Next grants from the Miniatura 4 programme

In the next edition of the Miniatura 4 competition of the National Science Centre, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences has three new beneficiaries. They are Marta Henklewska PhD from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bartosz Kozak PhD from the Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Science at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology and Ewa Raczkowska PhD from the Department of Human Nutrition at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science. The applications they submitted in August were examined in September and they were awarded a total of nearly 150,000 PLN.

Marta Henklewska PhD received 49,929 PLN for the project: "Potentializing the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapy in dogs by inhibiting cell response to replication stress". In her work to date, she has studied the potential anti-cancer activity of various substances, both of natural and synthetic origin, using an in vitro model of cancers occurring in dogs.

- The research described in the project is an initial step towards the introduction of targeted anti-cancer therapies used to repair the DNA in companion animals. Several medicines having this effect are currently being researched for humans. Introducing them to anti-cancer therapy will allow us to reduce the doses of genotoxic drugs used, and thus limit the side effects associated with the therapy – says Marta Henklewska.

The practice of veterinarians who treat companion animals with cancer shows that the therapy is often discontinued – pet owners are unable to accept symptoms such as intense vomiting or diarrhoea, not to mention damage to kidney function caused by these medication.

- Moreover, inhibiting the DNA repair of cancer cells can also help prevent cancer cells from being resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Haematopoietic malignancies selected for the study are one of the most common malignancies in dogs and, moreover, in this type of cancer, chemotherapy is the basic method of treatment. On the other hand, canine osteosarcoma is often treated with platinum derivatives, for which the potentiating effect of ATR kinase inhibitors is extremely strong – explains Henklewska.

Bartosz Kozak PhD will receive 49,940 PLN for the project "Genotyping of the ExL mapping population of narrow-leaved lupine using SNP markers". The research to be financed from the Miniatura 4 competition is a continuation of many years of work carried out at the Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Science on the improvement of narrow-leaved lupine. As part of the research conducted so far, the ExL genetic map has been developed.

- Genetic maps are a very useful tool that allows us to locate traits in the genome, i.e. the association of DNA sequences with phenotypic traits. This allows us to decipher the genetic basis that determines these traits – explains Bartosz Kozak.

The project to be carried out by Kozak is supposed to enrich the current version of the ExL map with new markers. This will make it possible to develop a new, more precise version of the genetic map.

- The more precise map we have, the more precisely we can connect genome fragments to morphological features. SNP markers developed as part of previous works carried out at the Department will be used for genotyping the ExL population. The research will also use the innovative SeqSNP genotyping method, which allows us to study polymorphism in specific, previously defined SNP locus. This method combines the advantages of next-generation sequencing with genotyping using matrix techniques – says Bartosz Kozak.

Narrow-leaved lupine is an annual plant, grown for fodder and green fertilizer, valued by farmers for its high yield, faster maturation and lower susceptibility to diseases.

The third beneficiary of the Miniatura 4 competition is Ewa Raczkowska PhD. Her research project "Assessment of antioxidant and antidiabetic properties as well as nutritional value of health-promoting shortbreads made on the basis of fruit pomace and erythritol" received funding in the amount of 45,771 PLN.

- All over the world, scientists are looking for valuable raw materials and compose recipes for food products with high pro-health properties. The obtained results will help us to initially assess the multidirectional biological activity of products based on fruit pomace and will be the basis for determining further research directions in this field and the potential possibilities of using this type of products in the food industry. The analysis will also allow us to identify differences in biological activity between individual pomaces and to assess the pro-health effect of erythritol use – explains Ewa Raczkowska, who researches issues related to the so-called functional food. The main area of ​​her research is broad analysis of the nutritional value of food products and dishes and the assessment of their impact on the glycaemic response after consumption by various groups of people, which is of particular importance in the time when type 2 diabetes has been recognized as a civilization disease common in developed societies.

- This project, and also the next ones that I have planned, may bring real health and economic benefits, due to the use of high-value products, such as fruit pomace, which are also inexpensive – emphasizes Ewa Raczkowska.

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