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2012 - 02 - 09 Lei Cao, Department of Immunology defended her PhD thesis at the University of Trier, Germany with summa cum laude
Department of Immunology (LNSI). Lei Cao recently defended her Ph.D. thesis with the best possible grade (summa cum laude) at the University of Trier, Germany. The title of her PhD thesis is “ Transcriptional control of the hGR: Identification and analysis of alternative promoter regions” .
Stress represents a significant problem for Western societies. The human glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is the receptor for the key stress molecule cortisol. Lei Cao has concentrated on the structure of the gene of the GR, and mechanisms controlling GR transcription. In her study, both genomic and environmental factors linked with GR expression are covered. This research showed that GR promoters were susceptible to silencing by methylation and the activity of the individual promoters was also modulated by SNPs. The research presented in this thesis explored several layers of complexity in GR transcriptional regulation.
Lei Cao has written or co-authored 2 publications, three other publications are submitted or in preparation. She has given a number of oral presentations, both as department seminars and at national and international meetings.
Lei was a member of the renowned DFG- and NWO-sponsored International Research Training Group on 'Psychoneuroendocrinology of Stress: from Molecules and Genes to Affect and Cognition', which is a joined venture of Melly Oitzl's & Ron de Kloet's Leiden research group and the psychobiology research groups in Trier and Luxembourg.
Her PhD has been sponsored by a fellowship of the Fonds National de la Recherche, Luxembourg and the DFG, Germany.
Lei Cao will leave the Department in February 2011 to return back to China to continue with a career in science.
Publications list of Lei Cao during her PhD at the Department of Immunology
L Cao, SC Leija, R Kumsta, S Wüst, J Meyer, JD Turner, CP Muller. Transcriptional control of the human glucocorticoid receptor: Identification and analysis of alternative promoter regions. Human Genetics 129, 533-543, 2011.
JD Turner, SR Alt, L Cao, S Vernocchi, S Trifonova, N Battello, CP Muller. Transcriptional control of the glucocorticoid receptor: CpG islands, epigenetics and more. Biochem Pharmacol 80, 1860-1868, 2010.
SR Alt, L Cao, SR Alt, SC Leija, SB Mériaux, OC Meijer, JD Turner, CP Muller. Transcriptional regulation and epigenetic sensitivity of the glucocorticoid receptor transcript 1F. Submitted.
L Cao-Lei, S Suwansirikul, P Jutavijittum, SB Mériaux, JD Turner, CP Muller. Glucocorticoid receptor gene expression and promoter methylation status throughout the human brains. Submitted.
N Grova, L Cao-Lei, H Schroeder, CP Muller CP. Effects of an oral subacute administration of benzo(a)pyrene on cerebral CYP1A1 expression and anxiety-related behaviour in adult mice. In preparation.