Fungi that tolerate very high environmental NaCl concentrations are good model systems to study mechanisms that enable them to endure osmotic and salinity stress. The whole genome sequences of six such fungal species have been analysed: Hortaea werneckii, Wallemia ichthyophaga and four Aureobasidium spp.: A. pullulans, A. subglaciale, A. melanogenum and A. namibiae. These fungi show different levels of halotolerance, with the presence of numerous membrane transport systems uncovered here that are believed to maintain physiological intracellular concentrations of alkali metal cations. Despite some differences, the intracellular cation contents of H. werneckii, A. pullulans and W. ichthyophaga remain low even under extreme extracellular salinities, which suggests that these species have efficient cation transport systems. We speculate that cation transporters prevent intracellular accumulation of Na+, and thus avoid the toxic effects that such Na+ accumulation would have, while also maintaining the high K+/Na+ ratio that is required for the full functioning of the cell % another crucial task in high-Na+ environments. This chapter primarily summarises the cation transport systems of these selected fungi, and it also describes other membrane transporters that might be involved in their mechanisms of halotolerance.
F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge
COBISS.SI-ID: 32455385International Summer School Genomic Medicine - Bridging Research and the Clinic, organized by Phramacogenetics Laboratory (head Vita Dolžan), took place from May 3rd to May 7th 2016 in Portorož, Slovenia. The program covered a wide range of topics related to genomic medicine, pharmacogenomics and epigenomics and translation of basic research into clinical practice. Summer school also focused on predictive and prognostic biomarkers and novel molecular targets for tailored therapeutic interventions for diseases linked to oxidative stress and age-related diseases and disabilities, as well as on rare diseases and pancreatic cancer. Additionally, a Satellite workshop “In vitro and in vivo models for development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches” was organized. The Summer school was organized by Pharmacogenetics laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana as a collaborative action between Artemida Teaming project, the EUPancreas COST Action (BM1204), the EU-ROS COST Action (BM1203), SERBORDISinn and CASyM and was endorsed and supported by several international organizations and projects: U-PGx, The Golden Helix Institute of Biomedical Research, Genomic Medicine Alliance, ESPT and Eu-PIC. Such a collaborative action maximized interactions and the exchange of knowledge and experience, enabling new collaborations that will facilitate the translation of novel findings into health care services to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities in Slovenia, the C&SE European region and wider area.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 284576000Introduction: Endometrial cancer is the most frequent gynecological malignancy in the developed world. Currently, endometrial histology is the gold standard for diagnosis, as there are no valid noninvasive diagnostic methods available. Biomarkers for endometrial cancer would be invaluable for screening of high-risk women, detection of primary and recurrent disease, and preoperative stratification of patients as high-risk and low-risk categories, enabling personalized therapeutic approaches. Areas covered: This report reviews publications of blood biomarkers evaluated in patients with endometrial cancer and/or control patients, over the last five years. Relevant studies were identified by searching the PubMed database from January 2010 to July 2016. The limitations of these studies, their diagnostic and prognostic accuracies, and options for translation to the clinic are discussed. Expert commentary: Very good diagnostic accuracy has been reported for individual proteins HE-4, GDF-15, SPAG9, YKL-40, IL-31, and IL-33, for panels of proteins with ApoA1, TTR, and TF, for amino acids His, Ile, Val, and Pro, and for micro-RNAs miR222, miR223, miR186, and miR204. CA-125, HE-4, resistin, and a panel of miR203, miR200a*, and miR449 can accurately distinguished high-risk from low-risk patients. After successful validation, these candidate biomarkers have a good chance to enter the further phases of biomarker discovery.
F.21 Development of new health/diagnostic methods/procedures
COBISS.SI-ID: 32924633Prof. Dolžan is a member of Scientific Advisory Committee, the highest organ of The Genomic Medicine Alliance-GMA (http://www.genomicmedicinealliance.org/). GMA is an international research network with research activities that focus on Genomic Medicine. In 2016, the Genomic Medicine Alliance has over 1100 members from all over the world. The Genomic Medicine Alliance aims to create collaboration ties between academics, researchers, regulators, and the general public interested in all aspects of genomics and personalized medicine. The Alliance provides the means to establish networks and to encourage collaborative work towards advancing the Genomic Medicine discipline, focusing in particular on translating results from academic research into clinical practice. In the framework of cooperation in the GMA, we started with the development of guidelines and recommendations for translation of pharmacogenomic testing into clinical practice in different European populations. We have studied the spectrum of pharmacogenomic markers in 18 European populations (PLoS One, COBISS 32828377, IF 3.057), provided guidelines for reporting the results of pharmacogenomic testing (Pharmacogenomics, COBISS 32807129, IF 2.71) and drated recommendations regarding the reimbursement of pharmacogenomic testing (Pharmacogenomics, COBISS 32853721, IF 2.71).
D.03 Membership in foreign/international boards/committees
COBISS.SI-ID: 32853721Frontiers is one the largest and fastest-growing open-access academic publishers aiming to provide the scientific community with a highly efficient and transparent publication platform for the rapid dissemination of the results. In 2014 Frontiers has received “ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing” for its innovative approach to publishing. Frontiers receives millions of monthly page views. It has publishing agreements with many universities, and collaborates with Nature Publishing Group, Scientific American, Digital Science, OpenAire, CrossRef, OASPA, COPE, Jacobs Foundation, and academic websites (nature.com and frontiersin.org) to increase the reach and the impact of the published papers and the authors. Since its launch in 2010, Frontiers in Pharmacology has become the second most cited open-access journal in Pharmacology and Pharmacy and has received 2015 Impact Factor of 4.418. One of the speciality sections within Frontiers in Pharmacology is Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics that covers all aspects of genetic variation, epigenetic and non-genetic factors that are of potential relevance for the drug or xenobiotic action. Prof. Vita Dolžan is Associate Editor of speciality section Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics, and Prof. Tea Lanišnik Rižner of section Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery (COBISS 29551833). Altogether, the members of the program group were editorial board members of 11 international scientific journals in 2016. The most prestigeus among them is international journal Scientific reports with IF 5.228, published by Nature Publishing Group since 2011 - Prof. Nina Gunde Cimerman is Editorial board member for Microbiology section (COBISS 18727432).
C.06 Editorial board membership
COBISS.SI-ID: 29551833