ACTIVITIES

• Insect sex pheromones and other semiochemicals: (I) Isolation, identification and synthesis of insect sex pheromones and other semiochemicals (alomones, kairomones), (II) Study of insect behavior (III) Effect of plant (host) volatiles on the oviposition behavior of insects, (III) Development of slow release formulation for volatiles chemicals, (V) Development of environmentally safe methods for pest control.
  
• Insect chemoreception: (I) Purification and characterization of multiple forms of odorant/pheromone binding proteins in the antennae of Lepidopterous species in order to study the physiology of their olfactory system. (II) Biochemical and molecular studies to explore the signalling pathways for analysis of gene encoding proteins, involved in the chemosensory process of insects. (III) Define certain synthetic chemical molecules (pheromone analogues) that inhibit natural pheromone molecules binding on the olfactory receptor.
  
• Natural pesticides: (I) Isolation and identification of secondary metabolites that mimics or act as antagonists of the two important hormonal regulators in insects the juvenile hormone and the moulting hormone (ecdysone) and compounds with insecticidal properties from plants. (II) Study of the mode of action of entomopathogenic fungi isolated from the soil or infested insect larvae. (III) Isolation and identification of the fungi produced toxins. (V) Integration of the developed biopesticides to pest control programs.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
GC-MS, VG Trio 1000 / Hewlett Packard 5890
GC-FT-IR Perkin Elmer 2000
Amino Acid Analyser Waters Associates M-600AO
Gas Chromatograph Varian 3300, Varian 3400 and Perkin Elmer Autosystem
High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) Perkin Elmer LC 250.
Head Space Volatiles Collector TEKMAR CLS-1 and TEKMAR LSC 2000
Speed Vac Savant SVC 100
Image Analyzer VILBER LOURMA

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Sex pheromones isolation, from economic important insect pests.
  
• Consultancy to interesting companies or cooperatives for environmentally safe pest management methods
  
• Sex pheromone dispensers for monitoring the population of agricultural important pests
  
• Slow release pheromone formulations for mating disruption (olive pests, corn pest)
  

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ACTIVITIES
Examination of Molecular Mechanisms of Diseases involving the Extracellular Matrix/Basement membranes: Diabetes Mellitus, Diseases of the Central Nervous System (Alzheimer's dementia, Multiple Sclerosis). Cell-Matrix interactions, with emphasis on interactions with basement membrane collagen (collagen IV). Integrin-mediated interactions with collagen IV. Integrin-mediated signaling and control of gene expression. Control of the expression of collagenasses (metalloproteinases: MMPs) and their inhibitors (Tissue-specific inhibitors of metalloprotenases: TIMPs) in Diabetes Mellitus. Modulation of integrin function and expression in Diabetes Mellitus. Prediction of diabetic complications, and in particular diabetic nephropathy, based on early changes of integrin function and expression. Molecular mechanisms involved in the development of nephropathies: Τhe role of podocalyxin, a protein of the basal surface of glomerular epithelial cells. Examination of the effects of plant extracts that compete for the effects of increased glucose concentrations in cell culture systems. Investigation of molecular mechanisms of action of these extracts.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Flow Cytometer, Confocal Microscope

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ACTIVITIES

• Procurement and Processing of Tissues
  All tissues collected from Hospitals should come from individuals with known medical history, and free from malignancies, Hepatitis virus, HIV or other contagious diseases and after informed consent.
  
  Since 1969, when the Bank started production, approximately 28000 grafts of various types of tissues were delivered to Hospitals.
• Expanding our know-how to other tissues
  
• Research

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

• Surgery Room
  
• Storing Room with two deep freezers
  
• Freeze Drying machines
  
• Chemical Lab. It contains: Steam steriliser, Karl-Fischer titrator, Laminar Flow Hood, of a class 100 system
  
• Tissue and Grafts Control is carried out in facilities permitting tissue observation as well as sterility and antigenicity tests
  
• Sterilization Facilities: Nuclear Reactor, a Co-60 source
  
• Dosimetry

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Grafts of various tissues for medical use: cancelous and cortical bone grafts, dura mater, fascia lata, cartilage, tendons, peripheral nerves, skin, and amniotic membranes.
  
• Radiosterilization of disposable medical devices and instruments
  
• Education and training

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ACTIVITIES
Soil pollution and radionuclide transfer from soil to annual crops and evergreen trees
Soil parameters influencing radionuclide availability to plants.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Fully equipped soil science lab.
γ. spectroscopy

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
Radioecology, Modeling

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ACTIVITIES

• Structure determination of proteins using X-ray crystallography.
  
• Modeling of protein structure.
  
• Study of protein-protein interactions.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
X-ray diffraction system for crystallography of macromolecules.

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

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ACTIVITIES

• Radiation:
  
  • Radiation Effects on DNA.
    
  • DNA Breaks.
    
  • DNA Repair.
    
  • DNA Thermal Transition.
    
  • DNA Dielectric Properties.
    
  • Mutagenesis.
    
  • Carcinogenesis.
    
  • Apoptosis
    
• Molecular Genetics:
  
  • Gene expression
    
  • Structure-function analysis of transmembrane proteins
    
  • Functional genomics

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Spectrophotometers UV/VIS 918 GΒC and 551S Perkin-Elmer, autoclave oven Tuttnaeuer 3870E, Biological CO2 auto-zero incubator Heraeus, Biological orbital shaker New Brunswick Scientific, Scientific microscope Jenaval, inverted microscope Olympus 1M, Gene Amp PCR Perkin Elmer 2400, Sequencing instrumentation Consort B 2300, Power supply Consort E432 and E861, Gel Drier Heto GD1, Hybridization oven Stuart S1 20H, Pulsed-Field Gel electrophoresis instrumentation Rotaphor Type V computerized (Biometra), horizontal gel electrophoresis instrumentation (Consort and Pharmacia), vertical gel electrophoresis instrumentation (Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bioproducts BV 101), protein transfer instrumentation (Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bioproducts ΒΒ 100), circulators Heto Chill Master Comfort CB 8-30E and miniplus 3 Gilson, UV Transilluminator UVP, INC TM-20.

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

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ACTIVITIES

• Mathematical properties of DNA sequences:
  
• randomness and order,
• long and short range correlations,
• linguistic aspects.
• Modeling of developmental events:
  
  • Μodels of vertebrate limb development. Regulation of expression of the HOX genes.
    
  • Early development, main body axes formation,
  • left-right asymmetries.

• Reaction-Diffusion systems:
  
  • spontaneous symmetry breaking,
  • minimal requirements of pattern formation,
  • applications in biology.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Computational infrastructure

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

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ACTIVITIES

• Genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in metabolism, cell cycle control and apoptosis
  
• Involvement of apoptotic pathways in carcinogenesis and drug resistance
  
• Gene expression in cancer
  
• Mutation spectra of environmental agents

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
PE ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyser
Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope (Analysis and processing of colour images)
PE Expedite 8909 (DNA synthesiser)

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
DNA sequence analysis
DNA synthesis

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ACTIVITIES
Studies regarding changes in the constitution of chromatin related to histone variant expression and histone acetylation using a number of cellular systems in order to obtain information which will relate the histone constitution of chromatin to its biological functional state. The systems which have been used are the in vitro aging cell systems of human diploid fibroblasts and long term T-lymphocyte cell cultures, as well as peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal individuals and patients with bipolar disorder.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

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ACTIVITIES
The research focuses on the regulation of mRNA 3΄-end formation and its crucial role in normal cell growth, development and transformation. The basic effort can be divided into two overlapping areas of (i) cellular processes including differentiation, cell division and cell death related to functional and structural alterations of the enzyme of polyadenylation and (ii) molecular mechanisms which loosely reflect molecules (biological modifiers and anticancer drugs) influencing the response of a cell at the post-transcriptional level of gene expression.

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

• Cell cultures, cell separation, cloning
  
• Facilities of radioactive measurements of specific enzymes
  
• Immunodiagnostic facilities

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
Development of leukemic and cancer biomarkers

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ACTIVITIES

• Mechanisms of ageing and longevity
  
• Growth factor-mediated intracellular signal transduction / Cell cycle regulation
  
• Cell-matrix interactions
  
• In-vitro studies on tissue repair
  
• In vitro evaluation of components with pharmacological interest (with possible wound repair, anti-oxidant/anti-ageing, cytostatic action)

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

• Cell culture facilities: laminar flow, CO2 incubators, light- and UV-microscopes, β- and γ-radioactivity counters, Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorter (FACS).
• Cell bank containing normal and transformed human cells strains (fibroblasts, osteoblasts, smooth muscle cells, keratinocytes) from various developmental stages, as well as several cancerous cell lines.
• The basic infrastructure for biochemical and molecular biology studies.

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Evaluation of natural products and synthetic components with pharmacological interest (with possible wound repair, anti-oxidant/anti-ageing or cytostatic action).
  

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ACTIVITIES
Nutritional ecology and biochemistry with emphasis on insects, agricultural production and environmental protection

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this research, the infrastructure of the Biology Institute has been used for biological material and chemical analyses and selected agricultural cultures and industries for sampling.

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

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ACTIVITIES

Molecular structure and dynamics in solution using NMR and other spectroscopic methods like CD. Two types of molecules are considered:

• Peptides and proteins
  
• Complexes of transition state elements designed as potential pharmaceuticals

ACCESSIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

• 250 MHz (AC, Bruker) and 500 MHz (Avance, Bruker) NMR spectrometers
  
• CD spectropolarimeter (J-715, Jasco)

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
Services provided regarding the use of the 500 MHz NMR spectrometer
Education and supervision of graduate students towards a PhD degree
Universities, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, and Food companies, Analytical laboratories, etc.

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ACTIVITIES

• Regulation of cell differentiation and gene expression during insect oogenesis: hormonal receptors, transcription factors and differential gene expression in the follicular cells.
  
• Molecular biology of nuclear polyhedrosis viruses: mechanisms of virus-host specificity, utilization of genetically modified viruses for biological control of harmful insects, genetic manipulation of insects.
  
• Recombinant protein overexpression and production systems based on genetically transformed insect cell cultures: production of antigens for vaccine development, production of proteins for basic research, medical and pharmaceutical applications.
  
• Functional genomics and pharmacogenomics: development of high-throughput systems for fast detection of new pharmaceutical targets and detection of bioactive molecules in natural products.
  
• Development of new transfer vectors in human cells utilized in cellular immunization and gene therapy.

INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABLE

• Insect cell culture: incubators, laminar flow hood, inverted microscopes, fluorescence microscopes, refrigerated microcentrifuge.
  
• Protein production: affinity purification columns, antibody purification columns
  
• Molecular cloning: DNA electrophoresis, microcentrifuges, oligonucleotide synthesizer (ΙΒ), DNA sequencer (IΒ), ultracentrifuges (IΒ), electroporator (ΙΒ)
  
• Gene expression studies: micro-plate reader for fluorescence, chemiluminescence and absorbance (green fluorescent protein-, β-galactosidase- and luciferase-based; fluorescence resonance energy transfer FRET/BRET studies for protein interaction) (ΙΒ), speed vac concentrator (IΒ), liquid scintillation counter (IΒ)
  
• Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (IΒ)
  
• Microscopes: fluorescence microscope, confocal microscope (IΒ)

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Recombinant protein production based on genetically transformed insect cell lines: production of antigens for vaccine development, production of proteins for basic research, medical and pharmaceutical applications.
  
• Development of genetically transformed insect cell lines for fast detection of bioactive molecules in natural products.
  
• Generation of genetically modified baculoviruses with enhanced capacity to kill insect pests.
  
• Production of DNA vaccine vectors.
  
• Development of screening systems for fast detection of protein-protein interactions using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology.
  
• Protected Intellectual Property for above technologies and applications.

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ACTIVITIES

• Molecular mechanisms of G protein coupled receptors
• Determination of the structural determinants of opioid receptors responsible for receptor activation and G protein and effector coupling specificity
• Opioid receptor signaling "beyond" G proteins
• Identification of the molecular signaling circuits through which drug abuse leads to alterations in gene expression and synaptic plasticity
• Development of high-throughput systems for fast detection of new pharmacological analogs for selective G protein coupled receptors

INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABLE

• Mammalian tissue culture
• Stably expressed G-protein coupled receptors in mammalian cell lines
• cDNAs of cloned G protein coupled receptors
• Brandel harvester (BRANDEL) for filtering multiple samples

SERVICE PROVIDED/PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

• Antibodies for all the subtypes of opioid receptors
• Minigenes encoding receptor regions as potential activators or inhibitors of G protein signaling
• Development of screening systems for G protein coupled receptors

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