Physical Properties of Biomaterials Research Group

In our research we combine physical, chemical and biological study of organic systems.  We use set of physical, chemical and biological methods to find influence of physical parameters on funcionality of molecular and biological complexes. Beside our standard optical spectroscopy  techniques we also use experimental eqiupment of Center of functional materials for bio-applications ( analytical methods for materials on the border between the organic and inorganic world AFM, STM, IR spectral ellipsometry).  

We tudy the materials used in advanced medical applications, which on the one hand require demanding structural and functional characterization, and on the other hand they are ready for contact or are already in contact with the biological environments. In vivo experiments on cells are made in cooperation with 1 Faculty of Medicine Charles University. Theoretical parts of our studies  include  Density Functional Theory calculations and molecular dynamics.  The research was successfully completed by filing a national patent application[Polyepitope recombinat vaccines for protection against Lyme borreliosis in human and veterinar medicine, PV2014 - 320 ]. Discovery of the new vaccine against Lyme borreliosis was widely presented in the media, highly appreciated by the Czech society and the team was nominated for prestigious AWARD Česká hlava 2014 for this collaborative research achievement. Currently, the activities of the PPB group represent key part of the biophysics research within the newly build interdisciplinary centre SAFMAT and FUNBIO. The group is going to focus on the development of Atomic Force Microscopy facilities for organic materials, characterization of functionalized thin films and in-vivo living cells imaging. I. Kratochvilova with collegues from Veterinary Research Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry and Bioveta a.s. obtained award Cooperation of the Year 2014 for the project  Recombinant Vaccine against Lyme Borreliosis.   

Cooperation

• 1.Faculty of Medicine, Charles Univerity in Prague
• Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry AS CR 
• Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR
• Faculty of Chemistry VUT Brno
• Biophysical Institute AS CR
• Nuclear Physics Institute AS CR, Rez near Prague
• Department of Theoretical Chemistry and Amsterdam Center for Multiscale Modeling (ACMM), VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1083, 1081 HV Amsterdam
• Institute for Molecules and Materials (IMM), Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• Department of Chemistry, University of Wyoming, USA