Two projects by scientists from the Department of General and Medical Biochemistry of the Faculty of Biology of the UG have been awarded more than 3 million in funding under the SONATA 19 competition of the National Science Centre.

The project by dr Urszula Zarzecka, 'The role of extra-cytoplasmic proteases in the physiology and morphology of Helicobacter pylori bacteria', received funding of PLN 1,559,940 and will concern the study of mechanisms of action of extra-cytoplasmic proteases of H. pylori bacteria, identification of their protein substrates and discovery of cellular processes whose proper functioning is impaired by the lack of functional proteases. ‘The project will provide key insights into H. pylori virulence factors. This may facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies in the future. More effective control of this pathogen is important to reduce the risk of developing gastric cancer. H. pylori is the main cause of approximately 80% of gastric cancer cases worldwide,’ says dr Urszula Zarzecka. The project will be carried out in collaboration with prof. Silja Wessler from the University of Salzburg (Austria) and prof. David Roncarati from the University of Bologna (Italy).

Dr Tomasz Wenta's project entitled 'Integrin β4 is a guardian of cell nucleus integrity and chromatin accessibility, limiting prostate cancer progression' has received funding of £1,543,178 and will focus on investigating the mechanism of metastasis in prostate cancer, with a particular focus on the role of integrin β4 ‘It is now known that down-regulation of integrin β4 is important to initiate cell-to-cancer transformation. Our recent data have shown that this protein can also regulate the shape and function of the nuclear envelope and alter the packing of genetic material. Such a change consequently leads to increased accessibility of chromatin for transcription factors, leading to multiple mutations and changes ultimately resulting in uncontrolled growth and neoplastic transformation, explains dr Tomasz Wenta. The project, based on models of prostate cell lines, cells derived from primary prostate tissues, as well as tissue material taken from patients, will be carried out in collaboration with prof. Aki Manninen from Biocenter Oulu (Finland), prof. Gonghong Wei from Shanghai University (China) and dr Matthew Jones from Plymouth University (UK).

Congratulations!