Laboratory of insect immunometabolism
Bajgarlab
Role of macrophages in the regulation of homeostasis in drosophila
Despite macrophage (Mϕ) research being initially focused on their role in immune response, there has been emerging evidence of Mϕs not being just cells merely engulfing pathogens. Upon various stimuli, they polarize and change their metabolism leading to the release of cytokines with signaling properties. Two worlds have fused - knowlege from basic immunology and metabolism has been gathered together and has given rise to a new research field - immunometabolism.
Our small group led by Adam Bajgar branched from a research team percieving Mϕs as cells regulating whole body homeostasis. We investigate cellular metabolism of Drosophila Mϕs and it´s impact on the systemic metabolism not only in bacterial infection, but also in the context of nutritional dysbalance. Ranging from immunometabolism to developing novel delivery tools into Mϕs, we take advantage of unique Drosophila genetic tools. These allow for an easily inducible tissue- and time-specific genetic manipulations. We are particulary passionate about imaging of Drosophila Mϕs either by confocal or electron microscopy. We belive that science offers a great space for art.
We published our paper entitled “Inhibition of mevalonate pathway by macrophage- specific delivery of atorvastatin prevents their pro-inflammatory polarization” in Insect Molecular Biology. Many thanks to our collaborators from VSCHT, Prague.
Gabriela won the first prize in won the first prize in Scientific Image Competition 2023 of the Faculty of Science in the category Scientific merit.
We are very happy that our picture made the cover of The EMBO Journal.
We published our paper entitled “Magnetic yeast glucan particles for antibody-free separation of viable macrophages from Drosophila melanogaster” in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.
We published our paper entitled “Macrophage-derived insulin antagonist ImpL2 induces lipoprotein mobilization upon bacterial infection” in The EMBO Journal. Many thanks to our collaborators!
We attended the XII European Congress of Entomology in Heraklion, Crete together with the lab of Dr. Marcela Nouzova and prof. Fernando Noriega. We presented our results in a form of two posters.
Adam Bajgar gave an invited presentation entitled “Functional versatility of Drosophila macrophages” at Institute of Physiology CAS, Prague, Czech Republic.
Adam Bajgar had a keynote speech at a conference Bioenergetics 2023, Olešná, Czech Republic.
We published our Hypothesis and Theory article entitled “On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages.”
Gabriela Krejčová won the second and third prize in Scientific Image Competition 2022 in the category Scientific merit.
Adam Bajgar received a three year funding from Czech Science Foundantion.
We attended the Immunology Meets Philosophy conference in Prague, Czech Republic.
Gabriela Krejčová won the best PhD presentation at the retreat of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.
We attended the conference Frontiers In Physiology and Disease organized by Michal Žurovec at the Institute of Entomology CAS in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. While Adam Bajgar had an oral presentation concerning the development of hemocyte-specific delivery tools, Gabriela Krejčová was presenting the project on the role of the signaling molecule ImpL2 during bacterial infection.
We attended the conference Cell Symposia: Translational Immunometabolism in Basel, Switzerland. We presented our projects in the form of two posters.
We welcome to the team our new master student Diana Novotná. Her main aim will be to reveal the role of ketone bodies during bacterial infection.
Gabriela Krejčová won the first prize in Scientific Image Competition 2021 in the category Aesthetic merit and second prize in the category Scientific merit.
Our master student Adéla Danielová successfully defended her master thesis exploring the biology of adipose tissue remodeling during metamorphosis. Congratulations on this achievement and we wish you all the best in your future career!
Gabriela Krejčová won the best PhD presentation at the retreat of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.
Hana Vargová successfully defended her bachelor thesis. Congratulations!
Gabriela Krejčová received a one year funding from the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia. She will focus on targeted delivery of atorvastatin as a potent medication for lowering macrophage cholesterol content.
We published our Review article entitled “Polarization of Macrophages in Insects: Opening Gates for Immuno-Metabolic Research.”
We welcome to the team our new bachelor student Hana Vargová.
We are very excited to welcome in Czech Republic junior professor Katrin Kierdorf and doctor Jennifer Regan. Since our laboratories focus on Drosophila hemocytes, together we established a HemoTeam group of young investigators. We hope this platform will enable sharing our knowledge, protocols and results.
Gabriela Krejčová won the third prize in Scientific Image Competition 2019 in the category Scientific merit.
We gathered our best images and created a wall calendar for 2020. The idea behind is that every day, we should make a note about some observation or a small discovery that we made that particular day. Well, good luck with that! :)
Our master student Adéla Danielová received a one year funding from the Student Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia. She will be investigating the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes during bacterial infection. Congratulations!
Adam Bajgar received a three year funding from Czech Science Foundantion.
We published our paper entitled “Drosophila macrophages switch to aerobic glycolysis to mount effective antibacterial defense” in Elife.
Vanja Mirosavljević successfully defended her bachelor thesis concerning the effect of high fat diet feeding on resistence to bacterial infection.
We published our paper entitled “Yeast glucan particles enable intracellular protein delivery in Drosophila without compromising the immune system” in Biomaterials Science. Many thanks to our collaborators from VSCHT, Prague!
We attended EDRC 2019 conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. We presented two posters - one concerning the ImpL2 project and one about the metabolic switch in activated macrophages.
We attended the conference Frontiers In Insect Physiology organized by prof. Michal Žurovec in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Gabriela Krejčová was presenting our project investigating the metabolic setup of insect hemocytes challenged by bacterial infection.
Adéla defended her bachelor thesis and was evaluated as excellent! Adéla will continue to work in our laboratory also during her Master´s studies. Congratulations!
We visited the lab of our new collaborator doctor Paola Bellosta in Trento, Italy and had a joint labmeeting.
Adam Bajgar gave an invited talk at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
The research article entitled “Liver macrophages regulate systemic metabolism through non-inflammatory factors” is now published in Nature Metabolism. Many thanks to our collaborators from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden!
Gabriela won first prize in aesthetics cathegory of Image competition of the Department of Molecular biology and Genetics 2018 with her image of Drosophila cryosection. Moreover, Adéla won third prize in scientific merit cathegory with her image of paraffin section of freshly emerged fly. Congratulations!
Gabriela Krejčová received two year funding from the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia. She will focus on the role of hemocytes in adipose tissue remodeling during metamorphosis.
Zoja Lakovič successfully defended her bachelor thesis concerning the role of adenosine deaminase in energy regulation during bacterial infection.
Gabriela won first and third prize in aesthetics cathegory of Image competition of the Department of Molecular biology and Genetics 2017 with her pictures from confocal microscope.