Istraživanja u MedILS-u trenutno su grupirana u 5 tema:
Evolucijska i medicinska molekularna genetika
Biology of robustness
Life’s robustness depends on the resilience of fertile organisms (the soma) that assure the long-term evolutionary success of the germ-line, i.e., species. In the framework of this project we explore the chemistry of two types of biological clocks: the species-specific somatic clock (robustness of the proteome and life span) and the universal germ-line clock (mutations and evolution). As model organisms, we explore the bacterium D. radiodurans and aquatic animals bdelloid rotifers as well as complex animals like tardigrades, all equally resistant to long-term desiccation and extreme doses of ionizing radiation.Continue reading
Molecular basis of intrinsic aging and its prevention
Cellular life is maintained by the activity of a plethora of functions that prevent molecular damage from occurring in the first place and repair damaged DNA, proteins and other damaged cellular constituents. The phenomenon of aging arises from the fact such functions are performed by proteins that are themselves subject to damage by oxidative modifications. In the framework of this project, aging is studied as a process of progressive functional degeneracy of nearly all cellular functions due to diminishing protein activity and decreased precision of protein interactions within the cellular proteome caused by accumulation of oxidative damage. Continue reading
Protein carbonylation by cluster enhanced fluorescence in the context of aging
The use of fluorescent markers is a commonly used technique for detecting protein carbonylation. For this purpose organic chromophores such as DNPH have been standardly used. In this project we propose to further enhance the performance of such markers by exploiting cluster enhanced absorption and fluorescence. Such an enhancement effect is required in order to enable in vivo detection of the carbonylation. The advantage of using metal clusters is that they are biocompatible, soluble, robust in terms of optical properties and small enough to go through the cell membranes in contrast to quantum dots. Therefore, small clusters in combination with optical markers such as DNPH are potentially important for sensitive detection and quantification of carbonylation sites
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