Topic Review
Tooth Cementum Annulation
Tooth Cementum Annulation (or TCA) is a technique that relies on the analysis of the incremental growth of dental cementum for age and season at death estimation.
  • 556
  • 27 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Transience of the Retinal Output and Circuit Elements
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) encrypt stimulus features of the visual scene in action potentials and convey them toward higher visual centers in the brain. Although there are many visual features to encode, the recent understanding is that the ~46 different functional subtypes of RGCs in the retina share this task. In this scheme, each RGC subtype establishes a separate, parallel signaling route for a specific visual feature (e.g., contrast, the direction of motion, luminosity), through which information is conveyed. The efficiency of encoding depends on several factors, including signal strength, adaptational levels, and the actual efficacy of the underlying retinal microcircuits. Upon collecting inputs across their respective receptive field, RGCs perform further analysis (e.g., summation, subtraction, weighting) before they generate the final output spike train, which itself is characterized by multiple different features, such as the number of spikes, the inter-spike intervals, response delay, and the rundown time (transience) of the response. These specific kinetic features are essential for target postsynaptic neurons in the brain in order to effectively decode and interpret signals, thereby forming visual perception.
  • 556
  • 11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
CRISPR/Cas in Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis represents one of the major causes of death globally. The high mortality rates and limitations of current therapeutic modalities have urged researchers to explore potential alternative therapies. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system is commonly deployed for investigating the genetic aspects of Atherosclerosis. Besides, advances in CRISPR/Cas system has led to the extensive options for researchers to study the pathogenesis of this disease. The recent discovery of Cas9 variants, such as dCas9, Cas9n, and xCas9 have been established for various applications, including single base editing, regulation of gene expression, live-cell imaging, epigenetic modification, and genome landscaping. Meanwhile, other Cas proteins, such as Cas12 and Cas13, are gaining popularity for their applications in nucleic acid detection and single-base DNA/RNA modifications. To date, many studies have utilized the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate disease models of atherosclerosis and identify potential molecular targets that are associated with atherosclerosis. 
  • 555
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Treatment of Chrysanthemum Synthetic Seeds by SDBD Plasma
Implementation of the surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) plasma treatment before sowing represents a promising strategy for future investigations and sustainable use of cold plasma in synseed biotechnology. Plasma-treated chrysanthemum synseeds showed a better survival rate and overall plantlet growth under greenhouse conditions in comparison to untreated synseeds.
  • 555
  • 12 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Angiogenesis and Inflammation in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment in the aging population with a limited understanding of its pathogenesis and the number of patients are all the time increasing. AMD is classified into two main forms: dry and neovascular AMD (nAMD). Dry AMD is the most prevalent form (80–90%) of AMD cases. Neovascular AMD (10–20% of AMD cases) is treated with monthly or more sparsely given intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors, but unfortunately, not all patients respond to the current treatments. A clinical hallmark of nAMD is choroidal neovascularization. The progression of AMD is initially characterized by atrophic alterations in the retinal pigment epithelium, as well as the formation of lysosomal lipofuscin and extracellular drusen deposits. Cellular damage caused by chronic oxidative stress, protein aggregation and inflammatory processes may lead to advanced geographic atrophy and/or choroidal neovascularization and fibrosis.
  • 555
  • 02 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Microplastics Effects on Aquatic Fauna Vascular System
Plastic abandoned in the environment is prone to segregation, leading to the generation of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which can reach aquatic and terrestrial organisms. MPs/NPs in water can access fish’s bodies through the gills, triggering an inflammatory response in loco. Furthermore, from the gills, plastic fragments can be transported within the circulatory system altering blood biochemical parameters and hormone levels and leading to compromised immunocompetence and angiogenesis. In addition, it was also possible to observe an unbalanced ROS production, damage in vascular structure, and enhanced thrombosis. MPs/NPs led to cardiotoxicity, pericardial oedema, and impaired heart rate in fish cardiac tissue. MPs/NPs effects on aquatic organisms pose serious health hazards and ecological consequences because they constitute the food chain for humans. Once present in the mammalian body, plastic particles can interact with circulating cells, eliciting an inflammatory response, with genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of immune cells, enhanced haemolysis, and endothelium adhesion.
  • 555
  • 08 Feb 2023
Topic Review
The MAMs Structure
Mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) play a vital role in the complex crosstalk between the ER and mitochondria. MAMs are known to play an important role in lipid synthesis, the regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis, the coordination of ER-mitochondrial function, and the transduction of death signals between the ER and the mitochondria. 
  • 554
  • 10 May 2021
Topic Review
Redox Balance in Expansion Disorders
DNA repeat expansion disorders are a group of neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases that arise from the inheritance of long tracts of nucleotide repetitions, located in the regulatory region, introns, or inside the coding sequence of a gene. Although loss of protein expression and/or the gain of function of its transcribed mRNA or translated product represent the major pathogenic effect of these pathologies, mitochondrial dysfunction and imbalance in redox homeostasis are reported as common features in these disorders, deeply affecting their severity and progression.
  • 553
  • 25 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Herpes Zoster in Antiretroviral Therapy
The incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) in patients infected with HIV is higher than that of the general population. However, the incidence of HZ in HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains unclear.
  • 552
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
ORP5 and ORP8
Oxysterol binding related proteins 5 and 8 (ORP5 and ORP8) are two close homologs of the larger oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) family of sterol sensors and lipid transfer proteins (LTP). Early studies indicated these transmembrane proteins, anchored to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), bound and sensed cholesterol and oxysterols. They were identified as important for diverse cellular functions including sterol homeostasis, vesicular trafficking, proliferation and migration. In addition, they were implicated in lipid-related diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes, but also cancer, although their mechanisms of action remained poorly understood. Then, alongside the increasing recognition that membrane contact sites (MCS) serve as hubs for non-vesicular lipid transfer, added to their structural similarity to other LTPs, came discoveries showing that ORP5 and 8 were in fact phospholipid transfer proteins that rather sense and exchange phosphatidylserine (PS) for phosphoinositides, including phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI(4)P) and potentially phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). Evidence now points to their action at MCS between the ER and various organelles including the plasma membrane, lysosomes, mitochondria, and lipid droplets. Dissecting exactly how this unexpected phospholipid transfer function connects with sterol regulation in health or disease remains a challenge for future studies.
  • 552
  • 15 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Calcium and Axotomy
Neurotrauma assumes an instant or delayed disconnection of axons (axotomy), which affects not only neurons, but surrounding glia as well. Not only mechanically injured glia near the site of disconnection, especially transection, is subjected to the damage, but also glia that is remote from the lesion site. Glial cells, which surround the neuronal body, in turn, support neuron survival, so there is a mutual protection between neuron and glia. Calcium signaling is a central mediator of all post-axotomy events, both in neuron and glia, playing a critical role in their survival/regeneration or death/degeneration. The involvement of calcium in post-axotomy survival of the remote, mechanically intact glia is poorly studied. 
  • 552
  • 11 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Mitochondria in Cancer
Mitochondria are not only the main energy supplier but are also the cell metabolic center regulating multiple key metaborates that play pivotal roles in epigenetics regulation. These metabolites include acetyl-CoA, α-ketoglutarate (α-KG), S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), NAD+, and O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc), which are the main substrates for DNA methylation and histone post-translation modifications, essential for gene transcriptional regulation and cell fate determination. Tumorigenesis is attributed to many factors, including gene mutations and tumor microenvironment. Mitochondria and epigenetics play essential roles in tumor initiation, evolution, metastasis, and recurrence. Targeting mitochondrial metabolism and epigenetics are promising therapeutic strategies for tumor treatment.
  • 552
  • 29 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Phage Therapy for Crops
Phage therapy consists of applying bacteriophages, whose natural function is to kill specific bacteria. Bacteriophages are safe, evolve together with their host, and are environmentally friendly. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics and salt minerals (Zn2+ or Cu2+) has caused the emergence of resistant strains that infect crops, causing difficulties and loss of food production. Phage therapy is an alternative that has shown positive results and can improve the treatments available for agriculture.
  • 552
  • 08 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Spider–Plant Associations
Spiders are ubiquitous generalist predators playing an important role in regulating insect populations in many ecosystems. Traditionally they have not been thought to have strong influences on, or interactions with plants. However, this is slowly changing as several species of cursorial spiders have been reported engaging in either herbivory or inhabiting only one, or a handful of related plant species. 
  • 552
  • 15 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Tyrosine Kinase Syk
Platelet-rich thrombi formed in vivo in mice have been shown to be composed of a core and shell region. Different pathways regulate the formation and stability of these two regions and understanding them may result in new ways to treat arterial thrombosis. The distinguishing feature between these two regions is the absence of fibrin in the shell, which indicates that in-vitro flow-based assays over thrombogenic surfaces, in the absence of coagulation, can be used to resemble this region.  Glycoprotein VI (GPVI) is a platelet immunoglobulin receptor which is known as a receptor for collagen and has been shown to contribute to the stability of platelet aggregates on collagen at high shear. In recent years GPVI has also been shown to be a receptor for fibrin and fibrinogen. Since the activation of GPVI by fibrinogen is also dependent on integrin αIIbβ3, with the interplay of the two receptors driving platelet adhesion and activation, blocking signalling pathways common to both receptors may have a greater antithrombotic effect than blocking GPVI alone. Therefore in this study, we have investigated the contribution of Syk tyrosine kinase, which plays a critical role in signalling by integrin αIIbβ3 and GPVI, in the stability of platelet aggregates formed on collagen or atherosclerotic plaque homogenate at arterial shear (1000 s-1). The results show that Syk regulates thrombus stability in the absence of fibrin. The fact that inhibitors of Syk are currently used for the treatment of patients with refractory immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) without increasing the risk of bleeding, indicate that Syk inhibitors may represent a new class of antiplatelet agent with reduced bleeding risk compared to current drugs.
  • 550
  • 17 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Therapeutic Approaches for Parkinson’s Disease and Gut Microbiota
The bidirectional interaction between the gut microbiota (GM) and the Central Nervous System, the so-called gut microbiota brain axis (GMBA), deeply affects brain function and has an important impact on the development of neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), gastrointestinal symptoms often precede the onset of motor and non-motor manifestations, and alterations in the GM composition accompany disease pathogenesis. Several studies have been conducted to unravel the role of dysbiosis and intestinal permeability in PD onset and progression, but the therapeutic and diagnostic applications of GM modifying approaches remain to be fully elucidated. 
  • 550
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Lymphocyte-Activation Gene 3 (LAG3) Protein
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder without any objective biomarker available to date. Increasing evidence highlights the critical role of neuroinflammation, including T cell responses, and spreading of aggregated α-synuclein in PD progression. Lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG3) belongs to the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily expressed by peripheral immune cells, microglia and neurons and plays a key role in T cell regulation. The role of LAG3 has been extensively investigated in several human cancers, whereas until recently, the role of LAG3 in the central nervous system (CNS) has been largely unknown. Accumulating evidence highlights the potential role of LAG3 in PD pathogenesis, mainly by binding to α-synuclein fibrils and affecting its endocytosis and intercellular transmission, which sheds more light on the connection between immune dysregulation and α-synuclein spreading pathology. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) soluble LAG3 (sLAG3) levels have been demonstrated to be potentially associated with PD development and clinical phenotype, suggesting that sLAG3 could represent an emerging PD biomarker. Specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the LAG3 gene have been also related to PD occurrence especially in the female population, enlightening the pathophysiological background of gender-related PD clinical differences. Given also the ongoing clinical trials investigating various LAG3-targeting strategies in human diseases, new opportunities are being developed for PD treatment research. 
  • 549
  • 26 Jul 2021
Topic Review
HARE/Stabilin-2
The Stabilin receptors are a two-member family in the type H class of scavenger receptors. These dynamic receptors bind and internalize multiple ligands from the cell surface for the purpose of clearing extracellular material including some synthetic drugs and for sensing the external environment of the cell. Stabilin-1 was the first receptor to be cloned, though the biological activity of Hyaluronic Acid Receptor for Endocytosis (HARE)/Stabilin-2 was observed about 10 years prior to the cloning of Stabilin-1. Stabilin-1 has a more diverse expression profile among the tissues than HARE/Stabilin-2. 
  • 549
  • 28 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Hox Clusters and LncRNAs
Bilaterian animals operate the clusters of Hox genes through a rich repertoire of diverse mechanisms, including, due to a large set of various non-coding RNAs. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are transcribed from the sense (coding) DNA strands of Hox clusters, control the work of Hox genes in the cis and trans position, are involved in the establishment and maintenance of the epigenetic code of Hox loci, and can even serve as a source of regulatory peptides. which switch cellular energy metabolism. All antisense lncRNAs in human Hox clusters are therapeutic targets for malignant tumors, and their careful study has profound practical meaning. 
  • 549
  • 18 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Nanoparticles for Coronavirus Control
Some countries have been able to overcome this global challenge by relying on vaccines against the virus, and vaccination has begun in many countries. Many of the proposed vaccines have nanoparticles as carriers, and there are different nano-based diagnostic approaches for rapid detection of the virus.
  • 549
  • 25 May 2022
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