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Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) is successfully used as a scaffold material for tissue engineering; however, it lacks functional groups that support cell adhesion. The laminin-derived peptide sequence SIKVAV is known to mimic the function of laminin, which is one of the biologically active proteins of the extracellular matrix. In this report, the adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to SIKVAV-modified PHEMA was investigated.

In vivo and in vitro magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy are both used to obtain complementary information about the metabolic state of living tissue/tissue extracts, respectively. However, comparisons between in vivo and in vitro measurements are rare. The aim of this study was to compare results from in vivo and in vitro MR spectroscopy to study inter-regional variations and the effects of social isolation on metabolite levels in rat brain.

We present two computer programs: 1) AIMS in silico - a suggestion tool for Amplification of Intermethylated Sites experimental design and results analysis; and 2) PeakPick – a tool to view & analyse capillary electrophoregrams Our computer software is intended to standardize AIMS applications and to turn it into one of the principal approaches towards cancer methylomes studies as well as towards diagnostics in oncology, including early screening.

By bioinformatics we predicted that miR-23b could recognize two sites in the 3’ UTR of uPA (urokinase-type plasminogen activator) and four sites in the 3’ UTR of c-met (hepatocyte growth factor receptor). miR-23b transfections in SKHep1C3 caused uPA and c-met decreased and migration and proliferation inhibition of SKHep1C3; anti-miR-23b transfection in human fibroblasts upregulated uPA and c-met. uPA and c-met shared a common microRNA that negatively regulates their expression.

Our project is partially focused on insulin affecting four proteins associated with lung surfactant. Small and hydrophobic SP-B and S-PC help to spread and stabilize the surfactant layer while large and hydrophilic SP-A and SP-D participate in immune responses. A549 and H441 cell lines were used. It was observed using RealTime PCR that higher doses of insulin lead to decreased transcription of SP-B, SP-C, SP-D, and both isoforms of SP-A.

A triplex qPCR assay was developed to screen for three major food-borne pathogens in fish. The assay is based on simultaneous qPCR amplification of specific target genomes using fluorophore labelled locked nucleic acid (LNA) TaqMan probes. The detection limit of the qPCR is 1 colony forming unit (cfu) per 1ml and the detection limit of the assay with 24h general enrichment is 1 cfu per 25g of fish meat.

Sequenom EpiTYPER analysis of GNAS methylation in Pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib patients reveals overall GNAS methylation defects also for the familial cases. Such abnormalities are not detectable via old methodologies such as PCR followed by methylation specific restriction digestion and are here for the first time described.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the aphid-mediated effects of plant (Nicotiana tabacum or Vicia faba ) on A. colemani life-history characteristics. The obtained results corroborated our hypothesis that the host plant is important factor in an aphid-parasitoid relationship. Plant toxins are probably the cause of lower rate of population increase in A. colemani developed on tobacco-reared aphids.

Apomixis is a trait which allows flowering plants to produce seeds by asexual ways. Molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon are poorly understood. We used cDNA microrrays coupled to substractive libraries to find genes related to apomixis in Brachiaria. Genes related to meiosis and cell division, and some putative transcription factors, were overexpressed in sexual plants. It may indicate that apomixis could be caused by downregulation of these genes.