BIOCH.eu

ABOUT US

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• The role of mitochondria in neuronal damage induced by ischemia and amyloid beta peptide.
  
  
• Cell death pathways in ischemic brain: protective and destructive roles of reactive nitrogen species. The role of estrogens and antioxidants as protectors.
  
  
• The role of microglia in CNS pathologies: in particular ischemia and Alzheimer's disease.

LABORATORY TECHNIQUE EXPERIENCE

• Protein chemistry techniques: electrophoretic protein separation (SDS-PAGE), immunoblotting and ELISA; absorbtion and fluorescence spectroscopy methods, including kinetic mitochondrial protein activity assays.
  
  
• Cell culture techniques: preparation of primary neuronal-glial, mixed glial (astrocytes and glia) and pure microglial cultures from neonatal rat brains. 
  
  
• Microscopy techniques: cell culture viability detection under fluorescent microscope by propidium iodide and Hoechst staining; detection of NO synthases using NADH diaphorase staining.
  
  
• Cellular bioenergetics techniques: heart perfusion on Langendorf; preparation of skinned heart and skeletal muscle fibers, isolation of heart and liver mitochondria, and oxygraphic registration of mitochondrial respiration activity; ionometric measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential; application of phenomenological kinetical analysis, or 'top-down' method for investigation of different subsystems of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system.

COLLABORATION

• Dr G.C. Brown, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Cizas P. Jekabsone A, Borutaite V, Morkuniene R.
  Prevention of amyloid-beta oligomer-induced neuronal death by EGTA, estradiol, and endocytosis inhibitor. Medicina (Kaunas), 2011,47(2): 107-112.
   
• Borutaite V, Morkuniene R, Arandarcikaite O, Jekabsone A, Barauskaite J, Brown GC.
  Nitric oxide protects the heart from ischemia-induced apoptosis and mitochondrial damage via protein kinase G mediated blockage of permeability transition and cytochrome c release. J. Biomed. Sci., 2009,16: 70.
   
• Jekabsone A, Neher JJ, Borutaite V, Brown GC
  Nitric oxide from neuronal nitric oxide synthase sensitizes neurons to hypoxia-induced death via competitive inhibition of cytochrome oxidase. J. Neurochemistry, 2007, 103 (1): 346-356.
   
• Jekabsone A, Mander PK, Tickler A, Sharpe M, Brown GC
  Fibrillar beta-amyloid peptide A-beta-1-40 activates microglial proliferation via stimulating TNF-alpha release and H2O2 derived from NADPH oxidase: a cell culture study. J. Neuroinflammation, 2006,  3 (1): 24.
   
• Mander PK, Jekabsone A, Brown GC
  Microglia proliferation is regulated by hydrogen peroxide from NADPH oxidase. J. Immunol., 2006,  176 (2): 1046-1052.
   
• Jekabsone A, Dapkunas Z, Brown GC, Borutaite V
  S-nitrosothiol-induced rapid cytochrome c release, caspase activation and mitochondrial permeability transition in perfused heart. Biochem. Pharmacol., 2003,  66 (8): 1513-1519.
   
• Jekabsone A, Ivanoviene L, Brown GC, Borutaite V
  Nitric oxide and calcium together inactivate mitochondrial complex I and induce cytochrome c release. J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol., 2003,  35 (7): 803-809.
   
• Borutaite V, Jekabsone A, Morkuniene R, Brown GC
  Inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition prevents mitochondrial dysfunction, cytochrome c release and apoptosis induced by heart ischemia. J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol., 2003,  35 (4): 357-366.
   
• Morkuniene R, Jekabsone A, Borutaite V
  Estrogens prevent calcium-induced release of cytochrome c from heart mitochondria. FEBS Lett., 2002,  521 (1-3): 53-56. 

CONTACT INFO

The page updated on 02 02 2012.