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Protease Sapp3p of the pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis
Sochor, Richard ; Heidingsfeld, Olga (advisor) ; Zábranská, Helena (referee)
Pathogenic yeasts of the genus Candida can cause systemic diseases which, in patients suffering from immunosuppression due to a disease such as AIDS, can cause serious pathological conditions, which can lead to the patient's death. One such yeast is the pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis. For the colonization and penetration of host tissues this yeast uses various virulence factors. One of these virulence factors are secreted aspartic proteases. The pathogenic yeast C. parapsilosis contains three secreted aspartic proteases Sapp1p, Sapp2p and Sapp3p, which are paralogs. The first two aspartic proteases are responsible for increasing the virulence of C. parapsilosis. They help the yeast survive in the body, by degrading important components of the host's immune system. However, Sapp3p doesn't exhibit these properties, except that it helps the yeast to adhere to abiotic surfaces to some extent. This work is focused on clarification the functions and localization of Sapp3p in the yeast C. parapsilosis. To clarify the function, precursor of Sapp3p (pro-Sapp3p) was recombinantly prepared in E. coli cells. The protein thus prepared was further tested for its autocatalytic activation and assisted activation by trypsin and Kex2p protease, under various conditions. Under the conditions tested, it was not...
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Determinants of fusogenicity of Syncytin-1, cellular glycoprotein of retroviral origin
Trávníček, Martin ; Trejbalová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Zábranská, Helena (referee)
Syncytin-1 is an endogenous retroviral envelope glycoprotein specifically expressed in human placenta, where the protein was adopted for its physiological function. After interaction with specific receptors, transmembrane proteins ASCT1 and ASCT2, Syncytin-1 initiates cell-cell fusion leading to formation of multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast, which is essential for feto-maternal nutrients exchange. In this diploma thesis a new cell-cell fusion quantification assay was implemented for characterisation of Syncytin-1 fusion determinants. The assay uses Syncytin-1 and ASCT2 expressed separately with fragments of luciferase in heterologous cell-culture system. The assay enables to specifically quantify cell-cell fusions based on activity of reconstituted luciferase reporter. This study discovered new facts about the role of intracytoplasmic tail of Syncytin-1 in the process of the cell- cell fusion. This specific part of protein contains a tandem motif sensitive to changes in amino acid sequence that led to loss of fusogenic potential of Syncytin-1. It was further confirmed, that the protein Suppressyn works as an inhibitor of cell-cell fusions initiated by Syncytin-1. Suppressyn however does not bind to receptors of Syncytin-1 and the mechanism of its inhibition remains unsolved. Finally, it was demonstrated...
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