The main subject of interest in the Department of Cell Biology is molecular pathogenesis of cancer. Our studies are focused on the influence of human chorionic gonadotropin and especially its beta subunit on biology of cancer cells.
The biological mechanisms behind the action of CGB in cancer cells remains unclear. Recent reports suggest that CGB can stimulate growth of cancer cells or inhibit their apoptosis. Results of our experiments using an alternative method of gene silencing with U1 snRNA proved this thesis as blocking CGB transcription in cancer cells lead to cell death in form of apoptosis. The ability to effectively block the expression of target genes using U1 snRNA constructs as a new way of anticancer therapy will be analyzed in near future.
In our department we examine also the application of extracellular 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on the endogenous mechanisms of protoporphyrin IX – PpIX formation, which exhibits properties of a photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy – PDT. PDT based on ALA application represents the therapeutic technique of treatment of neoplastic cells and can be widely applied in clinical practice.
One other field of the department’s interest is the molecular mechanisms of the human fertilization, especially aspects relating to spermatozoa maturation as well as men infertility. The expression patterns of genes involved in spermatogenesis process and the maturation of spermatozoa which continues outside the gonads is studied. The results of the research showed that the DAZ gene can be very important for regulation of the number of spermatogonia stem cells and their differentiation.
What is more our study documents also the biochemical, molecular, and functional identity of a Ca2+-modulated membrane guanylate cyclase transduction machinery in bovine testes and demonstrates that the presence of the ROS-GC transduction machinery is not unique to the neurosensory and neurosensory-linked systems, it also exists in the endocrinal system of the testes.
The research perform in the Department of Cell Biology are based on both conventional and novel techniques from different fields. The most significant of these techniques are: histochemistry, flow and image cytometry, electron and confocal microscopy, cell culture (cell lines, as well as primary cultures), molecular biology techniques (RT-PCR, RT-PCR in situ, real time PCR, protein and nucleic acid hybridization, cloning, transfection, Western Blotting) and recombinant protein technology (cloning, expression and purification).
The Departmen’s employees recruit from biologists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, chemists, pharmacists and physicians. Most of them are skilled and fully qualified researchers trained in European and US laboratories.