Research leader name
Dr. Szabó Attila
klinikai rektorhelyettes
A HUN-REN-SE Gyermekgyógyászati és Nephrológiai Kutatócsoport mintegy két évtizede alakult a Semmelweis Egyetem Gyermekklinikáján. Vizsgálatainak középpontjában a szerveink működésének beszűkülésével járó szöveti hegesedés áll. Becslések szerint ez a folyamat húzódik meg közel minden második halálok hátterében, ennek ellenére gyógyszeres kezeléssel mégsem rendelkezünk. A kutatócsoport ezért számos új innovatív módszert dolgozott ki, amelyek lehetővé teszik a hegesedés mechanizmusának kutatását, illetve a folyamatot gátló gyógyszerek fejlesztését. Jelenleg az extracelluláris vezikulák szerepét tanulmányozzuk a folyamatban. Ez elmúlt évtizedek alatt a csoport munkájának eredményeként számos szabadalom, illetve publikáció született, ezeket a tudományos közélet több nívós díjjal ismert el. Célunk, hogy kutatási eredményeink hozzájáruljanak a hegesedésben szenvedők gyógyulásához.
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Veres-Székely Apor, Bernáth Mária, Szebeni Beáta, Vannay Ádám, Pap Domonkos
In addition to patient care and education of medical students, numerous research groups operate in the research laboratory of the Pediatric Center at Semmelweis University. In our research laboratory, there is a strong collaboration between basic scientists, laboratory experts and clinicians that created a strongly focused and innovative milieu, which enables the complex investigation of the pathomechanism, therapy and outcome of a diseases in a single institute.
The HUN-REN-SE Paediatric and Nephrology Research Group was founded by Prof. Tivadar Tulassay more than two decades ago. Since then the research group has been renewed several times and continues its successful operation, currently under the leadership of Prof. Attila Szabó.
The research group consists of skilled researchers from various scientific fields, including medical doctors, biologists, biochemical engineers and experienced technicians complementing each other’s knowledge in order to enhance the efficiency of the work (Dr. Beáta Szebeni, Dr. Csenge Szász, Mária Bernáth, Dr. Pap Domonkos, Dr. Apor Veres-Székely and Péter Bokrossy). Currently, the professional work of the research group is managed by Dr. Ádám Vannay. The main goal of the group is to investigate the pathomechanism of tissue fibrosis. Fibrosis means a structural and functional alteration of a tissue, mostly developed on the basis of chronic inflammation. During the process independently from the etiology, fibrosis shows similar cellular and molecular mechanisms in the different organs. Injured cells and activated immune cells produce high amounts of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors leading to the activation of tissue fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are characterised by increased proliferation and decreased apoptosis rate, high motility, and the ability to produce extracellular matrix components, which are the non-cellular part of scar tissue. The excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix dramatically alters the architecture of the tissue reducing its functionality and finally causing organ failure. According to some estimates, nearly 45% of deaths can be attributed to fibrosis in developed countries. However, despite the indisputable medical need, still there is no effective therapy against fibrosis.
In the past two decades, the research group has made significant efforts to beat fibrosis. The knowledge that they have accumulated is considered special not only regionally but also internationally and makes it possible to investigate the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and reveal novel therapeutic targets and anti-fibrotic drugs, as well. Their work is represented by numerous patents, newly developed methods and publications published in the leading newspapers.
