The project titled “Restoring beta cell integrity through targeted inhibition of SPOP and maintenance of PDX-1” received PLN 2,649,071 worth of funding from the National Science Center. It will be carried out together with the research group of doctor Anna Czarna from the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University, who serves as the project leader, as well as, among others, with the team of professor Oliver Plettenburg from Leibniz University Hannover and Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen.
About the project
Metabolic disorders pose a significant threat to human health. One of them is diabetes that can develop, among others, as a result of impaired secretory functions and death of β cells in the pancreas. Therefore, the regeneration of these cells seems to be an attractive target in the search for new antidiabetic therapies. The project aimed to verify whether it is possible to increase insulin production by β-cells and whether it is possible to support their maturation and increase survival using new types of chemical compounds that increase the level of the PDX-1 transcription factor.
“Innovative molecules will be designed based on the structure of the target protein, and their activity will be determined in models of varying complexity (cells, organoids, laboratory animals). We will also obtain targeted compounds, i.e. those that selectively reach the place where they are supposed to work: the β-cells. If our work in this hitherto unexplored area is successful, it may open the way to the development of new diabetes therapies,” explained professor Maciej Dawidowski.
The “OPUS” competition is the largest of the National Science Center’s grant programs, which in its autumn edition offers funding for projects carried out by scientists in international cooperation under the “Weave” program. The program simplifies the path of applying for funds for bilateral or multilateral research cooperation with scientists from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium-Flanders.
