Prof. Peter Veranič, Ph.D.

Research of contact dependent intercellular communication in urothelium, urothelial regeneration after induced shedding (with chitosan),  induced disconnection and reconnection of intercellular junctions mainly desmosomes, influence of cholesterol enriched membrane rafts on stabilization of desmosomes, reorganisation of intermediary filaments of cytoskeleton as stabilizers of desmosomal intercellular attachment and also as a hallmark of urothelial differentiation, in vitro and ex vivo epithelio-mesenchymal and mesenchymal-epithelial transition after injury and regeneration process of urothelial cells, comparison of functionality recovery after regeneration by concomitant measurement of transepithelial resistance and rearrangement of supramolecular differentiation markers in urothelial cells (cytokeratins, apical surface, tight junctions), intercellular communication with nanotubular connections and extracellular micro or nanovesicles, biochemistry and ultrastructure of nanotubes and vesicles and their role in intercellular communication between normal and cancer urothelial cells.

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Recent research topics are focused on interstitial cystitis and the effect of cannabinoids in treatment of the symptoms of bladder inflammation, bacterial infections of urothelium and treatment with a combination of antibiotics and chitosan, development of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to analyze their internalization into bladder cancer cells, and membrane raft attachment molecules as tools for selective treatment of bladder cancer and bacterial cystitis.