14:00 – 14:15 Grígelová Andrea – Developmental Epileptology
Thesis: Short-term and Long-term Effects of Early Life Seizures on Brain Development
Annotation: Early-life epileptic seizures have lasting effects on brain development and behavior. This dissertation compares functional outcomes of neonatal status epilepticus and recurrent generalized clonic–tonic seizures in Wistar rats, with emphasis on sex differences across cognitive, emotional, and sensory-motor behavioral domains.
14:15 – 14:30 Baslarová Kamila – Mitochondrial physiology
Thesis: Role of glycerophospholipid metabolism in resistance to tamoxifen in breast carcinoma
Annotation: Treatment with Tamoxifen or other estrogen receptor modulators is a common therapy for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. However, many patients will develop a secondary resistance to hormonal treatment. In our project, we focused on the metabolic reprogramming of two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and T47D, which were cultivated to develop Tamoxifen resistance. Mainly, how altered phospholipid metabolism may induce proliferative signaling and survival of Tamoxifen-resistant cells.
14:30 – 14:45 Chalupová Miloslava – Laboratory of Developmental Cardiology
Thesis: Cardioprotective mechanisms induced by different forms of caloric restriction
Annotation: Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Intermittent fasting (IF) has recently gained attention as a promising dietary intervention with potential cardioprotective effects; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Among the proposed mediators, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), which responds to changes in oxygen and nutrient availability, may play a central role. In addition, epitranscriptomic regulation, particularly N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification, has been implicated in cardiovascular diseases and may modulate HIF-1α activity and myocardial tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion injury. Therefore, our study aims to investigate the molecular interplay between IF, HIF-1α, and epitranscriptomic regulation in cardioprotection.
14:45 – 15:00 Habiba Hayat – Bioenergetics
Thesis: Von Willebrand Domain-containing Protein 8 (Vwa8) in lipid metabolism and brown fat thermogenesis
Annotation: Obesity is a worldwide health problem for whole population and promotes other metabolic problems such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disorders etc. Increasing energy expenditure via brown fat thermogenesis and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is considered as a potential mechanisms for the management of obesity. Here we focused on poorly characterized mitochondrial and peroxisomal protein Vwa8, a putative AAA+ ATPase with a dynein conformation. It has been described to modulate FAO and may involve in brown fat (BAT) thermogenesis and recruitment. To study the role of Vwa8 protein in the context of browning and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, we developed 3t3-L1 Vwa8 knock-out cell line and Vwa8 KO mice. We also used metabolic cages and cold exposure studies to investigate the role of Vwa8 in BAT thermogenesis. The Vwa8 KO mice showed higher heat production as well as decreased resting energy requirements, indicating a stronger preference for FAO at the end of the resting phase of circadian rhythm. Moreover, KO mice showed browning of the subcutaneous adipose tissue indicated by increase in mitochondria content and lipid droplet multilocularity. However, beta adrenergic stimulation by CL316.243 showed only a slight increase of energy expenditure in Vwa8 KO mice (50 % of basal), while WT mice showed almost four times increase in energy expenditure. In conclusion, Vwa8 affects mitochondrial substrate preference and may involves in canonical BAT thermogenesis and brown fat recruitment.
15:00 – 15:15 Amanda Barboza – Laboratory of Cholinergic Signaling
Thesis: Role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed by cholinergic neurons in controlling striatal activity and behaviour in mice
Annotation: The striatum is very important for the control of behaviour and an essential key of its activity is the striatal cholinergic interneurons (CINs) expressing beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (beta2* nAChRs). It was seen that deleting beta2* nAChRs in striatal CINs leads to marked behavioural changes in mice and alterations of Fos expression in the striatum. So, we want to investigate the effects of beta2* nAChRs deletion on CINs’ electrophysiological properties and local striatal circuits as well as explore behaviour changes of the beta2 deletion in all cholinergic neurons.
Contact at IPHYS: Petra Alánová, D.Sc., Ph.D., petra.alanova@fgu.cas.cz
