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Topic Review
Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Signaling in Mammalian Hearing
Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a peptide hormone belonging to the insulin family of proteins. Almost all of the biological effects of IGF-1 are mediated through binding to its high-affinity tyrosine kinase receptor (IGF1R), a transmembrane receptor belonging to the insulin receptor family. Factors, receptors and IGF-binding proteins form the IGF system, which has multiple roles in mammalian development, adult tissue homeostasis, and aging. Consequently, mutations in genes of the IGF system, including downstream intracellular targets, underlie multiple common pathologies and are associated with multiple rare human diseases. Here we review the contribution of the IGF system to our understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of human hearing loss by describing, (i) the expression patterns of the IGF system in the mammalian inner ear; (ii) downstream signaling of IGF-1 in the hearing organ; (iii) mouse mutations in the IGF system, including upstream regulators and downstream targets of IGF-1 that inform cochlear pathophysiology; and (iv) human mutations in these genes causing hearing loss.
  • 1.7K
  • 22 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Antimetabolite Drug
Methotrexate (4-{N-[(2,4-diaminopteridin-6-yl) methyl]-N-methylamino} benzoyl)-L-glutamic acid, MTX) is an antimetabolite drug. It is widely used as a chemotherapeutic agent in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis and some sorts of leukemia. MTX is a relatively well-known molecule and is a first-line antirheumatic medication because of its efficacy and safety. It decreases the concentration of tetrahydrofolate (THF) in the cells by the inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzyme, therefore it reduces the purine nucleotide and DNA synthesis.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Targeting Mitochondria in Kidney Diseases
Kidney function highly depends on mitochondria, organelles that regulate different metabolic pathways. Mitochondria-altered function and structure are present during acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
  • 1.7K
  • 08 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Nucleotide Sugars
Nucleotide sugars have essential roles in every living creature. They are the building blocks of the biosynthesis of carbohydrates and their conjugates and their biological reaction pathways are potential targets of drug development. Information on the chemical and biological reactions supports the development of synthetic and analytic methods required.
  • 1.7K
  • 16 Dec 2020
Topic Review
β-hydroxybutyrate as an Anti-Aging Metabolite
The ketone bodies, especially β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB), derive from fatty acid oxidation and alternatively serve as a fuel source for peripheral tissues including the brain, heart, and skeletal muscle. β-HB is currently considered not solely an energy substrate for maintaining metabolic homeostasis but also acts as a signaling molecule of modulating lipolysis, oxidative stress, and neuroprotection. Besides, it serves as an epigenetic regulator in terms of histone methylation, acetylation, β-hydroxybutyrylation to delay various age-related diseases. In addition, studies support endogenous β-HB administration or exogenous supplementation as effective strategies to induce a metabolic state of nutritional ketosis. The purpose of this review article is to provide an overview of β-HB metabolism and its relationship and application in age-related diseases. Future studies are needed to reveal whether β-HB has the potential to serve as adjunctive nutritional therapy for aging.
  • 1.7K
  • 19 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Cold Plasma Systems for Medicine
Plasma is the predominant state of matter in the known universe (it is estimated that up to 99% of matter is plasma), although not on our planet, where the conditions of pressure and temperature make normal the states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas—that in global terms are exotic.  If we add energy to a gas, we will partially or totally ionize it. In this way, we reach a new state of matter, plasma, made up of free electrons, atoms and molecules (electrically neutral particles), and ions. The energy needed to generate plasma can be supplied through electrical discharges in gases, in which free electrons take energy field and lose it through excitation and ionization processes of the atoms and molecules in the gas. The interaction of a plasma with a surface, either solid, liquid or belonging to a live system, is a complex process involving many different active species and reactions. The use of cold plasma for medical applications is at present in the rise as it has been proven as a powerful therapeutic tool for healing, desinfection  and surface functionalization
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Toll-Like Receptor 2
TLRs are one of four major families of pattern recognition receptor (PRRs), which include also NOD-like receptors (NLRs), RIG-like receptors (RLRs), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), and represent the cornerstone of the innate immune response. TLR2, together with TLR1, TLR3, TLR4, and TLR5, was first identified and characterized in 1998. TLR2 is the only TLR that forms functional heterodimers with more than two other types of TLRs, forming dimers with TLR1, TLR6, and in some cases with TLR4. TLR2 recognizes molecules frequently associated with pathogens, the so-called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), leading to activation of downstream signal transduction pathways, which result in the production of inflammatory cytokines, type I interferons (IFNs), and other mediators necessary for the development of effective immune responses. Moreover, TLR2 is involved in the recognition of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), released by damaged tissues.
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Principle of Liquid Crystal Biosensors
Liquid crystals (LCs) are phase transition materials that exist between the liquid and the crystal states, and they can flow as liquids and also have properties such as birefringence of crystals. LCs have been widely used as sensitive elements to construct LC biosensors based on the principle that specific bonding events between biomolecules can affect the orientation of LC molecules.
  • 1.7K
  • 25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Small Spirocyclic, Xanthene-Based Fluorescent Probes
The use of fluorescent probes in a multitude of applications is still an expanding field. This review covers the recent progress made in small molecular, spirocyclic xanthene-based probes containing different heteroatoms (e.g., oxygen, silicon, carbon) in position 10′. After a short introduction, we will focus on applications like the interaction of probes with enzymes and targeted labeling of organelles and proteins, detection of small molecules, as well as their use in therapeutics or diagnostics and super-resolution microscopy. Furthermore, the last part will summarize recent advances in the synthesis and understanding of their structure–behavior relationship including novel computational approaches. 
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Sweet Taste Signaling
Sweet taste, a proxy for sugar-derived calories, is an important driver of food intake, and animals have evolved robust molecular and cellular machinery for sweet taste signaling. The below is a description of the mechanisms underlying sweet taste signaling in the periphery, and the factors regulating them.
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Aug 2022
Topic Review
The Chemistry of Reactive Oxygen Species Revisited
Living species are continuously subjected to all extrinsic forms of reactive oxidants and others that are produced endogenously. There is extensive literature on the generation and effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological processes, both in terms of alteration and their role in cellular signaling and regulatory pathways. Cells produce ROS as a controlled physiological process, but increasing ROS becomes pathological and leads to oxidative stress and disease. The induction of oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of radical species and the antioxidant defense systems, which can cause damage to cellular biomolecules, including lipids, proteins and DNA. Cellular and biochemical experiments have been complemented in various ways to explain the biological chemistry of ROS oxidants. However, it is often unclear how this translates into chemical reactions involving redox changes. 
  • 1.7K
  • 30 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Parthenin
Parthenin, a sesquiterpene lactone of pseudoguaianolide type, is the representative secondary metabolite of the tropical weed Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae). It accounts for a multitude of biological activities, including toxicity, allergenicity, allelopathy, and pharmacological aspects of the plant. Thus far, parthenin and its derivatives have been tested for chemotherapeutic abilities, medicinal properties, and herbicidal/pesticidal activities. However, due to the lack of toxicity-bioactivity relationship studies, the versatile properties of parthenin are relatively less utilised. The possibility of exploiting parthenin in different scientific fields (e.g., chemistry, medicine, and agriculture) makes it a subject of analytical discussion. It is important to highlight that the toxic nature of parthenin can be overcome by thoroughly understanding its structural basis, designing suitable derivatives, and deciding the appropriate doses.
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Phosphorylation Signals Downstream of Dopamine Receptors in NAc
Dopamine regulates emotional behaviors, including rewarding and aversive behaviors, through the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, which projects dopamine neurons from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Protein phosphorylation is critical for intracellular signaling pathways and physiological functions, which are regulated by neurotransmitters in the brain. Previous studies have demonstrated that dopamine stimulated the phosphorylation of intracellular substrates, such as receptors, ion channels, and transcription factors, to regulate neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity through dopamine receptors. Recent advances in proteomics techniques have clarified the mechanisms through which dopamine controls rewarding and aversive behaviors through signal pathways in the NAc.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Pharmacological Effects of Flueggea virosa Extracts
The white berry bush, officially Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle is a medicinal plant distributed throughout tropical areas and traditionally used in Africa, India and China. Root decoctions are used to treat abdominal pain, whereas extracts from the aerial parts serve to treat liver and urinary diseases, inflammatory pathologies and diabetes, among other pathologies. Plant extracts have revealed antiparasitic, antimicrobial, antiepilepsy, antidiabetic, anticancer and analgesic effects.
  • 1.7K
  • 23 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Hypoxia-Inducible Factor
The hypoxia signalling pathway enables adaptation of cells to decreased oxygen availability. When oxygen becomes limiting, the central transcription factors of the pathway, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), are stabilised and activated to induce the expression of hypoxia-regulated genes, thereby maintaining cellular homeostasis.
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Sophorolipids—Bio-Based Antimicrobial Formulating Agents
Sophorolipids are well-known glycolipid biosurfactants, produced mainly by non-pathogenic yeast species such as Candida bombicola with high yield. Its unique environmental compatibility and high biodegradable properties have made them a focus in the present review for their promising applications in diverse areas.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Nitrate–Nitrite–Nitric Oxide Pathway in Plants
Oxygen (O2) is the most crucial substrate for numerous biochemical processes in plants. Its deprivation is a critical factor that affects plant growth and may lead to death if it lasts for a long time. However, various biotic and abiotic factors cause O2 deprivation, leading to hypoxia and anoxia in plant tissues. To survive under hypoxia and/or anoxia, plants deploy various mechanisms such as fermentation paths, reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), antioxidant enzymes, aerenchyma, and adventitious root formation, while nitrate (NO3−), nitrite (NO2−), and nitric oxide (NO) have shown numerous beneficial roles through modulating these mechanisms. However, the end product of nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway, the NO is toxic if accumulated. Thus, its scavenging or inhibition is equally important for plant survival.
  • 1.7K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Strategies to Increase HDR-Dependent CRISPR-Cas9 Mediated Genome Editing
CRISPR (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology affords a simple and robust way to edit the genomes of cells, providing powerful tools for basic research and medicine. While using Cas9 to cleave a genomic site is very efficient, making a specific mutation at that site is much less so, as it depends on the endogenous DNA repair machinery. Various strategies have been developed to increase the efficiency of knock-in mutagenesis, mostly focusing on improving homology-directed repair (HDR) while reducing non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Some approaches affect these repair mechanisms globally, while others target their modulations to the site of the Cas9-induced double-strand break (DSB). Other innovations serve to increase the specificity and the efficiency of the editing mechanisms. In addition, methods such as base editing and prime editing produce knock-in mutations without a DSB.
  • 1.7K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Genomics in Personalized Nutrition
Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data are now quickly and inexpensively acquired, raising the prospect of creating personalized dietary recommendations based on an individual's genetic variability at multiple SNPs. In this review, we discuss the current potential for precision nutrition based on an individual's genetic data. We also review complicating issues and their impact on our ability to predict responses to dietary interventions. 
  • 1.7K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Pleiotropic Anticancer of Withaferin A
Withaferin A, a natural bioactive molecule isolated from the Indian medicinal plant Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, has been reported to impart anticancer activities against various cancer cell lines and preclinical cancer models by modulating the expression and activity of different oncogenic proteins.
  • 1.7K
  • 16 Feb 2023
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