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Topic Review
Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptors
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors that exert important functions in mediating the pleiotropic effects of diverse exogenous factors such as  physical exercise and food components. Particularly, PPARs act as transcription factors that control the expression of genes implicated in lipid and glucose metabolism, and cellular proliferation and  differentiation.  In this review, we aimed to summarize recent advancements reported on the effects of lifestyle and food habits on PPAR transcriptional activity.
  • 2.2K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Heat Shock Proteins
The heat shock proteins (HSPs), are a family of proteins that have been linked to different cellular functions, being activated under conditions of cellular stress, not only imposed by thermal variation but also toxins, radiation, infectious agents, hypoxia, etc. Regarding pathological situations as seen in cardiorenal syndrome (CRS), HSPs have been shown to be important mediators involved in the control of gene transcription and intracellular signaling, in addition to be an important connector with the immune system. Thus, HSPs have been targeted by researchers as important connectors between kidney and heart.
  • 2.2K
  • 26 Nov 2021
Topic Review
D2 Dopamine Receptor (D2-R)
The type 2 dopamine receptor D2 (D2-R), member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, exists in two isoforms, short (D2S-R) and long (D2L-R). They differ by an additional 29 amino acids (AA) in the third cytoplasmic loop (ICL3) of the D2L-R. These isoforms differ in their intracellular localization and trafficking functionality, as D2L-R possesses a larger intracellular pool, mostly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). 
  • 2.2K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Elicitors in Plants and Insects
Molecular elicitors are the key bio-elements in the detection and recognition of attacking enemies in tissue consumption. Insect oral secretion, frass, and fluid of egg deposition contain biologically active molecules called herbivore-associated elicitors (HAEs) that are recognized by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs). Many plants distinguish insect feeding from wounding by HAEs present in their oral secretions (OS) and induce local and/or systemic responses against arthropod feeding.
  • 2.1K
  • 17 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Delivery Platforms for miRNA-Based Cancer Therapeutics
Restoration of microRNA (miRNA) expression or downregulation of aberrantly expressed miRNAs using miRNA mimics or anti-miRNA inhibitors (anti-miRs/antimiRs), respectively, continues to show therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer. Although the manipulation of miRNA expression presents a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment, it is predominantly reliant on nucleic acid-based molecules for their application, which introduces an array of hurdles, with respect to in vivo delivery. Because naked nucleic acids are quickly degraded and/or removed from the body, they require delivery vectors that can help overcome the many barriers presented upon their administration into the bloodstream.
  • 2.1K
  • 25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Reactive Species on Amino Acids
Reactive oxygen species ROS can be triggered by exogenous sources (tobacco, pollution, xenobiotics, drugs, ionizing radiation and so on), but they can also be generated inside the cell by two different mechanisms: enzymatic and non-enzymatic; in both cases, they can have irreversible effects on animal and plant cells and tissues. The superoxide anion •O2− is unstable and cannot pass through membranes, but is rapidly converted to hydrogen peroxide H2O2 and it is membrane-permeable. In the Fenton reaction, H2O2 produces the hydroxyl radical •OH + −OH, which is highly reactive in the mitochondrial matrix. Elevated levels of ROS lead to increased mtDNA damage.
  • 2.1K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Silk Fibroin as Contact Lenses
Fibroin is a fibrous protein that can be conveniently isolated from the silk cocoons produced by the larvae of Bombyx mori silk moth. In its form as a hydrogel, Bombyx mori silk fibroin (BMSF) has been employed in a variety of biomedical applications. When used as substrates for biomaterial-cells constructs in tissue engineering, the oxygen transport characteristics of the BMSF membranes have proved so far to be adequate. However, over the past three decades the BMSF hydrogels have been proposed episodically as materials for the manufacture of contact lenses, an application that depends on substantially elevated oxygen permeability.
  • 2.1K
  • 26 May 2021
Topic Review
Aquaporin
The aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of small integral membrane proteins that facilitate the bidirectional transport of water across biological membranes in response to osmotic pressure gradients as well as enabling the transmembrane diffusion of small neutral solutes (such as urea, glycerol, and hydrogen peroxide) and ions. AQPs are expressed throughout the human body.
  • 2.1K
  • 18 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Astrocytic Factors Controlling Synaptogenesis
Astrocytes are essential players of brain circuit development and homeostasis controlling many aspects of synapse formation, function, plasticity and elimination both during development and adulthood. Accordingly, alterations in astrocyte morphogenesis and physiology may severely affect proper brain development, causing neurological or neuropsychiatric conditions. Recent findings revealed a huge astrocyte heterogeneity among different brain areas, which is likely at the basis of the different synaptogenic potential of these cells in selected brain regions. 
  • 2.1K
  • 13 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Rhizopus oryzae Lipase
Lipases are biocatalysts with a significant potential to enable a shift from current pollutant manufacturing processes to environmentally sustainable approaches. The main reason of this prospect is their catalytic versatility as they carry out several industrially relevant reactions as hydrolysis of fats in water/lipid interface and synthesis reactions in solvent-free or non-aqueous media such as transesterification, interesterification and esterification. Because of the outstanding traits of Rhizopus oryzae lipase (ROL), 1,3-specificity, high enantioselectivity and stability in organic media, its application in energy, food and pharmaceutical industrial sector has been widely studied. Significant advances have been made in the biochemical characterisation of ROL particularly in how its activity and stability are affected by the presence of its prosequence. In addition, native and heterologous production of ROL, the latter in cell factories like Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris), have been thoroughly described. Therefore, in this review, we summarise the current knowledge about R. oryzae lipase (i) biochemical characteristics, (ii) production strategies and (iii) potential industrial applications.
  • 2.1K
  • 10 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Regulation of Membrane Fluidity in Cold Environments
Temperature changes and periods of detrimental cold occur frequently for many organisms in their natural habitats. Homeothermic animals have evolved metabolic adaptation strategies to increase mitochondrial-based energy expenditure and heat production, largely relying on fat as a fuel source. Alternatively, certain species are able to repress their metabolism during cold periods and enter a state of decreased physiological activity known as torpor. By contrast, poikilotherms, which are unable to maintain their internal temperature, predominantly increase membrane fluidity to diminish cold-related damage from low-temperature stress.
  • 2.1K
  • 05 Jun 2023
Topic Review
3D-LC
Three-dimensional liquid chromatography (3D-LC) is the consecutive combination of 3 independent LC techniques to decrease the complexity of proteome digest samples. 3D-LC systems can be performed in an online or offline manner. Ideally, each dimension in a 3D-LC system is completely orthogonal to the others.
  • 2.1K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
ASIA Syndrome
Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) was first introduced in 2011 by Shoenfeld et al. and encompasses a cluster of related immune mediated diseases, which develop among genetically prone individuals as a result of adjuvant agent exposure.
  • 2.1K
  • 20 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Alternative Splicing
Alternative splicing (AS) is a critical post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism used by more than 95% of transcribed human genes and responsible for structural transcript variation and proteome diversity.
  • 2.1K
  • 18 Mar 2021
Topic Review
In Vivo Methods for Measuring the Glycemic Index
The concept of Glycemic Index (GI) was suggested by Jenkins to classify carbohydrate-containing foods. GI is “an expression of the percentage of the area under the blood glucose response curve when taking the same amount of carbohydrate as glucose”. It is a physiological way to explain how dietary carbohydrate impacts blood glucose. The GI value has a range between 1 and 100. Glucose, as the reference material, has a GI value of 100. A food with a lower GI value (≤54) raises blood glucose more slowly.
  • 2.1K
  • 12 May 2022
Topic Review
Histone deacetylase (HDAC)
Histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes play crucial roles in epigenetic gene expression and are an attractive therapeutic target. Five HDAC inhibitors have been approved for cancer treatment to date, however clinical applications have been limited due to poor single agent drug efficacy and side effects associated with a lack of HDAC isoform or complex selectivity. An emerging strategy aiming to address these limitations is the development of bifunctional HDAC therapeutics – single molecules comprising a HDAC inhibitor conjugated to another specificity targeting moiety. There has been many recent advancements in novel types of dual-targeting HDAC modulators, including PROTACs, often achieving high HDAC isoform selectivity, as well as some dual inhibitor examples affording HDAC complex selectivity. Such bifunctional molecules have future potential in achieving enhanced drug efficacy and therapeutic benefits in treating disease.
  • 2.1K
  • 12 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Biological Activities of Paper Mulberry
Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) is one of the most common skin-lightening agents in the beauty industry due to its strong anti-tyrosinase activity. It consists of various components, including flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, phenols, saponins, coumarins, glycosides, and polysaccharides, which possess a wide range of pharmacological properties. Apart from its anti-tyrosinase activity, paper mulberry and its compounds exhibited anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic, anticholinesterase, antigout, antinociceptive, and hepatoprotective effects. Phenols and flavonoids were demonstrated to be the main contributors to the biological activities of paper mulberry. Paper mulberry is widely applied in cosmetics for skin lightening and skin moisturizing purposes and shows potential for application in hair care products due to the hair nourishing effects. The safety of paper mulberry for topical application was proven in clinical studies.
  • 2.1K
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
BH3-Only Proteins Noxa and Puma in Apoptosis Regulation
Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved and tightly regulated cell death pathway. Physiological cell death is important for maintaining homeostasis and optimal biological conditions by continuous elimination of undesired or superfluous cells. The BH3-only pro-apoptotic members are strong inducers of apoptosis. The pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein Noxa activates multiple death pathways by inhibiting the anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family protein, Mcl-1, and other protein members leading to Bax and Bak activation and mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP). On the other hand, Puma is induced by p53-dependent and p53-independent apoptotic stimuli in several cancer cell lines. Moreover, this protein is involved in several physiological and pathological processes, such as immunity, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Future heat shock research could disclose the effect of hyperthermia on both Noxa and BH3-only proteins. This suggests post-transcriptional mechanisms controlling the translation of both Puma and Noxa mRNA in heat-shocked cells. 
  • 2.1K
  • 10 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Methods for Characterizing Protein S-Glutathionylation
Protein S-glutathionylation (SSG) is a reversible post-translational modification (PTM) featuring the conjugation of glutathione to a protein cysteine thiol. SSG can alter protein structure, activity, subcellular localization, and interaction with small molecules and other proteins. Thus, it plays a critical role in redox signaling and regulation in various physiological activities and pathological events. Many approaches have been developed for the detection of SSG, including direct detection, selective reduction and tagging approaches, and chemoselective probe-based approaches. Utilization of these methods in profiling the SSG proteome had been reported in various biological systems. 
  • 2.1K
  • 07 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Transcription Factors
Transcription factors (TFs) are regulatory proteins that are responsible for the mechanistic control of gene transcription.
  • 2.1K
  • 25 Jan 2021
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