No description available.

No description available.

Mitochondria are the key source of vital ATP molecules, which are largely produced within cells by a system of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Genetic defects affecting any of the components of the oxidative phosphorylation system or the structure and function of mitochondria lead to mitochondrial disorders, which occur at an incidence rate of 1 in 5000 live births. Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is the terminal enzyme and electron acceptor of a respiratory chain that catalyses oxygen to produce a water molecule. In addition to complex I deficiency, isolated or combined COX deficiency is the most common respiratory chain defect in paediatric patients, and it can arise from mutations located either in mitochondrial DNA or in nuclear genes encoding the structural subunits or corresponding assembly factors of the enzyme complex. However, the molecular basis of COX deficiency remains elusive in many patients despite advances in the identification of an increasing number of mutations and genes involved in the disease. This thesis focuses on the identification of the genetic causes of mitochondrial diseases in a cohort of 60 unrelated Czech children with clinically and laboratory confirmed COX-deficiency. With the use of a high-resolution melting analysis mutation screen, four heterozygous sequence...

55 Abstract Frequency of selected genetic polymorphisms of cytochrome P450 in the Czech population and the influence of CYP2C9 genotype on the hypolipidemic effect of fluvastatin Introduction: One of the main factors of genetically determined variability in response of humans to administered drugs are differences in catalytic activity of metabolizing enzymes, which are caused mainly by genetic polymorphisms in cytochrom P450 family enzymes. This thesis consists of two parts and it is presented as a commentary to the original papers. The first aim was to investigate the frequency of functionally important variant alleles of three main isoenzymes of cytochrome P450 gene: CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, throughout the Czech population, predict the prevalence of poor metabolizer phenotypes, and then to compare the results to the data from other populations. Secondly, we analysed the correlation between the CYP2C9 genotype and cholesterol-lowering effect of fluvastatin in human hypercholesterolemic patients. Methods: Genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP. The presence of alleles CYP2D6*1, *6, *5, *4, *3, and gene duplication was analysed in 233 healthy volunteers, CYP2C9*1, *2 and*3 in 254 subjects and CYP2C19*1, *2 and *2 in 218 subjects. Eighty seven patients on fluvastatin therapy, and 48 patients on monotherapy...

Frequency of occurrence of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP2C8 and MDR1 in the Czech population and their influence on the effect of amiodarone Introduction: Variability in drug response is sometimes conditioned by genetic differences in the metabolism and the transport of drugs. Interindividual differences are often caused by polymorphisms affecting biotransformation activity of enzymes and expression of transporters. In the thesis we paid attention to the cytochrome P450 CYP2C8 and MDR1. First, we described the frequency of occurrence of selected variant alleles CYP2C8 * 2, CYP2C8 * 3 (2 substitution in exon 3 and 8, CYP2C8 and CYP2C8 * 3G416A * 3A1196G), CYP2C8 * 4, CYP2C8 P404A in the healthy Czech population and MDR1 variant alleles in these exons: 26 C3435T, 21 G2677A/T, 12 C1236T a 17 T-76A. Subsequently, we studied the influence of these polymorphisms on effects of amiodarone in the selected group of patients. Methods: We determined genotypes MDR1 a CYP2C8 by PCR-RFLP by using restriction enzymes and specific primers. We determined the frequency of MDR1 genotypes in 189 healthy volunteers and CYP2C8 in 161 healthy subjects. Further we included into the study 63 patients treated with amiodarone for longer than two months. Their treatment was assessed from medical records and...

The work deals with the fuzzy classification of DNA sequences. In the first part the theory summarized information about Fuzzy logic and methods of its use in the classification of biological sequence data. The second part is practically deal with the classification algorithm for assessing the similarity of sequences. Specifically, the dividing of coding and non-coding parts of the sequence and the use of fuzzy classification in DNA barcoding.

ABSTRACT Mixed function oxygenase system participates in biosynthesis of endogenous and metabolism of exogenous substances (e.g. drugs or chemical procarcinogens) in an organism. Substrates are biotransformed by terminal oxygenases - cytochromes P450 (P450). Catalytic properties of certain P450s (e.g. studied isoform 2B4) are altered in the presence of a redox partner - cytochrome b5 (cyb5). Both cytochromes are anchored by hydrophobic domains in a lipid membrane of endoplasmic reticulum whereas their catalytic domains are exposed to cytosol. Two zero-length cross-linking approaches were employed to extend present knowledge of P450 2B4 and cyb5 protein structure and protein-protein interactions: (1) interlinking of carboxylate and primary amine groups of amino acids by water soluble 1- ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC), and (2) photo-initiated cross-linking by photo-labile methionine analog (pMet), which links to any amino acid after activation by UV-irradiation, either in hydrophilic or hydrophobic environment. pMet was incorporated to methionine site(s) of cyb5 during recombinant expression in E. coli, which was carried out in limit medium supplemented with amino acid analog. Optimization of experimental conditions led to ~20-30% substitution of the natural amino acid. Covalent...

The Dinaric karst region in the Balkans is one of the hot spots of biodiversity with a high number of endemic freshwater fish. The major cause of the high degree of endemism are numerous paleoclimatic and geological events that have affected the formation of the entire area. Flows of karst poljes represent a specific ecosystem to which some fishes have adapted. The poljes have been periodically flooded and these floods may activate different underground channels, which lead to interconnection of poljes. These fish species spend a part of the year in surface water and a part in groundwater and they may use the underground flows between poljes for migration. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the genetic variability of two endemic fish species of the genus Telestes living in karst poljes in the region of eastern Herzegovina, and to detect a possible current gene flow between populations of these species due to the connection of underground flows. For this purpose, the DNA from 102 individuals from five different localities was isolated. The mitochondrial marker cytochrom b and 16 microsatellite loci were used for the analyses. The results point to very low variability between species and populations. Based on mitochondrial marker analysis, no link between populations of the species was detected,...

Cytochromes P450 (CYP) are a superfamily of heme proteins distributed widely throughout nature, involved in metabolism of a broad variety of substrates and catalyzing a variety of interesting chemical reactions. They play a central role in metabolism of chemotherapeutic agents. Several prodrug antitumor agents have been found as CYP substrates. Ellipticine, an alkaloid found in Apocynaceae plants, is an example of such type of pro-drug. Here, we investigate the efficiencies of human recombinant CYPs expressed in eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression systems, namely in SupersomesTM , microsomes isolated from insect cells transfected with baculovirus construct containing cDNA of human CYP1A1, 1A2 and 3A4 with NADPH:CYP reductase or in Bactosomes, the membrane fraction of E. coli transfected with cDNA of the same human CYP enzymes and NADPH:CYP reductase to oxidize their marker substrates and ellipticine. Cytochrome b5, an aditional component of the mixed function oxidase system, which metabolize xenobiotics was also expressed in some of the systems. The results found in this work demonstrate that human CYP1A1, 1A2 or 3A4 expressed in both eukaryotic and procaryotic systems oxidize their marker substrates (EROD for CYP1A1/2, MROD for CYP1A2 and testosterone 6β-hydroxylation for CYP3A4). They also oxidize...

Mitochondria are the key source of vital ATP molecules, which are largely produced within cells by a system of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Genetic defects affecting any of the components of the oxidative phosphorylation system or the structure and function of mitochondria lead to mitochondrial disorders, which occur at an incidence rate of 1 in 5000 live births. Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) is the terminal enzyme and electron acceptor of a respiratory chain that catalyses oxygen to produce a water molecule. In addition to complex I deficiency, isolated or combined COX deficiency is the most common respiratory chain defect in paediatric patients, and it can arise from mutations located either in mitochondrial DNA or in nuclear genes encoding the structural subunits or corresponding assembly factors of the enzyme complex. However, the molecular basis of COX deficiency remains elusive in many patients despite advances in the identification of an increasing number of mutations and genes involved in the disease. This thesis focuses on the identification of the genetic causes of mitochondrial diseases in a cohort of 60 unrelated Czech children with clinically and laboratory confirmed COX-deficiency. With the use of a high-resolution melting analysis mutation screen, four heterozygous sequence...