Projects supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan
APBC
The advanced protein biotechnology consortium: A model for fostering economic growth and mitigating brain drain in Eastern Slovakia
Project code: 09-I02-03-V01-00021
Acronym: APBC
The Advanced Protein Biotechnology Consortium is a project aimed at an international collaborative R&D model with excellent academic partners to address economic and social challenges in Slovakia while effectively mitigating the brain drain from Eastern Slovakia. The APBC project is strategically designed to foster sustainable development by leveraging the potential of protein biotechnology, setting up the conditions for the creation of intellectual property in the given area and the conditions to attract bio-production facilities in the long term. By focusing on this cutting-edge field, the consortium aims to drive economic growth, create high-skilled job opportunities, and enhance the overall competitiveness of Slovakia in the bio-industrial segment. Hence, APBC provides a model proof-of-principle concept for addressing the significant challenges in Slovakia, and we expect that our initiative will motivate other industrial segments as well.
Principal investigator: prof. RNDr. Erik Sedlák, DrSc.
Period: 01/03/2025-31/08/2027
ExCasProt
Fostering high scientific quality in protein research in Eastern Slovakia
Project code: 09I01-03-V04-00041
The main goal of the presented ExCasProt project is to use directed evolution methods to develop and identify soluble analogues of GPCR proteins, which will lead to easier manipulation of them and a better understanding of their structure and function.
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent an important group of membrane proteins. They play a key role in the organism and disruption of their signaling pathway is associated with a number of diseases, therefore they are a relevant target of the pharmaceutical industry. Drug design based on detailed knowledge of the structure of protein-ligand complexes is one of the most effective approaches in current drug research. For GPCRs, the number of available structures is limited due to the lack of structural data caused by complications related to their production and isolation in native form. The main goal of the presented ExCasProt project is to develop and identify soluble analogues of GPCR proteins using directed evolution methods, which will lead to easier manipulation of them, better understanding of their structure and function. Success in this specific case will serve as a proof of principle that could be applicable to other proteins from the GPCR class.
Principal investigator: Mgr. Mária Tomková, PhD.
Period: 2/2024 – 6/2026
