Petr is a research worker who dedicated the first decade of his carrier to analytical biochemistry (electrophoretic techniques). Since his stay by Prof. Kenneth Söderhšll at Uppsala University in (1991) he become more interested in proteins involved in invertebrate immunity. He has purified and characterized clotting protein and hemaglutinin from freshwater crayfish. During his stay at Free University Berlin (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation), he has isolated a prophenoloxidase from hemolymph of wax moth Galleria mellonella and participated in purification of apolipophorinIII and inducible metaloprotease inhibitor from this insect.
In the year 1996, he has joined Institute of Parasitology. Since that time he is focused mainly on immune proteins in ticks. Soft tick Ornithodoros moubata [omoubat1.jpg, omoubat2.jpg] is used as a model animal for both biochemical and molecular biology research within his group. To the date, three proteins which apparently play a role in in immune system and pathohgen transmission in O. moubata were described by his group: Tick a-macroglobulin (TAM) (an universal protease inhibitor); Dorin M, a sialic acid - specific lectin from tick plasma and a lysozyme from tick gut contents.
His research is currently supported by a grant 206/0002666 from the Grant Agency CR and by the project VS96066 from the Ministry of Education and Sports CR.
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GÖTZ M.G., JAMES K.E., HANSELL E., DVOŘÁK J., SESHAADRI A., SOJKA D., KOPÁČEK P., MCKERROW J.H., CAFFREY C.R., POWERS J.C.
(2008)
Aza-peptidyl Michael acceptors. A new class of potent and selective inhibitors of asparaginyl endopeptidases (legumains) from evolutionarily diverse pathogens.
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
51,
2816-
2832.
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MAN P., KOVÁŘ V., ŠTĚRBA J., STROHALM M., KAVAN D., KOPÁČEK P., GRUBHOFFER L., HAVLÍČEK V.
(2008)
Deciphering Dorin M glycosylation by mass spectrometry.
European Journal of Mass Spectrometry
14,
345-
354.
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SOJKA D., FRANTA Z., HORN M., HAJDUŠEK O., CAFFREY C.R., MAREŠ M., KOPÁČEK P.
(2008)
Profiling of proteolytic enzymes in the gut of the tick Ixodes ricinus reveals an evolutionarily conserved network of aspartic and cysteine peptidases.
Parasites & Vectors
0,
0-
0.
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SOJKA D., HAJDUŠEK O., DVOŘÁK J., SAJID M., FRANTA Z., SCHNEIDER E.L., CRAIK C.S., VANCOVÁ M., BUREŠOVÁ V., BOGYO M., SEXTON K.B., MC KERROW J.H., CAFFREY C.R., KOPÁČEK P.
(2007)
IrAE – An asparaginyl endopeptidase (legumain) in the gut of the hard tick Ixodes ricinus.
International Journal for Parasitology
37,
713-
724.
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BUREŠOVÁ V., FRANTA Z., KOPÁČEK P.
(2006)
A comparison of Chryseobacterium indologenes pathogenicity to the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata and hard tick Ixodes ricinus.
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
93,
96-
104.
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GRUNCLOVÁ L., HORN M., VANCOVÁ M., SOJKA D., FRANTA Z., MAREŠ M., KOPÁČEK P.
(2006)
Two secreted cystatins of the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata: differential expression pattern and inhibitory specificity.
Biological Chemistry
387,
1635-
1644.
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REGO R.O.M., KOVÁŘ V., KOPÁČEK P., WEISE C., MAN P., ŠAUMAN I., GRUBHOFFER L.
(2006)
The tick plasma lectin, Dorin M, is a fibrinogen-related molecule.
Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
36,
291-
299.
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