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Small Molecules as Immune Modulators in Anticancer Therapy
Pavlovová, Anna ; Míšek, Jiří (advisor) ; Smrček, Stanislav (referee)
The aim of this bachelor thesis was to summarize knowledge about several selected therapeutic targets used for cancer immunotherapy and small molecules that can have an immunomodulatory effect on these targets. This is a relatively new and attractive topic in the field of biomedical sciences, which is constantly evolving. Some small molecules have already been approved for treatment of specific cancer diseases, and many more are currently undergoing various stages of clinical trials. This work should provide the reader with an overview of possible approaches to modulate the immune system using small molecules. Key words: small molecules, immunotherapy, cancer, checkpoint inhibitors, tumor microenvironment
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Structural and functional characterization of a flaviviral methyltransferase
Kúdelová, Veronika ; Bouřa, Evžen (advisor) ; Faltová, Lenka (referee)
Recently, non-cellular viral agents became the focus of a large number of scientific groups. A prominent and widespread group of these viruses are flaviviruses, which include, for example, Zika virus, Dengue fever virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus and West Nile virus. There is a considerable diversity among these viruses, however, highly conserved proteins can be found throughout this viral genus. The largest and most conserved protein encoded by flaviviruses is the nonstructural NS5 protein. Its N-terminal domain bears the methyltransferase (MTase) activity. Thanks to the methylation of its genome, it allows the virus to initiate translation and at the same time mask it from the host's immune system. By blocking the active site of this enzyme with a small molecule, viral infection could be stopped not only in one flavivirus, but, due to the high conservation of MTases, in all other flaviviruses. This diploma thesis deals with the aforementioned MTase domain of the NS5 protein, specifically of the West Nile virus (WNV). After designing an insert encoding the WNV MTase domain, amplifying it and ligating it into the vector, the MTase domain was prepared by a recombinant expression, followed by purification. Subsequently, complexes of the protein with small molecules (MTase ligands) were formed, in...
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