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Gene expression regulation by nuclear receptors in a specific metabolic context - evolutionary perspective
Kaššák, Filip ; Kostrouch, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Macůrková, Marie (referee) ; Leontovyč, Ivan (referee)
In animals, some of the most critical regulators of gene expression are nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) and their coregulators, specifically the Mediator complex. Of particular interest are the NRs implicated in metabolic and developmental regulation and in carcinogenesis: thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). In this work, I venture to elucidate some aspects of gene expression regulation by these NRs: the degree of evolutionary conservation of signalling based on NRs and their coregulators; the mechanisms of negative regulation by NRs; and possible implications of these findings for clinical medicine. State-of-the-art bioinformatical, genome editing and microscopic techniques are applied at three levels of animal evolution to study NRs and Mediator. Reverse genomics in human patients suffering from the syndrome of resistance to thyroid hormones β are used to infer the structure and function of TRβ subdomains. Alignments, binding studies and in vivo experiments in Trichoplax adhaerens allow identification of a close orthologue of human RXR at the basis of metazoan evolution. Employing database queries, genome editing and microscopy, we describe a correct orthologue of the Mediator subunit 28 in Caenorhabditis elegans, indicating a complete homology of the Mediator complex...
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Differentiation of pancreatic stem cells into insulin producing β-cells.
Leontovyč, Ivan ; Saudek, František (advisor) ; Štechová, Kateřina (referee) ; Holáň, Vladimír (referee)
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a severe and frequent disease with increasing prevalence. It is not possible to achieve long term cure without late complications. Recent advances in cell fate modifications open a pathway to alternative cell therapies for DM cure. My doctoral thesis "Differentiation of pancreatic stem cells into insulin producing β- cells" is focused on the development of a new source of insulin secreting cells for transplantation. Combinatorial testing of numerous potential transcription factors and epigenetic modifiers resulted in a final protocol for the reprogramming pancreatic of exocrine cells into insulin secreting cells. The key transcriptional factors TF (Pdx1, Ngn3 a MafA) were applied in the form of synthetic mRNA. In four independent experiments we applied transcriptional factors in a specific sequence, thus obtaining 14.3 ± 1.9 % insulin positive cells. When challenged in vitro by the glucose levels of 2.5 and 20 mmol/l glucose, respectively, these cells exhibited glucose-sensitivity of insulin secretion (842 ± 72 and 1 157 ± 58 pg insulin/µg DNA/ml, n=5). They also demonstrated a sensitivity of insulin secretion (863 ± 78 and 1 025 ± 66 pg insulin/µg DNA/ml, n=5) to the concentration of depolarization agent KCl applied at 0 and 30 mmol/l, respectively together with 2.5...
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