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Topic Review
Molecular Mechanism of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare autoimmune inflammatory disorder affecting the central nervous system (CNS), specifically the optic nerve and the spinal cord, with severe clinical manifestations, including optic neuritis (ON) and transverse myelitis. Initially, NMO was wrongly understood as a condition related to multiple sclerosis (MS), due to a few similar clinical and radiological features, until the discovery of the AQP4 antibody (NMO-IgG/AQP4-ab).NMO was expanded to NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD) because of its varied clinical phenotypes. NMOSD is characterized by the activation of the complement cascade, granulocyte, eosinophil and lymphocyte infiltration, oligodendrocyte, and astrocyte injury, demyelination, and neuronal loss. The studies on gut microbiota and NMOSD explain the correlation between gut dysbiosis and NMOSD by signifying the abundance of pathogenic bacteria and reduction in commensal organisms, which cause abnormal metabolism and metabolic signals in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as NMOSD. 
  • 1.4K
  • 27 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Functions of Microbial Pigments
Microbial pigments play multiple roles in the ecosystem construction, survival, and fitness of all kinds of organisms. Considerably, microbial (bacteria, fungi, yeast, and microalgae) pigments offer a wide array of food, drug, colorants, dyes, and imaging applications.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Adjuvants for New Anti-Tuberculosis Vaccines
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that sits in the top 10 leading causes of death in the world today and is the current leading cause of death among infectious diseases. Although there is a licensed vaccine against TB, the Mycobacterium bovis bacilli Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine, it has several limitations, namely its high variability of efficacy in the population and low protection against pulmonary tuberculosis. New vaccines for TB are needed. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the development and implementation of new TB vaccines to be a priority. Subunit vaccines are promising candidates since they can overcome safety concerns and optimize antigen targeting. Nevertheless, these vaccines need adjuvants in their formulation in order to increase immunogenicity, decrease the needed antigen dose, ensure a targeted delivery and optimize the antigens delivery and interaction with the immune cells. 
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Fungal Cell Factories for Proteins
Filamentous fungi are a large and diverse taxonomically group of microorganisms found in all habitats worldwide. They grow as a network of cells called hyphae. Since filamentous fungi live in very diverse habitats, they produce different enzymes to degrade material for their living, for example hydrolytic enzymes to degrade various kinds of biomasses. Moreover, they produce defense proteins (antimicrobial peptides) and proteins for attaching surfaces (hydrophobins). Many of them are easy to cultivate in different known setups (submerged fermentation and solid-state fermentation) and their secretion of proteins and enzymes are often much larger than what is seen from yeast and bacteria. Therefore, filamentous fungi are in many industries the preferred production hosts of different proteins and enzymes. Edible fungi have traditionally been used as food, such as mushrooms or in fermented foods. New trends are to use edible fungi to produce myco-protein enriched foods. 
  • 1.4K
  • 12 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Lactic Acid Bacteria in Fermentation
The term fermentation derives from the Latin ‘fervere’, which means to boil, due to the appearance produced by yeast on fruit or malt extracts, as a result of the production of carbon dioxide bubbles caused by the catabolism of the sugars in the extract. The most common concept of fermentation is the conversion of sugar into an organic acid, then into alcohol. It occurs naturally in many food types, and humans have used it since ancient times to improve the preservation and the organoleptic properties of food. This term is only used when referring to microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and fungi) to make useful products for humans such as biomasses, enzymes, primary and secondary metabolites, recombinant products, and biotransformed products used in industry. Fermentation is a catabolic process of incomplete oxidation, completely anaerobic, and its final product is an organic compound, where in the absence of oxygen, the final acceptor of the NADH electrons produced in glycolysis is not oxygen, but an organic compound that will be reduced to oxidize NADH to NAD+ . There are different types of fermentation, e.g., alcoholic, acetic, butyric, and lactic. The fermentation processes have some main purposes: (1) the enrichment of the diet by developing flavors, aromas, and textures; (2) food preservation through lactic acid, ethanol, acetic acid, and alkaline fermentations; (3) enrichment of foods with protein, amino acids, lipids, and vitamins; (4) decrease in cooking time and fuel requirements so that the loss of nutrients is less; and (5) it can produce nutrients or eliminate anti-nutrients; being the final product an organic compound that characterizes the types of fermentation.
  • 1.4K
  • 13 May 2021
Topic Review
Syngas Fermentation to Bio-Alcohols
Biomass gasification produces syngas, mainly comprised of CO and H2 along with H2S, CO2, N2, and tar compounds. Inorganic carbon present in syngas as CO and CO2 can be utilized for the production of several value-added chemicals including ethanol, higher alcohols, fuels, and hydrogen using microbial sysytem.
  • 1.4K
  • 26 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Factors Influencing CO2 Biofixation by Microalgae
The production of microalgal biomass is highly influenced by the suitability of microalgae strains, CO2, light, pH, culture system, temperature, and nutrients. The sources of CO2 and nutrients for microalgal cultivation can be flue gas and wastewater, respectively. Therefore, many studies have investigated whether flue gas and wastewater can be integrated with microalgal cultivations, to achieve not only CO2 reduction, but also CO2 reuse for microalgal biomass conversion to produce biofuels. Flue gas and wastewater can also be treated by microalgal cultivations to obtain environmentally friendly and health-friendly effects. In the process of microalgae cultivation, one single factor does not affect the growth of microalgae; it is often the interaction of multiple factors. Therefore, keeping the performance of long-term and stable microalgal cultivation will determine the microalgal growth, especially outdoor cultivation.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Green Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles
Green synthesized cerium oxide nanoparticles (GS-CeO2 NPs) have a unique size, shape, and biofunctional properties and are decorated with potential biocompatible agents to perform various therapeutic actions, such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, and antioxidant effects and drug delivery, by acquiring various mechanistic approaches at the molecular level.
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Biomedical Applications of Microfluidic Devices
Both passive and active microfluidic chips are used in many biomedical and chemical applications to support fluid mixing, particle manipulations, and signal detection. Passive microfluidic devices are geometry-dependent, and their uses are rather limited. Active microfluidic devices include sensors or detectors that transduce chemical, biological, and physical changes into electrical or optical signals. Also, they are transduction devices that detect biological and chemical changes in biomedical applications, and they are highly versatile microfluidic tools for disease diagnosis and organ modeling. Microfluidic devices are fabricated using a range of techniques, including molding, etching, three-dimensional printing, and nanofabrication. Their broad utility lies in the detection of diagnostic biomarkers and organ-on-chip approaches that permit disease modeling in cancer, as well as uses in neurological, cardiovascular, hepatic, and pulmonary diseases. Biosensor applications allow for point-of-care testing, using assays based on enzymes, nanozymes, antibodies, or nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). 
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Microbiology of Syngas-to-Acetate Fermentation
Biotransformation of lignocellulose-derived synthetic gas (syngas) into acetic acid is a promising way of creating biochemicals from lignocellulosic waste materials. Acetic acid has a growing market with applications within food, plastics and for upgrading into a wide range of biofuels and bio-products. This text described mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms in axenic and culture that have the capability of syngas-to-acetate conversion, including their metabolic pathway.
  • 1.4K
  • 19 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Ethidium Bromide-Degrading Bacteria from Laboratory Gel Electrophoresis Waste
The bacterium Proteus terrae is a non-pathogenic and natural microflora of humans, but Morganella morganii is an opportunistic pathogen. These organisms belong to risk group II. Screening the sensitivity of these isolates to antibiotics revealed a sufficient number of antibiotics, which can be used to control them, if required. BR3 and BR4 exhibited resistance to individual antibiotics, ampicillin and vancomycin, whereas only BR3 was resistant to tetracycline. The current investigation, along with earlier reported work on these isolates, identifies BR3 as a useful isolate in the industrial application for the degradation of EtBr. Identical and related microorganisms, which are available in the culture collection repositories, can also be explored for such potential to formulate a microbial consortium for the bioremediation of ethidium bromide prior to its disposal. 
  • 1.4K
  • 03 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Bacteria on 2-keto-L-gulonic Acid Production
Vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin with strong reducing power, cannot be synthesized by the human body and participates in a variety of important biochemical reactions. Vitamin C is widely used in the pharmaceutical, food, health care, beverage, cosmetics, and feed industries, with a huge market demand. The classical two-step fermentation method is the mainstream technology for vitamin C production. D-sorbitol is transformed into L-sorbose by Gluconobacter oxydans in the first step of fermentation; then, L-sorbose is transformed into 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA) by a coculture system composed of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare and associated bacteria; and finally, 2-KGA is transformed into vitamin C through chemical transformation.
  • 1.4K
  • 06 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Echocardiography
Diabetes mellitus is a major factor contributing to the development of cardiovascular disease. As morbidity and mortality rates rise dramatically, when target organ damage develops, presymptomatic assessment is critical for the management of diabetic patients. Echocardiography is a noninvasive and reproductible method that may aid in risk stratification and in evaluation of treatment effects. Aim of this review is to analyze the echocardiographic techniques that can detect early alteration in cardiac function in patients with diabetes.
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Nanomaterials for Wound Healing and Infection Control
Wound healing has been intensely studied in order to develop an "ideal" technique that achieves expeditious recovery and reduces scarring to the minimum, thus ensuring function preservation. The classic approach to wound management is represented by topical treatments, such as antibacterial or colloidal agents, in order to prevent infection and promote a proper wound-healing process. Nanotechnology studies submicroscopic particles (maximum diameter of 100 nm), as well as correlated phenomena. Metal nanoparticles (e.g., silver, gold, zinc) are increasingly being used in dermatology, due to their beneficial effect on accelerating wound healing, as well as treating and preventing bacterial infections. Other benefits include: ease of use, less frequent dressing changes and a constantly moist wound environment. This entry highlights recent findings regarding nanoparticle application in wound management.
  • 1.4K
  • 18 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Production and Application of Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan widely distributed in the human body, especially in body fluids and the extracellular matrix of tissues. It plays a crucial role not only in maintaining tissue hydration but also in cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and the inflammatory response. HA has demonstrated its efficacy as a powerful bioactive molecule not only for skin antiaging but also in atherosclerosis, cancer, and other pathological conditions.
  • 1.4K
  • 25 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Two-Phase Fermentation Systems for Microbial Production of Terpenes
Microbial cell factories, renowned for their economic and environmental benefits, have emerged as a key trend in academic and industrial areas, particularly in the fermentation of natural compounds. Among these, plant-derived terpenes stand out as a significant class of bioactive natural products. The large-scale production of such terpenes, exemplified by artemisinic acid—a crucial precursor to artemisinin—is now feasible through microbial cell factories. In the fermentation of terpenes, two-phase fermentation technology has been widely applied due to its unique advantages. It facilitates in situ product extraction or adsorption, effectively mitigating the detrimental impact of product accumulation on microbial cells, thereby significantly bolstering the efficiency of microbial production of plant-derived terpenes. 
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Apr 2024
Topic Review
Commercial Applications of Chlorella sp. and Spirulina sp.
Microalgae are a large and polyphyletic group of O2-evolving photosynthetic microorganisms, mostly aquatic, comprising prokaryotic cyanobacteria and eukaryotic members. Estimates of the world microalgal production are around 50.000 t/year, Chlorella sp. and Spirulina sp. accounting for more than 90% of the total microalgal biomass production.  These microorganisms have been widely recognized for their nutritional and therapeutic properties; therefore, a significant growth of their market is expected, especially in the nutraceutical, food, and beverage segments.
  • 1.4K
  • 14 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Immunological Mechanisms of Vaccine-Induced Protection against SARS-CoV-2 Infections
SARS-CoV-2 is attached to host cells via binding to the viral spike (S) proteins and its cellular receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Consequently, the S protein is primed with serine proteases TMPRSS2 and TMPRSS4, which facilitate the fusion of viral and cellular membranes result in the entry of viral RNA into the host cell. The long-term protective immunity is provided by the vaccine antigen (or pathogen)-specific immune effectors and the activation of immune memory cells that can be efficiently and rapidly reactivated upon pathogen exposure.
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Brassica Bioactives May Ameliorate Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a chronic, inflammatory, hormone-dependent disease characterized by histological lesions produced by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Despite the fact that an estimated 176 million women are affected worldwide by this gynecological disorder, risk factors that cause endometriosis have not been properly defined and current treatments are not efficient. Although the interaction between diet and human health has been the focus of many studies, little information about the correlation of foods and their bioactive derivates with endometriosis is available. In this framework, Brassica crops have emerged as potential candidates for ameliorating the chronic inflammatory condition of endometriosis, due to their abundant content of health-promoting compounds such as glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products, isothiocyanates.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Advantages/Disadvantages/Limitations of Chemotaxis Assays for Campylobacter spp.
Chemotaxis directed motility of intestinal bacteria such as Campylobacter jejuni could enable the cells to move toward favourable conditions and away from hazardous ones. Reproducible qualitative and quantitative assessment of bacterial chemotactic motility, particularly in response to chemorepellent effectors, is experimentally challenging. Several established chemotaxis assays currently used to investigate Campylobacter jejuni chemotaxis are compared, with the aim of improving the correlation between different studies and establishing the best practices.
  • 1.4K
  • 11 Feb 2022
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