Bálint Szabó

Biography

Bálint Szabó is working as a professor at Semmelweis University

Research Interest

Three different but complementary technologies are used in the study of human monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. These are the following: label-free optical biosensor with high permeability (Corning EPIC), computer driven micropipette (CellSorter) and a fluorescent microscope operating on the basis of complete reflection (TIRFM). These technologies share the common characteristic of being able to study living cells on the optically available flat surface. In case of the EPIC and the computer driven micropipette protein specificity is provided by the biochemical treatment of the surface. The EPIC provides a high resolution monitoring of the kinetics of cell adhesion. The TIRF microscope enables the tracking of intracellular proteins taking part in cell adhesion by studying the cells fixated at different times after the immunocytochemical marking. The computer driven micropipette enables the precise identification of the singular cells’ adhesive force expressed in nN unit. The three technologies are also used after silencing the RNA coding integrin subunits and after blocking the receptor by antibody. By assessing the results obtained in such manner we aim to set up a new biophysics model, which provides information on the course of the integrin-dependent adhesion of leukocytes.