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Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II, its Close Homologs and their Interaction with Ligands
Tykvart, Jan
Cancer, group of diseases characterized by an uncontrolled cell growth, represents one of the great challenges of modern clinical research. Currently, the standard treatment of the cancer disease relies mainly on the whole body exposition to various factors, which targets the dividing cells, combined with surgical resection of the tumor. Unfortunately, this treatment is sometimes accompanied by numerous severe side-effects (e.g., nausea, loss of hair, infertility etc.). Therefore, in the past 40 years enormous resources and effort have been invested into finding a way how to specifically target and destroy the cancerous cells. This goal has been primarily addressed by the search for molecules, mainly proteins, which are predominantly expressed in the cancerous tissues compared to the healthy cells. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), also known as prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), represents such a target since it is highly expressed in a prostate carcinoma as well as in a solid tumor neovasculature. Additionally, GCPII is widely used as a model target molecule for proof-of-principle studies on targeted drug delivery. GCPII thorough biochemical characterization is essential for its appropriate use. Therefore, our laboratory has been investigating GCPII from various perspectives for more...
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Structural studies of inhibitory mechanisms of phosphatidylinositol kinases
Gregor, Jiří ; Bouřa, Evžen (advisor) ; Bařinka, Cyril (referee)
+ssRNA viruses after entering the cell develop platforms for RNA replication called replication organelles. Due to the activity of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinases is in these areas a higher concentration of PI4P, which establishes suitable binding environment for the viral polymerase 3DPOL . One of these kinases is PI4KB, which is recruited to the membrane by the ACBD3 protein, which is itself recruited by giantin. Some kobuviruses and enteroviruses from the Picornaviridae family use their 3A protein to displace ACBD3 protein from the complex with giantin and transfer it from Golgi aparathus to the replication organelles. Here, PI4KB binds to ACBD3 protein and synthesizes PI4P. Recently, two proteins - TBC1D22A and TBC1D22B - were discovered to bind to the same area of ACBD3 protein as PI4KB. The goal of this project was verification of this interaction and its subsequent characterization (e.g. dissociation constant measurements). My goal was to crystallize complexes of these interaction partners and to solve three-dimensional structure. Our results suggest, that interaction of ACBD3 protein with peptides derived from TBC1D22A and TBC1D22B proteins is much lower compared to interaction between ACBD3 protein and PI4KB. I successfully prepared crystals, however, they diffracted poorly, not allowing us to solve...
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Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II, its Close Homologs and their Interaction with Ligands
Tykvart, Jan
Cancer, group of diseases characterized by an uncontrolled cell growth, represents one of the great challenges of modern clinical research. Currently, the standard treatment of the cancer disease relies mainly on the whole body exposition to various factors, which targets the dividing cells, combined with surgical resection of the tumor. Unfortunately, this treatment is sometimes accompanied by numerous severe side-effects (e.g., nausea, loss of hair, infertility etc.). Therefore, in the past 40 years enormous resources and effort have been invested into finding a way how to specifically target and destroy the cancerous cells. This goal has been primarily addressed by the search for molecules, mainly proteins, which are predominantly expressed in the cancerous tissues compared to the healthy cells. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), also known as prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), represents such a target since it is highly expressed in a prostate carcinoma as well as in a solid tumor neovasculature. Additionally, GCPII is widely used as a model target molecule for proof-of-principle studies on targeted drug delivery. GCPII thorough biochemical characterization is essential for its appropriate use. Therefore, our laboratory has been investigating GCPII from various perspectives for more...
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Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II, its Close Homologs and their Interaction with Ligands
Tykvart, Jan ; Konvalinka, Jan (advisor) ; Obšil, Tomáš (referee) ; Pavlíček, Jiří (referee)
Cancer, group of diseases characterized by an uncontrolled cell growth, represents one of the great challenges of modern clinical research. Currently, the standard treatment of the cancer disease relies mainly on the whole body exposition to various factors, which targets the dividing cells, combined with surgical resection of the tumor. Unfortunately, this treatment is sometimes accompanied by numerous severe side-effects (e.g., nausea, loss of hair, infertility etc.). Therefore, in the past 40 years enormous resources and effort have been invested into finding a way how to specifically target and destroy the cancerous cells. This goal has been primarily addressed by the search for molecules, mainly proteins, which are predominantly expressed in the cancerous tissues compared to the healthy cells. Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), also known as prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), represents such a target since it is highly expressed in a prostate carcinoma as well as in a solid tumor neovasculature. Additionally, GCPII is widely used as a model target molecule for proof-of-principle studies on targeted drug delivery. GCPII thorough biochemical characterization is essential for its appropriate use. Therefore, our laboratory has been investigating GCPII from various perspectives for more...
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