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Biological membranes and methods for their characterization - current approach.
Skotnicová, Marie ; Konopásek, Ivo (advisor) ; Plocek, Vítězslav (referee)
Cell membrane of prokaryotes is immediately exposed to various environmental changes. To survive, the organism has to sufficiently react to these changes and adapt to them. On the level of the lipid bilayer it means changes of membrane fluidity induced by alterations of the lipid composition. Even a small alteration of acyl chains or polar heads of the phospholipids can alter the order of the lipid bilayer. Various biophysical techniques have been used to detect changes of the membrane fluidity and lipid composition. The purpose of this work is to summarize mechanism of adaptation induced by cold, heat and osmotic shock, as well as commonly used methods for detection of these changes. Studied organisms represent Gram- negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. Key words biological membranes, membrane fluidity, adaptation of prokaryotic organisms to environmental changes, methods of characterization of biological membranes, membrane spectroscopy
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Gene manupulations in invertebrates
Čermáková, Eliška ; Schierová, Michaela (advisor) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee)
Gene manipulations in invertebrates are based on the same approches used in vertebrates. The are applied for the development of new genotypes in model species, convenient as model systems of human hereditary diseases etc. Gene manipulations are important as well for practical purposes, which is shown by the example of trangenic mosquitoes. Recently, it has been proved that programmable nucleases can be successfully used in invertebrates. Key words: Gene manipulations, invertebrates, methods, applications, Drosophila melanogaster, Anopheles, Bombyx mori, malaria
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Characteristics of expression vectors for Corynebacterium glutamicum and their use for studies of sigma factors of RNA polymerase
Dvořáková, Pavla ; Pátek, Miroslav (advisor) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee)
The aim of the thesis was to characterize chosen expression vectors used in biotechnologically important bacterial species, Corynebacterium glutamicum, and to test their use in studies of promoter activity control by sigma factors of RNA polymerase. Different properties of these vectors (level of expression of the cloned gene, leaky expression without inducer, dependence of expression level on inducer concentration and cell population homogeneity) were found by determination of expression level of the model gfpuv gene by fluorescence intensity assay of the produced protein and by gfpuv-expressing C. glutamicum cell population analysis using flow cytometry. The vector pEC-XT99A was chosen for testing the bi-plasmid system for assignment of a sigma factor to the chosen promoter. Although the level of expression provided by pEC-XT99A was not high, the vector showed no leaky expression, expression from the vector was comparable for a wide range of IPTG concentrations and the cell population was homogenous concerning the gene expression. Using pEC-XT99A from which individual stress sig genes were expressed, the σD factor was clearly assigned to the up-to-now unknown Pcg0420 promoter. Another vector for isolation and purification of C. glutamicum proteins was used to express the C. glutamicum sigM gene and to...
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Membrane interactions studied by advanced fluorescent techniques: From ions to macromolecules
Pokorná, Šárka ; Hudeček, Jiří (advisor) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee) ; Benda, Aleš (referee)
Advanced fluorescence techniques were used to explore tree distinct topics concerning biological membrane and their interactions. Following thesis is according to the topic divided into three parts: 1) Ionic effects were studied employing time dependent fluorescence shift experiments and molecular dynamic simulations. Combination of these two approaches are suitable to reveal characteristic like mobility and hydration of particular bilayer segment, lipid packing or ion binding sites. Halide anions were reported to adsorb to the cationic lipid bilayer specifically, altering membrane mobility and organization. Changes in observed parameters follows Hofmeister order. Their effect is mediated either by direct ionic interaction (soft, polarizable ions) as well as via alteration of water structure (hard, non-polarizable ions) in proximity of ion molecule. Further, divalent calcium was shown to bind strongly to neutral and negatively charged lipid bilayers. Several types of binding sites depending on calcium concentration were identified. 2) Two complementary lipopeptides, CPK and CPE, incorporated into distinct lipid bilayers serve as a minimal model inducing membrane fusion. Effectiveness of fusion event might be influenced by lipopeptide-membrane and lipopeptide-lipopeptide interaction. To reveal...
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Study of the interaction between fungus Pleurotus ostreatus and bacterial cultures on the abiotic surfaces - morphological, biochemical and proteomic analysis
Kozická, Barbora ; Petráčková, Denisa (advisor) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee)
Ligninolytic fungi are well known for their ability to degrade a wide range of xenobiotics contaminating the environment, including synthetic industrial dyes. In this work Pleurotus ostreatus was used for decolorization of a synthetic textile dye Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR). To set up a model fungal "fixed-bed" bioreactor the fungus was immobilized on a polyurethane foam and artificially contaminated with a model bacterium Rhodococcus erythropolis. The development of bacterial contamination can be expected during a real application of fungal bio filters in wastewater treatment. The main aim of the work was to study interspecies interactions in the model bioreactors during the dye decolorization. Ligninolytic enzyme activities were followed in the bioreactor cultures as markers of fungal biodegradation ability. In contrast to the controls, no bacterial growth was observed in the P. ostreatus bioreactor culture liquid. The results showed that fungal laccase, pH of the culture liquid, and glucose consumption by the fungus had no effect on the bacterial growth. However, 4*105 - 1,3*106 CFU/ml of R. erythropolis was detected to be associated with the fungal solid support. The presence of these bacteria had no effect on the decolorization performance of the bioreactors. Dye decolorization efficiency...
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Pore-forming properties of Bordetella pertussis CyaA toxin and composition of the lipid bilayer.
Rädisch, Robert ; Konopásek, Ivo (advisor) ; Krůšek, Jan (referee)
Bordetella pertussis produces many virulent factors including adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) This toxin preferentially invades cells of immune system with integrin receptor CD11b/CD18 and weakens the immune system of the host. CyaA affects invaded cells in two ways. First, CyaA creates a cation-selective pores in the membrane of invaded cell and causes colloidal osmotic lysis. Second, CyaA converts cytosolic ATP into signal molecule cAMP, which causes a loss of physiological function of invaded cell and also leads to cellular death. The aim of my thesis was to test a suitability of a new model system composed from synthetic lipids - diphytanoyls, for a characterization of pore-forming properties of adenylate cyclase toxin. In the past, asolectin model system comprising many different lipid was used for characterization but it was found to be too complex for defining the role of individual lipids in CyaA activity. Further the effect of cholesterol for activity of CyaA was studied in a new model system because it was found recently that translocation of adenylate cyclase domain takes place at lipids rafts with high concentration of cholesterol. The last aim of my thesis was to characterize a newly discovered type of channel with the two conductance levels. Key words: Bordetella pertussis, adenylate...
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The role of RTX domain in the activity of adenylate cyclase toxin from Bordetella pertussis
Klímová, Nela ; Bumba, Ladislav (advisor) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee)
The adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) of Bordetella pertussis is a 1706-residue protein comprising an amino-terminal adenylate cyclase (AC) domain and a carboxy-terminal Repeat-in-Toxin (RTX) domain. The RTX domain is a hallmark of the family of RTX proteins, which are secreted from the cytosol of Gram-negative bacteria to the cell environment through the Type I Secretion System (T1SS). The RTX domain of CyaA consists of five blocks of RTX nonapetide repeats with a consensus sequence X-(L/I/V)-X-G-G-X-G- X-D. The aim of this work was to determine the role of the RTX domain in biological activities of CyaA and its role in the secretion of the toxin molecule from Bordetella pertussis. Systematic deletion analysis revealed that none of the prepared CyaA constructs was able to translocate its AC domain across the cytoplasmic membrane of host cells and make pores in target membranes. Moreover, deletion of individual RTX repeat blocks resulted in a very low efficacy of secretion of CyaA mutants into cell exterior. These data suggested that structural integrity of the RTX domain of CyaA is essential not only for cytotoxic activities of the toxin molecule but also for its secretion through the T1SS.
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Analysis of Memrane Proteins of Pathogenic Bacterim Francisella Tularensis
Schmidt, Monika ; Szotáková, Barbora (advisor) ; Černý, Jan (referee) ; Konopásek, Ivo (referee)
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biochemical Sciences Candidate Mgr. Monika Schmidt Supervisor Doc. Ing. Barbora Szotáková, Ph.D. Title of Doctoral Thesis Analysis of membrane proteins of pathogenic bacterium Francisella tularensis Bacterium Francisella tularensis is highly infectious pathogen causing disease tularaemia. Due to the lack of standardization and little protection against highly virulent strains, the only vaccine developed against this pathogen is not allowed for clinical usage. Conserved hypothetical lipoprotein homological to thiol/disulfide oxidoreductase (DsbA) was recently described as essential virulence factor of Francisella tularensis. The dsbA gene deletion led to attenuation of the strain and development of immunoprotection. The DsbA protein sequence revealed the presence of carboxy-terminal DsbA_Com1-like domain harbouring the catalytic active site C-X-X-C and cis-proline and domain amino-terminal to FKBP type peptidyl-prolyl isomerase. This work was focused on functional a substrate characterization of DsbA protein. The functional analysis of this protein showed both the importance of the active site, cis-proline and the FKBP_N domain for the thiol/disulphide oxidoreductase activity. Further, this work also revealed the in...
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