National projects

Due to an ageing population, the challenges associated with cancer treatment are growing. The use of conventional chemotherapeutic agents is often limited because of their side effects. Moreover, resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs often results in failure of treatment. The project aims to contribute to the discovery and development of new anticance...

The increased frequency of resistance among human bacterial pathogens represents a serious public threat in the treatment of infectious diseases. The United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the European Commission, have recently declared antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a serious global threat to public health that has a tremendous impact on healthcare ex...

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to challenge health-care systems worldwide. We face a growing resistance of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens that cause infections in hospitals and in the community, with the so-called antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ that now represent a major global health problem. The obstacles of ha...

Background. Nuclear medicine investigations have an integral role in timely identification and confirmation of cancer, staging, follow-up of treatment efficiency and identification of the disease relapse. Certain tumour types and entities can be visualized by nuclear medicine imaging techniques because of the (over)expression of different receptors for certain regul...

Cancer remains an important cause of mortality and economic losses worldwide. The Bilateral Project provides excellent research in new anticancer discovery for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) carcinomas (colorectal, gastric, liver and pancreatic cancers), where hEag1 potassium channels are overexpressed in 75 to 100% cases. GI carcinomas are among the 10 most...

Cholinesterases (ChEs) are polymorphic serine hydrolases that catalyse the hydrolysis of neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and other esters. Two ChEs are found in vertebrates: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrycholinesterase (BChE). Both enzymes are involved not only in physiological processes but also in several pathophysiological processes (e.g.  Alzhe...

Scientific background and problem identification. Despite considerable improvements in treatment and survival times, cancer still remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new drugs acting on new targets to improve treatment outcomes, especially against some aggressive types with no standard therapies, s...

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is a flavin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of amines, and has an important role in the homeostasis of biogenic and exogenic amines. Two isoforms of MAO (i.e., MAO-A and MAO-B) are present in most mammalian tissues and are distinguished by their sensitivities to acetylenic inhibitors clorgyline and L-deprenyl, and by their subst...

The proteasome is an intracellular protease that represents a vital part of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. It degrades a wide range of proteins and has critical functions in many biological processes including cell cycle control, apoptosis, inflammation, and signal transduction. The constitutive isoform (cCP) of the proteasome is expressed in all eukaryotic cells ...

Periodontal disease is perhaps the most common human afflictions, and through its local and systemic effects, it can considerably deteriorate the overall quality of person’s life. Periodontal disease is a biofilm-induced chronic inflammation of the periodontium, where two factors are specifically linked with its pathogenesis: (i) a shift in the oral microbiota...