Strong relations with laboratories in Europe
As Prof. Maria Bryszewska says the department conducts intensive international cooperation with many centres around the world. Prof. Bryszewska has been the Head of the Department of General Biophysics for 24 years and she has been associated with the University of Lodz from the beginning of her scientific career. The cooperation began in the 80s of the 20th century by Prof. dr hab. Wanda Leyko, the precursor of biophysical research in Lodz and it has been continued in the following years. Even then the periodic symposia "Free radicals in biology and medicine" were organised and attended by researchers from all over the world, from Australia to the USA.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, nanoparticles, in particular dendrimers, have become the main research topic of the department. They are obtained not only commercially, but above all from partners cooperating with the department.
Dendrimers are molecules synthesized in the laboratory with a branched, symmetrical and three-dimensional structure. Dendrimers are of particular interest to scientists because their structure allows precise control of size, shape and chemical properties. This makes them very useful in many different fields. Dendrimers are currently being intensively studied by scientists around the world, as their properties may have numerous applications in the future.
When asked about examples of cooperation, Professor Bryszewska mentions many significant research centres:
- team of Prof. Jean-Pierre Majoral, from the French Academy of Sciences in Toulouse, the creator of phosphorus dendrimers with extremely interesting properties,
- team of Prof. Javier F. de la Mata and Prof. Rafael Gomez-Ramirez from the University of Alcalá (Spain), creators of carbo-silicate dendrimers, and
- team of Dr Dietmar Appelhans from the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (dendrimers coated with sugar residues).
For many years, the department has also been cooperating with:
- the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (Prof. D. Shcharbin – more than 60 joint publications), which has now been suspended due to the war in Ukraine,
- Comenius University in Bratislava (Prof. I. Vaculikova),
- the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Prof. C. Demetzos, Dr Nikolaos Naziris),
- Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid (Prof. M.A. Munoz-Fernandez),
- University of Latvia (Prof. M. Issaguliantis),
- University of Naples Federico II (Prof. S. Galdiero),
- Leipzig University (Prof. Achim Aigner).
The aforementioned teams have repeatedly applied for joint international research projects.
As part of the projects, trips to cooperating centres and visits to the University of Lodz are constantly taking place. It can be said that it is a continuous exchange (over a dozen departures/arrivals per year) of employees, doctoral students and students. In all centres, research is conducted in parallel on a continuous basis. Based on this several joint articles are published a year – emphasises Prof. Bryszewska.
Chimeric nanoparticles in the fight against cancer – research project by Dr Naziris
One of the scientists who visited Lodz in 2022 was Nikolaos Naziris, with PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Athens. As Prof. Bryszewska describes:
Professor Costas Demetzos' team, in which Dr Naziris is employed, specialises studying chimeric nanoparticles, whose liposomes are main component, in terms of their use to transport drugs/genes into the cell.
Dr Naziris was employed at the Department of General Biophysics of the University of Lodz from June 2021 until the end of September 2022 as part of the IDUB Junior Researcher in Residence project. The aim of the project was to develop and create a chimeric nanoparticle that could effectively co-transport drugs and nucleic acids to cancer cells, to analyse its properties, stability and anticancer activity. The project will result in several publications.
However, the history of Dr Naziris' cooperation with the University of Lodz dates back to 2019, when, thanks to the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), he was given the opportunity to conduct experiments for his doctoral dissertation in Lodz. This was the beginning of a successful cooperation, which resulted in a longer research visit in 2022.
Cooperation between research centres from Lodz and Athens in the words of Dr Naziris
Below we present a short recording (in English) in which Dr Naziris talks about his experience of working in Lodz and the successful international cooperation between the Lodz and Athens research centres.
Dr Naziris emphasises that the history of cooperation between the aforementioned research facilities dates back to 2008, and the network in which the laboratories operate consists of 20 countries and more than 300 individuals jointly organising many conferences, trainings and workshops, with the output of over 100 published scientific articles. The group's ambition is to create large scientific teams that will apply for prestigious grants and provide the groundwork for collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry and the development and upscaling? of advanced medicinal products, based on the principles of nanotechnology.
The publication of collaborative research between two labs has advanced our understanding of drug delivery nanosystems, by providing fundamental insight into the pathogenesis of neurological diseases and has led to the development of liposome-encapsulated dendrimers that are promising as carriers for targeted and more efficient anti-cancer drug delivery.
Dr Naziris, as he himself emphasises, during his one-year stay at the University of Lodz had the opportunity to learn new research techniques, and thanks to interactions with many groups of researchers and visits to other laboratories, create a network of collaborators with whom he will strive for further scientific discoveries.
Wonderful mechanisms that rule the macrocosm
In the interview, Dr Naziris talks about his personal reasons for becoming a scientist in interesting and inspiring words:
I have been fascinated by Mathematics and Physics since I was a child. Later, when I was introduced to Chemistry and Biology, I began to realise how fundamental laws apply in materials, living organisms, life and nature. There are marvellous mechanisms that govern the macrocosm, as well as the microcosmos It is my life passion to know more about the processes that led to the creation of the cell and life itself, as well as about the complexity of their organisation and underlying mechanisms. The rules that applied during these primordial (archegones) processes might help us understand how nature works and grant us the gift of evolution, including the answer to difficult diseases. Such knowledge helps us build innovative functional therapeutics.
The nurtured youthful fascination means that the passion for working as a scientist does not leave Dr Naziris even for a moment and he gives an impression of a person who would not trade this job for any other.
Opening to the world is one of the most important aspects of the development of a university. However, valuable contacts are not created overnight, but require intensive, long-term cooperation, openness and courage of all people involved in the cooperation process. The Department of General Biophysics has extensive experience in this field, which pays off with highly scored publications every year, raising the rank of the entire University of Lodz.
Source: Prof. Maria Bryszewska (Department of General Biophysics, University of Lodz), Dr Nikolaos Naziris
Edit: Michał Gruda (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz)
The mission of the University of Lodz is to conduct reliable research and actively disseminate facts and research results so as to wisely educate future generations, be useful to society and courageously respond to the challenges of the modern world. Scientific excellence is always our best compass. Our values include: courage, curiosity, commitment, cooperation and respect.