeostasis: Superresolution of MERCS (Mitochondria-ER-contact sites) and the Spine Apparatus (Sun Lab at the DANDRITE Aarhus, Denmark)
2023: Synaptosome preparation for FASS (fluorescence activated synaptosome sorting) (Schuman Lab, MPI for brain research, Frankfurt a.M., Germany)

Scholarships / Awards

2024 – 2025:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2023 – 2024:	Deutschlandstipendium
2024:	Erasmus+ scholarship for an internship at the DANDRITE in Aarhus (Denmark)
2021:	Karl-von-Frisch High-School Graduate Award of the Association of Biology, Biosciences & Biomedicine (VBIO)
2021:	GDCh Award for the best High-School Graduate in Chemistry 2021

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

One of the many aspects of molecular biology I am interested in is the regulation of chromatin structure (in context of tumorigenesis). Hence, I chose to write my bachelor thesis at the Brehm Group to study a major transcriptome regulator in Drosophila that modulates immune cell transdifferentiation. The tag-targeted protein degradation system I worked with to get a temporal resolution of changes in gene expression after protein depletion is a promising approach to me and I can see myself using this technique later on. I am also fascinated by the immune system and its role in cancer. Therefore, working with immune cells was quite intriguing for me and I would like to gain more insights into this aspect of molecular biology in the future. Motivated by a talk at the Neurochemistry-Revisited Symposium at MPI BR about the significance of microtubules for the synaptic function and its connection to neuronal disease, I am also eager to study the molecular processes that underlie neuronal function (esp. the learning and memory processes) and how malfunctions lead to neurodegenerative diseases. The search for an Alzheimer’s therapy is very exciting and something I can imagine to focus on in the future.