Main topic of doctorial thesis of Sergej Pirkmajer was study of mechanisms involved in hypoxic response in skeletal muscle. Two important and medically interesting molecular defence mechanisms mediated through HIF-1α pathway and through AMPK were studied. In vitro model of human skeletal muscle was used. It was found that hypoxic cell response act independently of glucocorticoid response, as well hypoxic condition not interfere with IL-6 release and methotrexate treatment in combination with adenozids enhance AMPK activity. The research area of the doctoral thesis of Katarina Pegan is the investigation of the mechanisms underlying muscle regeneration. Essential stage of regeneration is myoblast proliferation; this process is accompannied by myoblast apoptosis, which therefore also determines the final number of the precursors of mature muscle fibers. Regeneration very often proceeds under the hypoxic conditions and she therefore studied whether the mechanisms underlying adaptation to hypoxia interfere with the apoptosis. She found that siRNA silencing of the hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha abolish the protective effects of hypoxia on the increase of the apoptotic markers. During her 5 months visit at the »Institute Cochin« in Paris she found important role of this factor at the regulation of the phagocytosis exerted by phagocytes which invade the site of the muscle injury.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 28333785,Mia Meznarič continued to collect muscle samples for Neuromuscular Tissue Bank of the University of Ljubljana and started to implement more precise classification of samples. Catalogue of collection is available on the web side of “Eurobiobank”, the European network of biobanks, in which our bank is integrated.
F.16 Improvements to an existing information system/databases
Members of the working group B have organized in 2011 a Symposium entitled »Molecular mechanisms of selected skeletal muscle disorders«. Symposium was a part of the European Neuroscience Conference »SNC'11« which took place September 22 – 25 in Ljubljana. Participants of this symposium were, besides our investigators, also distinguished scientists from eminent universities: Dr Salvatore DiMauro from Columbia University, New York, who was also a chairman of the symposium and dr. Alexander Chibalin from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Organization of this symposium contributed to the recognition of our science in the international community.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 257682688