BIOCH.eu

ABOUT US

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• The effects of synthetic and natural bio-active compounds on mammalian cells and isolated mitochondria.
  
  
• The identification and characterization of bacterial, metazoan and plant serine beta-lactamase (LACTB) homologs.
  
  

LABORATORY TECHNIQUE EXPERIENCE

• Protein chemistry techniques: electrophoretic protein separation (Blue Native and SDS-PAGE); immunoblotting; protein proteolytic digestion, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and data analysis; kinetic mitochondrial protein activity assays; absorbtion spectroscopy methods.
  
  
• Bioinformatics methods: search of DNA and protein databases and sequence identification; multiple DNA or protein sequence alignment; modeling and analysis of the secondary and tertiary protein sequence structures; phylogenetic analysis of protein sequences.
  
  
• Molecular biology techniques: the basics of PCR, gene cloning and protein expression in procaryotic system.
  
  
• Cell culture techniques: the basics of bacterial and mammalian cell culture.
  
  
• Microscopy techniques: the basics of transmission and immuno-electron microscopy; negative staining of proteins.
  
  
• Cellular bioenergetics techniques: preparation of skinned heart and skeletal muscle fibers, isolation of mitochondria from heart muscle and liver; ionometric measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential and oxygraphic registration of mitochondrial respiration.

COLLABORATION

• Dr Danas Baniulis, Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Babtai, Kaunas reg., Lithuania.
  
  
• A research group leaded by Dr Ove Eriksson, Institute of Biomedicine,  University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
  

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Kaledaite R, Bernatoniene J, Majiene D, Dvorackova K, Masteikova R, Muselik J, Kalveniene Z, Liobikas J, Savickas A.
  Investigation of antiradical activity of Salvia officinalis L., Urtica dioica L., and Thymus vulgaris L. extracts as potential candidates for a complex therapeutic preparation. J. Med. Plants Res., 2011, 5(25):6090-6096.
   
• Liobikas J, Majiene D, Trumbeckaite S, Kursvietiene L, Masteikova R, Kopustinskiene DM, Savickas A, Bernatoniene J.
  Uncoupling and antioxidant effects of ursolic acid in isolated rat heart mitochondria. J. Nat. Prod., 2011, 74(7):1640-1644.
   
• Kopustinskiene DM, Liobikas J, Skemiene K, Malinauskas F, Toleikis A.
  Direct effects of K(ATP) channel openers pinacidil and diazoxide on oxidative phosphorylation of mitochondria in situ. Cell. Physiol. Biochem., 2010, 25(2-3):181-186.
   
• Polianskyte Z, Peitsaro N, Dapkunas A, Liobikas J, Soliymani R, Lalowski M, Speer O, Seitsonen J, Butcher S, Cereghetti GM, Linder MD, Merckel M, Thompson J, Eriksson O.
  LACTB is a filament-forming protein localized in mitochondria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2009, 106(45):18960-18965.
   
• Baniulis D, Liobikas J, Gelvonauskiene D, Sasnauskas A, Vaitiekaitis G, Stanys V.
  Computational analysis of thaumatin-II allergenicity and prediction of antigenic elements of thaumatin-like family proteins. Biologija (Vilnius), 2008, 54 (3): 202-207.
  
  
• Peitsaro N, Polianskyte Z, Tuimala J, Porn-Ares I, Liobikas J, Speer O, Lindholm D, Thompson J, Eriksson O
  Evolution of a family of metazoan active-site-serine enzymes from penicillin-binding proteins: a novel facet of the bacterial legacy. BMC Evol. Biol., 2008, 8: 26.
   
• Liobikas J, Baniulis D, Stanys V, Toleikis A, Eriksson O.
  Identification and analysis of a novel serine ß-lactamase-like plant protein by a bioinformatic approach. Biologija (Vilnius), 2006, 3: 126-129.
   
• Kopustinskas A, Adaskevicius R, Krusinskas A, Kopustinskiene DM, Liobikas J, Toleikis A
  A user-friendly PC-based data acquisition and analysis system for respirometric investigations. Comput. Methods Programs Biomed., 2006, 82 (3): 231-237.
   
• Liobikas J, Polianskyte Z, Speer O, Thompson J, Alakoskela J-M, Peitsaro N, Franck M, Whitehead MA, Kinnunen PJK, Eriksson O
  Expression and purification of the mitochondrial serine protease LACTB as an N-terminal GST fusion protein in Escherichia coli. Protein Expr. Purif., 2006, 45 (2): 335-342.
   
• Johans M, Milanesi E, Franck  M, Johans C, Liobikas J, Panagiotaki M, Greci L, Principato G, Kinnunen PKJ, Bernardi P, Constantini P, Eriksson O
  Modification of permeability transition pore arginine(s) by phenylglyoxal derivatives in isolated mitochondria and mammalian cells. Structure-function relationship of arginine ligands. J. Biol. Chem., 2005, 280 (13): 12130-12136.
   
• Liobikas J, Speer O, Polianskyte Z, Eriksson O
  Filament structures in the intracristal compartment of rat liver mitochondria after permeability transition. Biologija (Vilnius), 2004, 2 (Suppl. 2): 105-107.
   
• Speer O, Morkunaite-Haimi S, Liobikas J, Franck M, Hensbo L, Linder MD, Kinnunen PJ, Wallimann T, Eriksson O
  Rapid suppression of mitochondrial permeability transition by methylglyoxal. Role of reversible arginine modification. J. Biol. Chem., 2003, 278 (37): 34757-34763.
   
• Kopustinskiene DM, Jovaisiene J, Liobikas J and Toleikis A
  Diazoxide and pinacidil uncouple pyruvate+malate induced mitochondrial respiration. J. Bioenerg. Biomembr., 2002, 34 (1): 49-53.
   
• Toleikis A, Liobikas J, Trumbeckaite S, Majiene D
  Relevance of fatty acid oxidation in regulation of the outer mitochondrial membrane permeability for ADP. FEBS Lett., 2001, 509 (2): 245-249.
   
• Liobikas J, Kopustinskiene DM, Toleikis A
  What controls the outer mitochondrial membrane permeability for ADP: facts for and agains the role of oncotic pressure. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 2001, 1505: 220-225.