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Steroid - NMDA receptor interaction: Structure-activity study and effect on mutant forms of human NMDA receptors
Krausová, Barbora ; Vyklický, Ladislav (advisor) ; Anděrová, Miroslava (referee) ; Tureček, Rostislav (referee)
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are glutamate-gated calcium permeable ion channels that play a key role in excitatory synaptic transmission and plasticity, and their dysfunction underlies several neuropsychiatric disorders. The overactivation of NMDA receptors by tonically increased ambient glutamate can lead to excitotoxicity, associated with various acute and chronic neurological disorders, such as ischemia, Alzheimer and Parkinson's disease, epilepsy or depression. On the opposite, NMDA receptor hypofunction is thought to be implicated in autism, schizophrenia, or intellectual disability. Recent DNA screening for neurological and psychiatric patients revealed numerous mutations in genes encoding for NMDA receptor subunits. The activity of NMDA receptors is influenced by a wide variety of allosteric modulators, including neurosteroids that could both inhibit and potentiate the activity of NMDA receptors, which makes them promising therapeutic targets. In this thesis, we describe new classes of neurosteroid analogues which possess structural modifications at carbons C3 and C17 of the steroidal core, and analogues without D-ring region (perhydrophenanthrenes). We evaluated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) for their modulatory effect on recombinant GluN1/GluN2B receptors. Our results...
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DISP3/PTCHD2 function in neural cells
Konířová, Jana ; Bartůněk, Petr (advisor) ; Anděrová, Miroslava (referee) ; Pacherník, Jiří (referee)
DISP3 protein, also known as PTCHD2, belongs to the PTCHD family of proteins, which contain a sterol-sensing domain in their structure. The expression of the Disp3 gene is high in neural tissues and is regulated by thyroid hormone. The DISP3 gene is associated with development and progression of certain types of tumors, as well as with development of some neural pathologies. Neural stem cells also display high expression of the Disp3 gene. Neural stem cells are defined by their capability to self-renewal and capacity to differentiate into the basic types of neural cells - neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Precise regulation of the balance between proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells is crucial for development of the central nervous system and its subsequent proper functioning, and disruption of this balance may lead to development of various pathologies. In this work we mainly focused on describing the function of the DISP3 protein in neural cells and tissues. We have shown that during differentiation of neural stem cells, the expression of the Disp3 gene is significant decreased. Furthermore, we have found that in neural stem and progenitor cells, the increased expression of the Disp3 gene promotes their proliferation. Moreover, when Disp3 expression was disrupted, the...
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Glial cells and their role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Vaňátko, Ondřej ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Černý, Jan (referee)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. It affects upper and lower motor neurons in the brain motor cortex, the brain stem and the spinal cord, causing their death, which results in denervation of voluntary muscles. Progressive muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the entire body gradually leads to worsening of the ability to move, speak, chew, swallow and eventually breath. Ultimately it results in affected individual's death due to respiratory muscle failure. Although first identified in 1869, no cure for ALS has been yet found. While early studies focused mainly on the research of motor neurons themselves, the attention has shifted towards glial cells in the past two decades. Glial cells are essential for proper neuron functioning and survival and it appears that they play a major role in ALS progression. The goal of this thesis is to review and summarize findings on the role of glial cells in ALS over the last years, focusing on four specific types of glial cells, namely astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes and NG2-glia. Key words: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, motor neuron, glia, astrocyte, microglia, oligodendrocyte, NG2-glia
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The effect of the canonical Wnt singalling pathway on the differentiation of polydendrocytes after ischemic brain injury
Knotek, Tomáš ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Romanyuk, Natalyia (referee)
Polydendrocytes, or NG2 glia, are fourth type of glial cells in mammal central nervous system. In the adult brain, NG2 glia represent important cell type with respect to their role in gliogenesis and nervous tissue regeneration following injury. Ligands from the Wingless/Int (Wnt) family play key role in proliferation and differentiation of NG2 glia and they can also influence regeneration of nervous tissue after ischemia. The aim of this thesis was to elucidate the role of NG2 glia in neurogenesis and gliogenesis following ischemic brain injury and investigate the impact of Wnt signalling on the reaction of NG2 glia to this type of injury. To fulfil these aims, transgenic mouse strains with tamoxifen-inducible recombination, that enabled simultaneous expression of red fluorescent dye and either activation or inhibition of the Wnt signalling pathway in NG2 glia, were employed. To induce ischemic injury, middle cerebral artery occlusion model was used. Changes in differentiation and electrophysiological properties of NG2 glia were analysed using patch-clamp technique. Activation of the Wnt signalling pathway under physiological conditions and 7 days after ischemic injury led to increased differentiation of NG2 glia toward astrocytes, while 3 days after ischemic injury activation of this signalling...
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Proteomic analysis of cellular proliferation and differenziation: Model of neural stem cells and cancer cells
Skalníková, Helena ; Kovářová, Hana (advisor) ; Anděrová, Miroslava (referee) ; Bezouška, Karel (referee)
CoNcLUsIoNs In protein profiling of neural stem cells using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, constitutively expressed proteins in 66 protein spots were identified. Most of the individual protein species were related to RNA and protein metabolism, processing and turnover, including some chaperones and stress response proteins. Proteins involved in cellular organization (e.g. cýoskeletal proteins and annexins), metabolic proteins (mostly enrymes),cellular energetics,cell defenseand signallingfollowed in lower numbers. Proteins in 16 spots significantly regulated during neural differentiation were identified. Induction of levels of o-B crystallin, hnRNP Al and hnRNP AZIBI during differentiation and protein localization within neural cells were studied by westernblottingand immunocýochemistry. Using antibody microarrays, in neural stem cells an increase in GRK2 level and phosphorylationsof signalling molecules(CDKI|Z, PKC mu, PKCy, Erk5 and o-B crystallin) involved mostly in cellular proliferation were detected.On the contrary, in differentiatedneural cells levels of protein-phosphatase4, heme-oxygenase2, MEK3, RafB, pro-caspase 1 and phosphorylation of 40 kDa proline-rich Akt substratewere induced. In cancer cells after protein separationby ProteomelabrM PF 2D system, 8 proteins...
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The role of astrocytes in the formation of brain edema
Heřmanová, Zuzana ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Pačesová, Dominika (referee)
Brain edema is a cause of mortality accompanying number of pathologies such as ischemia, traumatic brain injury, tumors or liver and kidney failure. It is described as a process of osmotic and water flux alterations, which lead to cell volume changes and to an increase in intracranial pressure. Brain edema is usually classified into two types: vasogenic and cytotoxic. Development of vasogenic edema is connected to the blood brain barrier disruption. Water accumulates in the extracellular space and exerts pressure on the cellular compartments of the tissue. The cytotoxic type of edema is characterized by water accumulation within the cells. The process of cellular volume enlargement is termed cellular swelling. Cytotoxic swelling is usually connected to glial cells, namely astrocytes, as these cells represent a part of the blood brain barrier and thus they influence homeostasis inside the brain. Water flows across cytoplasmic membrane through a system of specialized channels - aquaporins. For the brain edema formation, aquaporin 4 is the most important. It is localized on astrocytic membranes and using aquaporin-null mice, it has been shown, that it participates in water clearance in physiological and pathological conditions. Since the water fluxes are passive, the driving force for edema formation...
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Glutamate receptors in NG2-glial cells: gene profiling and functional changes after ischemic brain injury
Waloschková, Eliška ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Růžička, Jiří (referee)
Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain and its transmission is responsible for higher brain functions, such as learning, memory and cognition. Glutamate action is mediated by a variety of glutamate receptors, though their properties were until now studied predominantly in neurons. Glutamate receptors are expressed also in NG2-glia, however their role under physiological conditions as well as in pathological states of the central nervous system is not fully understood. The aim of this work is to elucidate the presence, composition and function of these receptors in NG2-glia under physiological conditions and following focal cerebral ischemia. For this purpose we used transgenic mice, in which NG2-glia are labeled by a fluorescent protein for their precise identification. To analyze the expression pattern of glutamate receptors in NG2-glia we employed single-cell RT-qPCR. Furthermore, we used calcium imaging to characterize their functional properties.
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Calcium signalling in astrocytes under physiological and pathological conditions
Svatoňová, Petra ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Kolář, David (referee)
Calcium signalling in astrocytes represents an important component, which enables proper neuronal functioning under physiological conditions. Alterations in Ca2+ signalling, accompanied by an increase in intracellular calcium levels is a hallmark for numerous pathological states of central nervous system, such as traumatic and ischemic brain/spinal cord injuries, epilepsy as well as neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. The research analyzing the molecular components of astrocytic Ca2+ signalling can help us understand the control mechanisms used in calcium signalling and thus be greatly beneficial for further therapeutic research. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Proliferation and differentiation of NG2-glia following ischemic brain injuries
Kirdajová, Denisa ; Anděrová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Machová Urdzíková, Lucia (referee)
NG2-glia, a fourth major glial cell population, were shown to posses wide proliferation and differentiation potential in vitro and in vivo, therefore the aim of this study was to compare the rate of proliferation and differentiation potential of NG2-glia after different types of brain injuries, such as global and focal cerebral ischemia (GCI, FCI) or stab wound (SW), as well as during aging. Moreover, we aimed to determine the role of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in NG2-glia proliferation/differentiation after FCI. We used transgenic mice, in which tamoxifen triggers the expression of red fluorescent protein (tdTomato) in NG2-glia and cells derived therefrom. Proliferation and differentiation potential of tdTomato+ cells in sham operated animals (controls) and those after injury were determined by immunohistochemistry employing antibodies against proliferating cell nuclear antigen and glial fibrillary acidic protein. FCI was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion, GCI by carotid occlusion with hypotension and SW by sagittal cortical cut. Shh signaling in vivo was activated or inhibited by Smoothened agonist or Cyclopamine, respectively. Compared to controls, the proliferation rate of tdTomato+ cells was increased after all types of injuries, while it declined in aged mice (15-18- months-old) after...
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