Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič has published a book on the evolution of love with one of the largest publishers in the world Springer Nature. This book represents a culmination of more than two decades of his research in the field of behavioral neurobiology, with a focus on the study of differences in the brain between the sexes. From the perspective of behavioral neurobiology, this scientific monograph attempts to find an answer to the eternal question - what is love? Where does this emotion originate? Are we humans the only living beings feeling this emotion? Can love be explained by some chemical reactions in our brains? Is love just a trick of nature or is love some kind of higher feeling? This book guides us through the complicated labyrinth of genes, molecules and brain cells that are involved in the feelings of love, attachment, affection, and also simple sexual reproduction.
COBISS.SI-ID: 55158787
This review comprehensively summarizes for the first time the literature on cholinesterase inhibitors from marine sources, including the first papers published in 1974 up to 2018. Cholinesterase inhibition is a common approach for the symptomatic management of several disease states. Most notably, cholinesterase inhibitors are used to alleviate symptoms of neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson disease, Lewy body dementia, and to treat myasthenia gravis and glaucoma. Historically, most drugs of natural origin have been isolated from terrestrial sources, and cholinesterase inhibitors are no exception. However, the last 50 years, have seen a rise in the quantity of marine natural products with close to 25 000 reported in the scientific literature. A number of marine natural products with potent cholinesterase inhibitory properties have also been reported, isolated from a variety of marine sources from algae to ascidians. The review article is the result of a long-standing and successful collaboration between members of the complementary research teams (P4-0053, P1-0207 and the Johan Svenson research team, Sweden (https://www.cawthron.org.nz/our-people/johan-svenson/)), as evidenced by several published original joint research papers (COBISS.SI- ID: 4683642; COBISS.SI- ID 4313679; COBISS.SI- ID 4100431; COBISS.SI- ID 4785231; COBISS.SI- ID 13704451). This review was published in the prestigious international journal Natural Product Reports which ranks first in two research areas, namely Chemistry, Organic and Chemistry, Medicinal and has been cited 14 times so far.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5024335
In collaboration with University Medical Centre Ljubljana and the University of Pennsylvania, we have developed a new diluent and vitrification process that allows us to rapidly freeze canine sperm. A challenge in freezing semen for short and long-term availability is avoiding damage to intact spermatozoa caused by the freezing process. Vitrification protocols provide better results through less manipulation of semen and shorter freezing time compared to slow freezing techniques. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods. Vitrification media containing sucrose and soy lecithin cause a minimal decline in quality of canine semen after devitrification. Furthermore, extenders used in our research did not contain egg yolk, which was replaced by soy lecithin, thus allowing for ease of shipping to other countries with strict requirements. Due to the similarities in the composition of human and canine sperm, our research findings can be appropriately applied to human sperm vitrification. In human medicine, sperm preservation is mainly performed in young oncological patients before chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thus, with proper vitrification of sperm before therapy, we can preserve the reproductive capacity of patients and thus enable them to have a normal family life. This article has been included in the list of outstanding research achievements under the project Excellence in Science in the field of biotechnological science in 2020.
COBISS.SI-ID: 34795225
Antioxidants located in both the hydrophilic and lipophilic compartments of plasma act as a defence system against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Excessive production of ROS during anaesthesia affects the antioxidant capacity of plasma and may result in oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of lipid- (ACL) and water-soluble (ACW) antioxidants in client-owned dogs diagnosed with periodontal disease and early-stage myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (MMVD) and anaesthetised for a dental procedure with propofol and sevoflurane or with propofol only. Dogs with MMVD were anaesthetised with propofol and sevoflurane (MMVD/PS, n = 8) or with propofol only (MMVD/P, n = 10). Dogs with no evidence of MMVD (PS, n = 12) were anaesthetised with propofol and sevoflurane. Blood samples for determination of ACL and ACW were collected before and 5 min, 60 min and 6 h after induction to anaesthesia. In MMVD/PS dogs, ACL was significantly higher at all sampling times when compared to PS dogs. Compared to basal values, only anaesthesia maintained with propofol significantly increased ACL at 60 min in dogs with MMVD. In MMVD/P dogs, ACW increased after induction to anaesthesia and remained elevated up to 6 h after anaesthesia. Compared to basal values, anaesthesia maintained with sevoflurane significantly increased ACW only at 60 min in both dogs with and without MMVD. The only difference between propofol and propofol/sevoflurane anaesthesia in dogs with MMVD was significantly higher ACW at 60 min after induction to anaesthesia in the propofol group. The results of this study will help improve guidelines for the selection of anaesthetic protocols in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve degeneration and may be partially applicable to human medicine because of the similar pathogenesis of degenerative valvular heart disease in dogs and humans. Regarding antioxidant capacity, propofol could be a better choice than sevoflurane for anaesthesia of dogs with early-stage MMVD, although further studies are necessary to clarify the advantage of this antioxidant capacity. Recently, the results of two studies related to this topic have also been published (COBISS.SI-ID 61194499; COBISS.SI-ID 57671939).
COBISS.SI-ID: 26044675
Through an effective collaboration between experimental and theoretical researchers from Slovenia (Biotechnical Faculty, National Institute of Chemistry) and Serbia (VINCA Institute of Nuclear Sciences) with expertise in bioinformatics/computer simulation and receptor biology, we generated truncated peptide mimetics of the nanobody (Nb) related to the ß2-adrenergic receptor (ß2AR) (nanobody-derived peptide, NDP). We postulated that the computationally derived and optimized complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) of Nb is sufficient for its interaction with receptor. Sequence-related Nb-families preferring the agonist-bound active conformation of ß2-AR were analysed using the informational spectrum method (ISM) and ß2-AR:NDP complexes studied using protein-peptide docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in conjunction with metadynamics calculations of free energy binding. In vitro circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimetry and microscale thermophoresis (MST) data provided additional evidence for P3 interaction with agonist-activated ß2-AR, which displayed ~10-fold higher affinity for P3 than the unstimulated receptor. In summary, theoretical and experimental evidence indicated that P3 preferentially bi Obtained results provide a new and effective tool in the form of NDPs that have several prospective applications including drug discovery and therapy as well as the functional study of ß2AR and offer opportunities for future scientific cooperation in EU research initiatives and to establish industry collaborations. The collaboration took place within the frame of the COST CM 1207 GLISTEN: GPCR- Ligand Interactions, Structures and Transmembrane Signalling: a European Research Network. To enhance our inter-institutional research collaborations, we joined the new COST ERNEST action "European Research Network on Signal Transduction" in 2019, and in 2020 we obtained the Slovenian-Serbian bilateral project BI -RS / 20-21-045 - Identification of peptidomimetics of nanobody to stabilize the functional conformational form of the beta2-adrenergic receptor (ß2AR). The success of participation in COST actions is also evidenced by recent joint publications in the field of receptor biology (COBISS.SI- ID 4754554, COBISS.SI- ID 51410947, COBISS.SI- ID 29478403, COBISS.SI- ID 40808963).
COBISS.SI-ID: 4896890