Our laboratory studies the role of proteins in neurobiology and tumour biology.
Proteins play a vast variety of key roles in the body,
from the mechanical movement of muscle cells
to signal transduction and regulation of gene expression.
However, protein dysfunction can lead to the onset of a disease.
The Neurobiology Group is dedicated to the study of Huntington’s disease,
a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder.
We use a mouse model of Huntington’s disease zQ175
as well as human neural stem cells.
“Huntington’s disease usually manifests in adulthood and ends in death
within 15-20 years of the onset of the first symptoms.
It is caused by a mutant form of the huntingtin protein
that fails to perform its proper function,
aggregates and leads to neurodegeneration,
particularly in an area of the brain called the striatum.
In our laboratory, we seek to find ways
how to prevent the accumulation of huntingtin aggregates
how to remove them from the brain cells.”
We also use neural stem cells to study the process of formation of mature neurons and glia
during the development of the nervous system.
The Tumour Biology Group studies the intercellular communication
between the skin tumour cells of a malignant melanoma
and the cells of the surrounding tissue.
This cell-to-cell communication is often mediated by proteins
transmitting proliferation signals to the surrounding cells and thus,
promoting tumour growth.
The Tumour Biology Group also studies cancer immunology.
As a model, it uses the MeLiM breed of minipigs developed in Liběchov,
which carries the hereditary form of melanoma.
We study the process of spontaneous tumour regression and the potential use
of this mechanism in the clinical immunotherapy of melanoma.
We study the role of proteins in the body by a variety of different methods.
Mass spectrometers allow us
to measure several thousands of proteins at the same time
In contrast, although Luminex measures only tens of proteins,
it can accurately quantify them even in very small quantities.
Another widely used method is the Western blot,
a technique we use to separate proteins by size
quantify specific proteins in both normal and pathological tissue samples.
If we want to detect and localise the selected proteins
within the tissue or even individual cells,
we stain them using antibodies with an antibody-bound fluorescent dye
and observe them under a microscope.
We perform primarily basic research
aimed at improving our understanding of disease mechanisms.
We anticipate that in the future, this could facilitate the development
of new therapies of both Huntington’s disease as well as melanoma.
We are always pleased to share our experience
gained over the years with the younger colleagues.
Thus, we raise ourselves a new generation of scientists.