Workshop "Extracellular vesicles - role in pathogenesis and clinical potential" was organized in December 2016, as a closure of the project J3-5499. During the workshop, collaborators on the project presented their work, together with other Slovenian groups working on extracellular vesicles in connection to other diseases (12 lectures in total). There were 60-70 attendees from all aspects of science: students, PhD and postdoctoral students, established scientist and clinicians. At the workshop, they got acquainted with established methods used in vesicle characterization (focus on the methods established in Slovenian laboratories), the great potential of extracellular vesicles in diagnostics and therapeutics, and the role of vesicles in diverse disease models (HIV-1 pathogenesis, diabetes, cancer). The outcome of the workshop was also an e-mailing list Extracellular vesicles (about 40 subscribers) with monthly updates on the developments of the field.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 33019097Despite the use of effective highly active antiretroviral therapy, there is a high incidence of neurological symptoms in HIV-infected patients, occurrence of which is still unresolved. At the meeting, attended by all European research groups working on HIV-viral protein Nef, we have presented our current results on the topic of Nef and extracellular vesicles (exosomes). We showed that Nef-expressing or HIV-infected human microglia cells release exosomes containing protein Nef (Nef-exosomes), whereas this is only observed for HIV-infected human astrocytes. Nef-exosomes target cells of the central nervous system (CNS) and cause damage to differentiated CNS cells and also impair the ability of the brain to repair the damage by disturbing the differentiation of neural stem cells. This finding opens new perspectives in understanding of HIV neuropathogenesis.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 31586009Acknowledging her scientific work, Slovenian biochemical society (SBD) awarded postdoctoral researcher dr. Jana Ferdin a Lapanjetovo priznanje, given to promising young researchers. In the year 2014, her work was also acknowledged by the Krka awards. She continued her work on non-coding RNAs also in the context of J3-5499 project. Short summary of research work: In mammal cells primary response to low O2 conditions (hypoxia) is made rapidly through adaptation to conditions they are being captured. In hypoxic cells important responses are activated for metabolic, bioenergetics, and redox demands. Low oxygen level, a classic feature of tumor microenvironment, is involved in cancer development and progression of various cancer types. In this doctoral dissertation and several publications we described the first evidence that hypoxia affects the expression of long ultraconserved transcripts, which we named HINCUTs and by that a first glimpse of a novel functional hypoxic network comprising protein-coding transcripts and noncoding RNAs.
E.01 National awards
COBISS.SI-ID: 787063We would like to point out the membership of the academic prof. dr. Matija Boris Peterlin in several committees and editorial boards, connected to the topic of the project. Prof. Peterlin is a member of the editorial board of the following journals: Current Molecular Medicine; Peer J in Viruses; and is the president of the advisory board for funding on the topic: »Extracellular Vesicles in HIV/AIDS by the Substance Abuse National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). He was also elected as full member of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
C.04 Editorial board of an international magazine
The invention provides a modified DNA sequence for the in vitro expression of a recombinant protease from Aeropyrum pernix K1, pernisine, in a heterologous expression system. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of preparing the subtilisin-like protease by use of the recombinant DNA techniques.
F.33 Slovenian patent
COBISS.SI-ID: 4484984