• the role of endogenous opioid peptides in physiology and pathology of the central nervous system;
• pharmacological and biochemical analysis of endogenous opioid system activities in acute and chronic nociceptive processes;
• the molecular mechanism of drug tolerance and dependence - the role of membrane receptors, G-protein, second messengers, and transcription factors;
• search for genes regulated by psychoactive drugs in the nervous system;
• an analysis of adaptive changes in the expression of genes induced by chronic treatment with drugs of abuse;
• the role of transcription factors in the regulation of opioid peptide gene expression;
• gene silencing using RNA interference (SiRNA);
• pharmacogenomics of psychoactive drugs;
• brain transcriptional gene networks and co-expression.

Behavioural:
- automated behavioral profiling in IntelliCages;
- anxiety-like behaviors (LD box, open field, EPMT, hole board;
- depressive-like behaviors (FST, TST, sucrose oral self-administration;
- learning and memory (MWM, Barnes maze, EPMSL, Y-maze, T maze, object recognition test, PIT, conditional reinforcement, fear conditioning, passive/active avoidance);
- behavioral effects of drugs of abuse (locomotor, analgesia, tolerance, dependence, reward, conditional place prefererence, intravenous self-administration).

Biochemical:
- measurement of gene expression and transcription regulation (in situ hybridization, Northern blot, Western blot;
- reverse transcription - real-time polymerase chain reaction, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, in vitro transfection);
- cell cultures;
- antisense and SiRNA methods in vitro and in vivo;
- computer image analysis (MCID).

Transgenic models:
- Cre/IoxP mediated selective gene ablations restricted to specific cell populations;
- cell-type specific gene knock-downs using artificial microRNAs;
- cell-type specific blockade of neurotransmitter release.

Pharmacogenomics:
- gene expression profiling using whole genome DNA microarrays (Illumina, Affymetrix);
- pharmacogenomics of psychotropic drug response.

Bioinformatics:
- biostatistics and bioinformatic data analysis (R, Perl, Python);
- database development (MySQL, PostgreSQL, HadoopDB, Infobright, Oracle);
- software development (Java, J2EE, GWT, Spring, Hibernate).

The Department cooperates with:

the CNR Institute of Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology in Rome (Italy)

- studies on actions of psychotropic drugs in genetically different strains of mice;

the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg (Germany)

- examining opioid-induced changes in gene expression and opioid receptor internalization;

the Institute of Biochemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged (Hungary)

- studies on biological characteristics of novel opioid receptor ligands;

the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Philipps University in Marburg (Germany)

- examining the role of spinal cord neuropeptide systems in pathological pain;

the Rudolph Magnus Institute of the Utrecht University (the Netherlands)

- studies on the interaction between melanocortin and opioid systems in nociceptive processes;

the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany)

- transgenic mouse models.

PhD Students:

Engineers, Technicians, and Other Employees: