Why do cancer cells defend themselves from treatment so successfully? One of the key elements on which their strategy relies are lipid droplets – small ‘repositories’ of fat in the cell. The fat is used to store energy, protecting the cell from the toxic excess of lipids. Together with mitochondria, which are ‘power stations’ of cell, they create a system, which enables the cancer to survive even in difficult circumstances caused by the treatment. In skin melanoma, which is one of the most aggressive types of cancer, those structures pay a particular role in the cellular adaptation and the development of cells’ immunity to the treatment,

“Our research is focused on the FHOD1 forming, which regulates actin cytoskeleton – a cell’s ‘scaffolding’”, explains the researcher. “The results show that not only does FHOD1 influence the shape and movement of the cell, but it also focuses around lipid droplets and the places of their contact with mitochondria. What is more, the drop in FHOD1 levels affects the number and position of lipid droplets, which may be a symptom of metabolic stress.”

The project aims to check how FHOD1 affects those processes and whether its modification can increase the effectiveness of anticancer therapy. We will experiment on cells and animal models to learn whether supporting a pharmacological therapy with lowering of FHOD1 levels may increase the effectiveness of the treatment. We will use the newest technologies of imaging and metabolic analysis, and the cooperation with our Canadian partners will enable us to identify the molecular partners of FHOD1.

Understanding these interconnections may be a path to the new strategies of treating not only skin melanoma, but also other metabolic-disorder-connected diseases. It’s a step towards a more precise and effective therapy, based on the weak points of cancers.

Quarks and leptons are the basic ingredients of the matter. The quarks build protons and neutrons (nucleons), which constitute for atomic nuclei. Electrons, which are leptons, create a cloud around the atomic cores. Interestingly, though protons and neutrons were discovered as free particles (correspondingly in the years 1920 and 1932), the free quarks have not yet been observed. They seem to be always bound in groups, creating protons, neutrons and other particles called hadrons.

The theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), which describes the interaction of quarks, assumes as a result of extremally large temperature and energy density, nucleons and other hadrons undergo a drastic change. In the temperature of over 1.66 x 10¹²K, which is much higher than the temperature of the Sun’s core (1.57 x 10⁷K), the quarks ‘melt’ and start moving as quasi-free particles (not bound in nucleons). This is what we call Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). In the first microseconds after the Big Bang, the whole matter of the Universe existed in this state. We can recreate small droplets of QGP only for a moment, during the experiments in which heavy atomic nuclei collide at the near-light speeds.

Such experiments are carried out in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in Brookaven National Laboratory, as well as in the Large Hadron Collider in CERN.

There is one more place in the Universe, where the matter may turn into free quarks: neutron stars or, more generally, compact stars. Inside such stars, the nuclear matter isn’t as hot as during collision experiments or in the early Universe, but it’s extremely dense. Therefore, the transition towards quark matter occurs not because of temperature, but because of the unimaginable compression.

But what is the difference between the characteristics of Quark Gluon Plasma in the early Universe and compact stars? Little do we know. According to QCD, when the matter is heated, its transition from hadrons to QGP is smooth, as hadrons melt gradually, with no particular temperature beginning the process. That is how the matter was transformed when the early Universe expanded and cooled. On the other hand, cold temperatures and high density normally result in the first order phase transition – just as ice melts and water boils at a particular temperature. However, we cannot say where to put a borderline between the first order phase transition and smooth crossover (smooth transition).

“In the project, we want to examine the signatures of different types of phase transitions between hadron matter and QGP”, explains the researcher. “During the experiments, we will collide the heavy atomic cores in RHIC Beam Energy Scan and FAIR at GSI Darmstadt (which is still under construction) in order to produce droplets of strongly interacting matter of changing temperature and density. We will build new, dynamic models of heavy-ion collisions, based on relativistic fluid dynamics and relativistic kinematics. We will also compare the models with the data from the experiments, using the Bayesian inference.”

The project aims to create a new family of fully organic molecules and crystals, in which spin frustration takes place. Spin frustration occurs when a state in which three or more electrons with unpaired spin cannot simultaneously align in an energetically favourable configuration. The result may be a unique, highly correlated quant state, called quantum spin liquid, which is useful for the long-term development of quantum computers and precise magnetic sensors.

The Sudetes and the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland are important areas in the discussion of Poland as an East-West animal migration corridor. The Sudetes findings turned out to be particularly interesting, as the morphometric analyses indicated that the discovered remains belonged not to one, but to five different chronosubspecies, including three which were discovered in this area for the first time. It is the presence of a small cave bear Ursus savini rossicus, an old and independent lineage of cave bears, which is particularly worth attention, as it is a first finding proving that they inhabited Central Europe. This discovery was based on an examination of over 8000 bones from the Połom Mountain and was confirmed by the preliminary genetic tests.

The analyses and the results of diverse morphometric (3D scans, Landmark-based geometric morphometrics), isotopic and genetic studies will be correlated with the age of the finding (established on the basis of radiocarbon and uranium-thorium dating). All the research will be carried out by an experienced team. Each finding will be examined in the whole range of tests, meant to answer the key questions about the possible coexistence of different chronosubspecies of the cave bear, the scale and character of their competition, their ecological niches and dietary preferences, their migratory patterns, as well as source of particular phylogenetic lineages, corelation of morphometric and genetical date and possible hybridization with brown bear.

The research on the cave bear, which is an almost iconic species of the upper Pleistocene, may be a tangible help in the protection of contemporary big predators. The discovery of the factors which brought to the extinction of the cave bears may help us learn how to slow down current extinction trends. It is crucial to the possible reintroduction of the brown bear to the Sudetes, where it once lived. It is also important for understanding the relations between the humans, bears and the environment at the time when the Sudetes were inhabited by those animals. Perhaps we will finally confirm the theories about the cult of cave bears at this area. Learning about the evolution process of cave bear and its relations with the environment is the first step of the study of the paleoenvironment of the Sudetes and showing its uniqueness in comparison to other upland and mountain terrains of Europe, such as Cracow-Częstochowa Upland (Poland), Swabian Jura (Germany), Moravian Kras (Czech Republic) or Ukrainian part of the Carpathian Mountains.

The research goal of the project is creation of new research methods and researching the unknown mechanisms of serpentinization with the use of core-flow system equipped with pressure and temperature transductor.

Our aims are:

• distinguishing and characterising the stages of serpentinization – identification of metastable and preceding mineral states (e.g. brucite, calcite, amorphous silica) during the controlled flow of water through the core;
•  analysis of the isotope fractionation for gas, solid, and liquid state of matter over time with the use of real-time isotope monitoring
• analysis of the isotope production with the use of Δ₄₇, Δ₄₈ and the relation between stable isotopes C, O and H (as above) – comparing isotopic signatures of doubly clumped isotopes parameters – solving the problem of Δ₄₇ movement and possible 17O deficit in carbonites in the serpentinite
• quantification of kinetic control in relation to thermodynamic control – determining the relative share of kinetic isotope effects as compared to equilibrium isotope effects in changing P-T conditions and changing liquid-solid ratio
• determining the isotopic mass balance constraints with the use of different flow directions and circulation and dual fluid strategy (meant to imitate the natural conditions, as well as dual fluid systems – both the ones similar to meteoric ones and the ones with the use of synthetised H₂O with the mass-independent effects in δ¹⁷O –δ¹⁸O) in order to decide whether the formation of carbonate and brucite is ”remembered” by the liquids or regains the balance with rock

More information on the website of the National Science Centre.

Edited by Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz

Translated by Julia Wdowiak (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.

Date of publication: 03.12.2025
Added by: E.K.