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Topic Review
Sirtuins in Kidney Diseases
Sirtuins (SIRTs) are class III histone deacetylases (HDACs) that play important roles in aging and a wide range of cellular functions. Sirtuins are crucial to numerous biological processes, including proliferation, DNA repair, mitochondrial energy homeostasis, and antioxidant activity. Mammals have seven different sirtuins, SIRT1–7, and the diverse biological functions of each sirtuin are due to differences in subcellular localization, expression profiles, and cellular substrates. In this review, we summarize research advances into the role of sirtuins in the pathogenesis of various kidney diseases including acute kidney injury, diabetic kidney disease, renal fibrosis, and kidney aging along with the possible underlying molecular mechanisms. The available evidence indicates that sirtuins have great potential as novel therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of kidney diseases.
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2020
Topic Review
A-FABP in Metabolic Diseases
Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP), which is also known as ap2 or FABP4, is a fatty acid chaperone that has been further defined as a fat-derived hormone. It regulates lipid homeostasis and is a key mediator of inflammation. Circulating levels of A-FABP are closely associated with metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic diseases with imminent diagnostic and prognostic significance. Numerous animal studies have elucidated the potential underlying mechanisms involving A-FABP in these diseases. Recent studies demonstrated its physiological role in the regulation of adaptive thermogenesis and its pathological roles in ischemic stroke and liver fibrosis. Due to its implication in various diseases, A-FABP has become a promising target for the development of small molecule inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies for disease treatment. This review summarizes the clinical and animal findings of A-FABP in the pathogenesis of cardio-metabolic diseases in recent years.
  • 1.2K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
FHL2
Four and a half LIM domains 2 (FHL2) was originally described as ‘Down-regulated in Rhabdomyosarcoma LIM protein’ (DRAL) and is composed of LIM domains that are named after their initial discovery in the proteins Lin11, Isl-1 and Mec-3. FHL2 consists of four and a half LIM domains, each composed of two zinc fingers, except the first ‘half’ LIM-domain which has only one. While the structure of the four and a half LIM domains had been uncovered previously using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the complete FHL2 protein structure is unknown; however, it has recently been predicted using the protein structure neural network AlphaFold.
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Ribosome Protection Proteins
Ribosome is one of the most conserved and sophisticated macromolecular machines that carries out the essential process of protein synthesis in cells. Given the essential function of ribosome as well as difference of bacterial and eukaryotic ribosome, it has been an active target for over half clinically used antibiotics.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Advanced Microsamples
Although the application of microsamples in metabolic phenotyping exists, it is still in its infancy, with whole blood being overwhelmingly the primary biofluid collected through the collection method of dried blood spots. Research into the metabolic phenotyping of microsamples is limited; however, with advances in commercially available microsampling devices, common barriers such as volumetric inaccuracies and the ‘haematocrit effect’ in dried blood spot microsampling can be overcome.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Long Non-Coding RNA Epigenetics
Long noncoding RNAs exceeding a length of 200 nucleotides play an important role in ensuring cell functions and proper organism development by interacting with cellular compounds such as miRNA, mRNA, DNA and proteins. However, there is an additional level of lncRNA regulation, called lncRNA epigenetics, in gene expression control.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Venom Constituents of Rattlesnake Venoms
Venom components are invaluable in biomedical research owing to their specificity and potency. Many of these components exist in two genera of rattlesnakes, Crotalus and Sistrurus, with high toxicity and proteolytic activity variation. 
  • 1.2K
  • 18 Apr 2024
Topic Review
Flavonoids in Cardiovascular Diseases
Flavonoids are metabolites of plants and fungus. Flavonoid research has been paid special attention to in recent times after the observation of their beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. These favorable effects are exerted by flavonoids mainly due to their antioxidant properties, which result from the ability to decrease the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, thus improving the lipid profiles. The other positive effect exerted on the cardiovascular system is the ability of flavonoids to produce vasodilation and regulate the apoptotic processes in the endothelium. Researchers suggested that these effects, including their anti-inflammatory function, are consequences of flavonoids’ potent antioxidant properties, but recent studies have shown multiple signaling pathways linked to them, thus suggesting that there are more mechanisms involved in the beneficial effect of the flavonoids on the human body. This review aims to present the latest data on the classification of these substances, their main mechanisms of action in the human body, and the beneficial effects on the physiological and pathological status of the cardiovascular system. 
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Extracellular vesicles in embryo–maternal communication
The establishment of proper conceptus–endometrial communication is essential for conceptus implantation and subsequent successful placentation in mammals including ruminants. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) present in uterine lumen are now considered to play a role in conceptus–endometrial interactions during the preimplantation period. In fact, EV transport a variety of bioactive molecules, including soluble and membrane-bound proteins, lipids, DNA, and RNAs, into target cells. EVs thus regulate gene expression and elicit biological effects including increased cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion in recipient cells. EVs of conceptus as well as endometrial origins are interactive in the uterine microenvironment for improved pregnancy success.
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Polymer- and Lipid-Based siRNA Nanoparticles
The mechanism of RNA interference (RNAi) could represent a breakthrough in the therapy of all diseases that arise from a gene defect or require the inhibition of a specific gene expression. In particular, small interfering RNA (siRNA) offers an attractive opportunity to achieve a new milestone in the therapy of human diseases.
  • 1.2K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Irisin and Autophagy: First Update
Aging and sedentary life style are considered independent risk factors for many disorders. Under these conditions, accumulation of dysfunctional and damaged cellular proteins and organelles occurs, resulting in a cellular degeneration and cell death. Autophagy is a conserved recycling pathway responsible for the degradation, then turnover of cellular proteins and organelles. This process is a part of the molecular underpinnings by which exercise promotes healthy aging and mitigate age-related pathologies. Irisin is a myokine released during physical activity and acts as a link between muscles and other tissues and organs. Its main beneficial function is the change of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue into brown adipose tissue, with a consequential increase in thermogenesis. Irisin modulates metabolic processes, acting on glucose homeostasis, reduces systemic inflammation, maintains the balance between resorption and bone formation, and regulates the functioning of the nervous system. Recently, some of its pleiotropic and favorable properties have been attributed to autophagy induction, posing irisin as an important regulator of autophagy by exercise.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Evaluating Enzymatic Productivity
Kinetic productivity analysis is critical to the characterization of enzyme catalytic performance and capacity. Enzymatic productivity is a measure of product formation or substrate disappearance over time, at a prescribed temperature under specified reaction conditions. It is the only measure which reliably summarizes the durability and reaction yield (a measure of the conversion of substrate) of an enzymatic process. Kinetic productivity analysis can be employed to assess the catalytic capacity of genetically and chemically modified variants, whole cells, the effect of immobilization carriers on productivity, difference between isoforms isolated from a range of organisms or tissues, and the effect of reaction solution additives.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Ras Isoforms
The central protein in the oncogenic circuitry is the Ras GTPase that has been under intense scrutiny for the last four decades.  The complexity of the Ras functioning is further exemplified by the fact that the three canonical Ras genes encode for four protein isoforms (H-Ras, K-Ras4A, K-Ras4B, and N-Ras).
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Approaches to Microsample Collections
Although the application of microsamples in metabolic phenotyping exists, it is still in its infancy, with whole blood being overwhelmingly the primary biofluid collected through the collection method of dried blood spots. 
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Mechanisms of Alcohol-Mediated Toxicity
Alcohol is one of the commonly used drugs. Ethanol, together with its derivatives and metabolites, exhibits diverse direct and indirect toxic effects, which are responsible for damage to many organs. This toxicity depends on many factors, such as dose, gender, associated comorbidities, or genetic predisposition.
  • 1.2K
  • 26 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Alternative Splicing and Isoforms
Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA is a key mechanism for increasing the complexity of proteins in humans, causing a diversity of expression of transcriptomes and proteomes in a tissue-specific manner. Alternative splicing is an essential process in post-transcriptional mRNA processing, and produces various mature mRNAs with different structures and functions.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles in Central Nervous System
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) form a heterogeneous group of membrane-enclosed structures secreted by all cell types. EVs export encapsulated materials composed of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, making them a key mediator in cell–cell communication. In the context of the neurovascular unit (NVU), a tightly interacting multicellular brain complex, EVs play a role in intercellular communication and in maintaining NVU functionality. In addition, NVU-derived EVs can also impact peripheral tissues by crossing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) to reach the blood stream. As such, EVs have been shown to be involved in the physiopathology of numerous neurological diseases.
  • 1.2K
  • 13 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Insights into Postoperative Cognitive Impairment Induced by Anesthesia
Cognitive impairment after surgery is a common problem, affects mainly the elderly, and can be divided into postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Both phenomena are accompanied by neuroinflammation; however, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment after anesthesia are not yet fully understood. Anesthesiological drugs can have a longer-term influence on protein transcription, thus, epigenetics is a possible mechanism that impacts on cognitive function. Epigenetic mechanisms may be responsible for long-lasting effects and may implicate novel therapeutic approaches.
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Molecular Microbial Community Analysis
The microbial diversity in anaerobic digestion (AD) is important because it affects process robustness. High-throughput sequencing offers high-resolution data regarding the microbial diversity and robustness of biological systems including AD; however, to understand the dynamics of microbial processes, knowing the microbial diversity is not adequate alone. Advanced meta-omic techniques have been established to determine the activity and interactions among organisms in biological processes like AD. Results of these methods can be used to identify biomarkers for AD states. This can aid a better understanding of system dynamics and be applied to producing comprehensive models for AD. 
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
The HPA Axis and Dreaming
This is an overview of research on dream recall/affect and of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, discussing caveats regarding the action of hormones of the HPA axis (mainly cortisol and its free form, cortisol-binding globulin and glucocorticoid receptors). Results of studies regarding dream recall/affect and the HPA axis under physiological (such as waking) or pathological conditions (such as in Cushing’s syndrome or stressful situations) are presented.
  • 1.2K
  • 16 Aug 2021
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