• effects of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs on endocrinological and immunological systems;
• effects of antidepressants on the immune response;
• effects of antidepressants on tumor growth;
• estrogen interactions with internal and external apoptotic pathways;
• impact of estrogens and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) on excitatory amino acid-, proinflammatory cytokine-, and dioxin-induced neuronal cell damage;
• intracellular mechanisms of apoptotic processes in neuronal cells;
• molecular interaction of antidepressants and drugs of abuse with corticosteroid receptors;
• molecular interactions of psychotropic drugs with glucocorticoid receptors and the corticotropin-releasing hormone gene;
• role of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and steroids in excitotoxicity, seizures and apoptosis;
• apoptotic effects of dioxins and AhR in neuronal cells;
• neuroprotective action of phytoestrogens in neurodevelopmental models of hypoxia and excitotoxicity;
• effects of endocrine disruptors on neuronal development;
• influence of antidepressants on apoptotic processes;
• effect of metabotropic glutamatergic group II and III ligands on neuronal apoptosis.

Behavioural:
- excitatory amino acid-induced seizures;
- LPS-induced depression-like and schizophrenia-like syndromes in animals;
- prenatal restraint stress in the rat - animal model of depression.

Surgical:
- experimental skin transplantation;
- splenectomy; adrenalectomy; ovariectomy;
- induction of a systemic or a regional graft-versus-host reaction;
- stereotaxic brain surgery.

Biochemical:
- primary neuronal cell cultures (striatal, neocortical, hippocampal, cerebellar cells);
- cell line cultures (PC12, neuro-2A, NG108-15, SH-SY5Y, SK-N-SH);
- immune cell cultures;
- transient and stable transfection of adherent mammalian cells;
- assay of reporter gene activity in transfected cell extracts;
- lactate dehydrogenase assay;
- MAP-2 and GFAP immunostainings;
- assessment of the mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity;
- caspase-3 activity assay;
- DNA-laddering;
- calcein/ethidium homodimer-1 test;
- nitrite assay;
- estimation of the metabolic activity of macrophages;
- Hoechst 33342 and calcein AM double staining;
- measurement of neurotransmitter uptake;
- determination of neurotransmitter release in vitro;
- electrophoresis of proteins and the Western blot analysis;
- radioligand receptor binding techniques;
- assay of protein kinases;
- in situ hybridization analysis of mRNA;
- receptor autoradiography;
- ELISA;
- siRNA gene silencing;
- double immunostainings.

The Department cooperates with:

the Institute of Cognition and Information of the Nijmegen University (the Netherlands)

- involvement of steroids in the regulation of epileptic activity in WAG/Rij rats;

the Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria)

- ROS in the effects of anti-inflammatory and anti-depressant drugs;

the Clinical Research Centre for Mental Health in Antwerp (Belgium)

- examination of the effect of antidepressants and serotonin receptors ligands on cytokine production by human immunocytes;

the University of Basque Country in Bilbao (Spain)

- the effect of antidepressant drugs on tumor growth;

the Institute of Neuroanatomy, RWTH Aachen – University Clinic (Germany)

- studies on the interaction between estrogens and cytokines in neurodegenerative processes.

PhD Students:

Engineers, Technicians, and Other Employees: