The Department of Developmental Physiology‘s primary research focus is the preimplantation developmental period, which encompasses the interval between fertilisation of the egg in the fallopian tube and implantation of the embryo in the uterus. This period is one of the most vulnerable phases in mammalian embryonic development. Disturbances that occur during this period are often the cause of unsuccessful pregnancies in both humans and animals. The research team is currently engaged in investigating the interactions between the maternal organism and the preimplantation embryo. Our research group was the first to identify adrenergic receptors in eggs and preimplantation embryos to which adrenaline released in the maternal organism after exposure to stress stimuli can bind. Consequently, maternal stress can have a detrimental impact on the fertilisation process and subsequent embryo development. The results obtained in an animal model (laboratory mouse) demonstrate that fertilisation and preimplantation development can also be adversely affected by maternal obesity. However, a certain amount of body fat is necessary to maintain optimal reproductive health. Furthermore, our research has demonstrated that maternal stress and obesity during the early stages of gestation can influence the somatic and behavioural parameters of the offspring. Our additional studies have identified specific cell cycle regulatory mechanisms at the stage of entry and during the initial mitotic cycle of the embryo. In 2011, the Department of Developmental Physiology was recognised by the independent national agency ARRA as one of the leading scientific teams within the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The department is comprised of two laboratories:
- Laboratory of Reproduction and Embryology
(MVDr. Dušan Fabian, DrSc.) - Laboratory of Cell Signalling
(RNDr. Štefan Čikoš, DrSc.)
Lab equipment
- Leica TCS SP5 confocal microscope with “live-cell imaging” system for studying the functional morphology of living cells in real time
- Automated Nikon Eclipse 90i direct fluorescence microscope for studying functional cell morphology and morphological diagnosis of microflora
- Olympus BX51 direct fluorescence microscope for the study and functional morphology of cells and morphological diagnosis of microflora (together with NbU)
- Nikon Ti-E inverted fluorescence microscope with micromanipulation kit (Eppendorf) for micromanipulation interventions at the cellular level
- Nikon Ti-U inverted light microscope for studying the morphology of cells cultured in vitro
- DXR Raman spectrometer with microscope (Thermo Fisher Scientific) for metabolomics analysis of cells and biological fluids
- Whole-body magnetic resonance analyser for laboratory animals EchoMRI 700 for measuring body fat in laboratory animals
- CODA non-invasive blood pressure monitor for laboratory animals
- Real-time PCR systems Mx3000P (Stratagene-Agilent) and LC480 (Roche) for detection and quantification of selected nucleic acid (gene) sequences
- Synergy 2 microplate multidetection analyzer (Biotek) for analyses requiring fluorescence, luminescence and absorbance measurements
- Agilent 2100 capillary microelectrophoretic system for automated electrophoretic analysis of DNA, RNA and proteins.
- Eppendorf multiporator for electroporation of eukaryotic cells, bacteria and yeast
- Fusion FX7 high sensitivity detection imaging system (Vilber Lourmat) for detection of chemiluminescence signal on membranes (Western blot analysis)
- NanoDrop microspectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific) for spectrometric measurement of limited volumes (1 ul) of nucleic acids
