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Interreligious dialogue and bioethics
RODKOVÁ, Iveta
The diploma thesis deals with the topic of interreligious dialogue and bioethics. The thesis analyses ethical context of specific biomedical issues, namely euthanasia, abortion, assisted reproduction and embryonic stem cells research viewed through the eyes of three world monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). Sacred books, published documents and further available sources are used to explain the approach of those religions to the bioethical issues (answering the questions of why and how these religions approach the issues). The aim of the theoretical piece of work is to show observed differences and similarities. At the beginning of the thesis there is a general description of the religions in the context of medical ethics. It briefly characterizes religious beliefs and shows documents which these ethical beliefs are based on. The work shows differences but also common features of monotheistic religions. After the religions are discussed in general there is a chapter focused exclusively on interreligious dialogue. The thesis stresses out the importance of an open discussion between religions which leads to unity and reconciliation. Interreligious dialogue represents openness to unknown and willingness to a discussion. It is not possible not to mention a project called Global Ethic by a Swiss professor of theology Hans Küng, who is thoroughly interested in an interreligious dialogue mentioned above. Further chapters of the diploma thesis deal with specific bioethical questions and with the approach of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to these questions. Firstly, the thesis focuses on the issue of euthanasia followed by abortions, assisted reproduction and finally by embryonic stem cells research. The knowledge gained by studying the available sources shows that out of the listed bioethical issues world religions are mostly uniform in the opinion on euthanasia. All the monotheistic religions refer to untouchability and sanctity of human life from its beginning to natural death. It is only God who is a creator and possessor of all creation. That is why euthanasia and assisted suicide is seen negatively and at a distance as an act which does not belong to the hands of man. In 2005 the representatives of the three monotheistic religions in the Czech Republic signed a document in which they express their common negative attitude to the issue of euthanasia. Contrary to the opinion expressing agreement on the end of human life, which is seen by all the religions as the moment of natural death, there is a non-uniform opinion on its beginning. The differences in opinions of Christians, Jews and Muslims on the beginning of human life shape their attitude to abortions, assisted reproductions and also to embryonic stem cells research. In Christianity human life begins at the moment of conception and therefore from ethical point of view it has the most controversial attitude to such medical techniques. The life of the mother is valued in the same way as the life of the fetus. In Judaism an embryo has got lower status than an unborn child, therefore this religion has a slightly more benevolent attitude than Christianity. However, certain boundaries which are discussed below must be followed. In Islam the point crucial for the questions of abortion, assisted reproduction and embryonic cell stems research is when a soul is breathed into a fetus. It is only after this moment when embryo gains the status of a human person and therefore becomes untouchable. Islam and Judaism have a less strict attitude to the bioethical issues (except for euthanasia) than Christianity. The diploma thesis presents a review of opinions and values of certain monotheistic religions on bioethics issues with the concentration on interreligious dialogue. It brings an overview of similarities and differences in ethical opinions.
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FcεRI and Kit signal to actin cytoskeleton via different pathways
Šimíček, Michal ; Drbal, Karel (referee) ; Dráber, Petr (advisor)
Mast cells are key effector cells of the immune system whose exact physiological functions have been the subject of much debate. They have been mentioned mostly as the drivers of allergic and inflammatory reactions via allergens triggering their high affinity receptors for IgE (FcεRI). However, recent findings implicate their important role also in other innate immune functions like host protection from bacterial and viral infections. Agent recognized by surface receptor initialize various intracellular signaling pathways leading to cell response. Thus, better understanding of signal transduction in mast cells is important in development of new therapeutic approaches. Early phases of mast cell activation mediated by FcεRI and/or Kit, a receptor for stem cell factor (SCF), involve phosphorylation of the transmembrane adaptor protein Non-T cell activation linker (NTAL) and mast cell spreading. Morphological studies of mast cells derived from bone marrow of mice deficient in NTAL (NTAL knock out, NTAL -/-) revealed markedly reduced spreading on fibronectin after stimulation with antigen (Ag) alone or in combination with SCF, when compared to wild type (WT) cells. Subsequent quantification of cell area and analysis of other mophological parameters confirmed these observations. Mast cell activation was...
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Role of heat shock proteins in the pathogenesis of leukaemia
Kopřivová, Olga ; Hromadníková, Ilona (advisor) ; Černá, Marie (referee)
(Abstract) Some of heat shock proteins (Hsp), for example the inducible form Hsp70, are expressed on the surface of tumour cells. High Hsp expression is reflected in tumour cell features, such as ability to progression, to metastasize and resistance to apoptosis. The question is whether Hsp gene expression correlates with surface expression. The aim of this master thesis is to compare surface and gene expression of Hsp70 and observe the gene expression of some other Hsp proteins (Hsp27, Hsp60, Hsp90 and HspBP1) in leukaemia. The research was carried out on cell lines obtained from leukaemic blasts of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia: UoC-M1, HL-60, OCI/AML3, THP-1, HU-3 and TF-1 that had been cultivated in vitro. Hsp70 surface expression was detected using flow cytometry, and gene expression of each Hsp was studied using real-time RT-PCR. It was found out that high surface expression of Hsp70 did not correlate with gene expression in consequence of negative feedback applied in Hsp expression regulation. Hsp27 gene expression was increased compared to negative (healthy) control on all tumour cell lines, with the highest increase on the THP-1 line. Hsp60 gene expression was increased compared to negative (healthy) control on all tumour cell lines and there were not remarkable differences in...
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Fetal microchimerism in gynecologic malignancies.
Pírková, Petra ; Hromadníková, Ilona (advisor) ; Daňková, Pavlína (referee)
The existence of fetal microchimerism has been demonstrated many years ago. This phenomenon is associated with observation of two or more genetically different populations of cells present in one person. Fetal microchimerism originates naturally during pregnancy, by bidirectional transfer of the cells through placenta from fetus to mother (fetal microchimerism) and from mother to fetus (maternal microchimerism). In some cases fetal cells persisted in mother for decades after pregnancy. In my thesis I showed the presence of fetal microchimerism in tissues of endometrial cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer and in control, nonmalignant tissues. I worked with deep-frozen tissues, native tissues and cell cultures created from native tissues. I planed also the analysis of paraffin-embedded tissues; however this type of material showed to be unusable for fetal cells detection. On the contrary, native and deep-frozen tumor and control tissues are suitable for this type of research and fetal microchimerism was observed in part of samples. For detection and amplification of DNA extracted from tissues and cell cultures I used quantitative real-time PCR and SRY gene located on the Y chromosome as a marker of fetal cells. I detected the presence of male fetal cells. Fetal genome was found in both tumor and...
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Cytotoxic effect of some cyanobacterial crude extracts and metabolites against selected human cancer lines, especially focusing on pancreatic cancer cell line PaTu
VICKOVÁ, Kateřina
Cancer is disease that affects human population for many thousands of years. Fortunately fighting cancer is more and more effective. This is mainly thanks to combining different strategies of therapy and progress in novel drug development and research. Cyanobacteria are emerging as an important source of novel bioactive secondary metabolites which provides an opportunity for new drug discovery. The aim of this study was evaluation of three cyanobacterial strains for in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines, with special focus on pancreatic cancer cells. Crude extracts and chromatographic fractions were tested for their possible use (effectiveness) as selective cytotoxic and/or pro-apoptotic agents. Probably novel compound with anti-proliferative activity was found and isolated by HPLC-MS techniques.
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The role of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV and homologous proteases in migration and invasion.
Fejfarová, Edita ; Rösel, Daniel (referee) ; Bušek, Petr (advisor)
Migration and invasion are processes which naturally occur in organism during embryogenesis, immune reactions or wound healing. These processes are very important factors in some serious diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and carcinogenesis. There is no doubt about contribution of proteases in these processes-many of them degrade extracellular matrix and thereby facilitate the movement of cells. While dipeptidylpeptidase-IV cleaves solely two amino acids from N-terminus so it is not considerably involved in ECM degradation. DPPIV and its homologues recognize peptides with proline on penultimate position, which causes resistance to ordinary types of proteases. Substrates of DPPIV and its activity homologues include chemokines implicated in signalling of migration - their cleavage and thus inactivation present DPPIV and DPPIV-like molecules as modulators of cell migration signalling in choriocacinoma, neuroblastoma, on Sézary cells or epithelial cells migrating in response to injury. Another activity of some DPPIV-like proteases is binding to the extracellular matrix proteins, when are helping in the attachment of cells and thus affect the migratory ability of the cells like ovarian cancer cells, prostate cancer cells, melanoma cells or kidney cells. Effects on migration and invasion have also...
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The role of ATM in breast cancer
Soukupová, Jana ; Pohlreich, Petr (advisor) ; Souček, Pavel (referee) ; Foretová, Lenka (referee)
Incidence of breast cancer is continuously increasing in the Czech Republic. Tumor development is a result of gene alterations'accumulation, particulary associated with genes involved in regulation of cell growth and division. Hereditary carcinomas account for approximately 5-10% of all breast tumors and in 60-80% cases are caused by a germline mutation in the major predisposition genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Nevertheless, other genes, mostly of lower penetrance, may play a role in breast pathogenesis such as the ATM tumor-suppressor gene. ATM is the apex of the repair pathway of DSB. This protein kinase activates through phosphorylation of its substrates cell cycle checkpoints, which leads either to the delay of the cell cycle progression until DSB are repaired or to the promotion of apoptosis. To sum up, the ATM gene seems to have a role in breast cancer development in a minority of the high-risk families in our population which is significantly lower compared to BRCA1/2 and it also seems to be involved in pathogenesis of sporadic breast cancer. Despite the ATM gene's length, we do not perform the preventive screening of this gene in breast cancer high-risk families. Nevertheless, we offer the molecular diagnostics of ATM to ataxia telangiectasia patients.
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název v anglickém jazyce není uveden
Kolesová, Hana ; Grim, Miloš (advisor) ; Slípka, Jaroslav (referee) ; Nečas, Emanuel (referee)
Branchial arches region and its blood vessels are extensively transformed in the embryonic development. Aim of this study is to investigate mechanisms of the branchial arches region development and to study how a morphogen Sonic hed gehog (Shh) participate on the formation and remodeling of branchial arches and their blood vessels. Influence of Shh was evaluated based on the changes caused by its inhibition in vivo. Shh function was inhibited with an anti-Shh antibody, which was produced into the embryo from the applied hybridoma cells. Shh signaling cascade was also inhibited by cyclopamine. Results show that Shh is important for dc novo format,ion of the blood vessels in the branchial arches region. Further Shh is necessary for stabilization of the vessel wall, mainly for anterior cardinal vein. Shh also alfects later vessel development and transformation, which includes i.e. fusion of the dorsal aorta, branching of the internal carotid artery and outflow tract development. Short time inhibition of Shh has minor effect on the apoptosis and proliferation activity of the branchial arches region mesenchymal cells. We assume that Shh signals directly to the blood vessels endothelial cells, as Shh receptor ptel is also expressed in endothelial cells and its signal is reduced with Shh inhibition. In studied...
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