As part of the competition announced by the Dean of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk, 16 young, ambitious researchers will receive funding for the implementation of their projects. The winners were selected by the Faculty Committee for the Evaluation of Research Projects of Young Scientists.

Thirty-seven applications were submitted for the competition, of which 16 received funding from departmental resources. As the Deputy Dean for Scientific Affairs of the Faculty of Biology of UG emphasises, such competitions provide great support for young researchers.

- 'The Young Scientists Research Projects Competition at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk, announced annually by the Dean of the Faculty, is a grant programme aimed at doctoral students from PhD studies and PhD school as well as young employees with a PhD degree. It supports young researchers in carrying out tasks connected with preparing a doctoral dissertation, preliminary elements of a habilitation thesis and other individual research projects. The realisation of independent projects at this stage of research develops skills connected with research planning, rational management of financial resources, but also prepares to apply for external funds,' - says prof. Joanna Izdebska, Vice-Dean for Scientific Affairs of the Faculty of Biology of UG.

Results of the young researchers' competition 2021

The highest co-financing, amounting to PLN 7.5 thousand, was awarded to three research projects: dr Karolina Pierzynowska from the Department of Molecular Biology, dr Urszula Zarzecka from the Department of General and Medical Biochemistry and mgr Jagoda Mantej from the Department of Molecular Biology.

Dr K. Pierzynowska plans to focus her research on mucopolysaccharidosis, a very rare genetic disease found in children. The title of her project is 'Role of the Xc/GSH/GPX4 pathway in ferroptosis disorders in a cellular and mouse model of mucopolysaccharidosis type I'.

- 'Despite the work of many research centres, these diseases cannot be cured, and the available therapy consists of intravenous administration of an enzyme, which is missing in the patients' organisms. However, it turns out that even this enzyme does not remove all symptoms of the disease,' - explains dr Karolina Pierzynowska. - 'The project I am carrying out is therefore focused on searching for new, previously undescribed causes of this rare disease, with particular emphasis on the process of ferroptosis, i.e. cell death dependent on disturbances in iron levels. The research will involve both cells from patients with mucopolysaccharidosis and a mouse model of the disease and will allow us to determine whether the efficiency of ferroptosis is affected in this disease, and what other factors are involved, i.e. how this occurs. This data will perhaps allow the creation of new therapies in the future that target the newly discovered disorders and are more effective than those used today.'

'The concept of molecular mimicry between extracellular heat shock proteins and SARS-CoV-2 virus surface protein S' is the title of a project carried out by mgr Jagoda Mantej, who intends to assess the level of circulating autoantibodies directed against human Hsp proteins (anti-Hsp) present in both so-called recovered (anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive) and vaccinated COVID-19 subjects.

- 'Infection with SARS-CoV-2 causes an acute respiratory infection (COVID-19) with a broad spectrum of symptoms ranging from a flu-like syndrome to multi-organ failure. The body's natural defence during infection with this virus is the production of neutralising anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. It is thought that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may also contribute to the autoimmune inflammatory response resulting from the existence of similarities between immunogenic peptides - epitopes (molecular mimicry theory) present in both human and virus proteins. It appears that such similarities may apply to human heat shock proteins (Hsp). Localised in the cytoplasm and cell organelles, highly conserved in evolution Hsp proteins may be released into the extracellular space under stress conditions and become targets of circulating anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies,' - explains mgr Jagoda Mantej. - 'To confirm the aforementioned hypothesis, I plan to assess the level of circulating autoantibodies directed against human Hsp proteins (anti-Hsp) present in both seropositive hepatics (anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive) and persons immunized with the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. The results obtained in this project will allow for verification of the hypothesis on the potential immunological similarity between SARS-CoV-2 virus proteins and human heat shock proteins,' she adds.