Unit for Molecular Dermatology
Welcome!
The Unit for Molecular Dermatology is a Ph.D students' scientific initiative of the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland. The Unit was officially launched in October 2008.
We are a part of the Dermatology Clinic located within the Public Clinical Hospital no. 2 in Poznan.
If you find our research interesting, please do not hesitate do contact us. We look forward to co-operation with other laboratories across the scientific world.
Research topic: HERVs in dermatology
Human Endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are retroviruses derived from ancient infections of germ cells in humans, thus the proviruses are passed on to the next generations and remain in the genome. Most retroviruses (such as HIV-1) infect somatic cells, but some are also able to infect germline cells and can be transmitted to the next generation. Endogenous retroviruses can persist in the genome of their host for long periods. These elements make about 8% of human genome and are in vast majority inactive. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are suspected of involvement in a number of autoimmune diseases.
The main research interest of the unit is the estimation of human endogenous retroviral (HERV)sequences expression in herpes simplex infection by means of Real Time PCR.
We evaluate the influence of herpes virus infection on the expression levels of chosen HERVs in a number of skin disorders including: psoriasis, lupus, scleroderma, pemphigus et al.
We also seek correlations between transcription intensity of certain HERV-ORFs and occurrence of these dermatological diseases.
The group is also involved in the development of a direct method of identification and differentiation of HSV-1 and HSV-2 using HRM - High Resolution Melting.
