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Topic Review
ADAM9 in Cancers
ADAM9 plays an important role in tumor biology. It is overexpressed in several cancer types and is correlated with tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis. Through either proteolytic or non-proteolytic pathways, ADAM9 promotes tumor progression, therapeutic resistance, and metastasis of cancers. Therefore, comprehensively understanding the mechanism of ADAM9 is crucial for the development of therapeutic anti-cancer strategies.
  • 1.2K
  • 13 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Vitamin D for COVID-19 Vaccination
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a new, highly pathogenic virus that has recently elicited a global pandemic called the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is characterized by significant immune dysfunction, which is caused by strong but unregulated innate immunity with depressed adaptive immunity. Reduced and delayed responses to interferons (IFN-I/IFN-III) can increase the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines and extensive immune cell infiltration into the airways, leading to pulmonary disease. The development of effective treatments for severe COVID-19 patients relies on our knowledge of the pathophysiological components of this imbalanced innate immune response. Strategies to address innate response factors will be essential. Significant efforts are currently underway to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 vaccines, such as inactivated DNA, mRNA, and protein subunit vaccines, have already been applied in clinical use. Various vaccines display different levels of effectiveness, and it is important to continue to optimize and update their composition in order to increase their effectiveness. However, due to the continuous emergence of variant viruses, improving the immunity of the general public may also increase the effectiveness of the vaccines. Many observational studies have demonstrated that serum levels of vitamin D are inversely correlated with the incidence or severity of COVID-19. Extensive evidence has shown that vitamin D supplementation could be vital in mitigating the progression of COVID-19 to reduce its severity. Vitamin D defends against SARS-CoV-2 through a complex mechanism through interactions between the modulation of innate and adaptive immune reactions, ACE2 expression, and inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). 
  • 1.2K
  • 07 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Applications of Two-Photon Microscopy
Fluorescence microscopy has represented a crucial technique to explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms in the field of biomedicine. However, the conventional one-photon microscopy exhibits many limitations when living samples are imaged. The new technologies, including two-photon microscopy (2PM), have considerably improved the in vivo study of pathophysiological processes, allowing the investigators to overcome the limits displayed by previous techniques. 2PM enables the real-time intravital imaging of the biological functions in different organs at cellular and subcellular resolution thanks to its improved laser penetration and less phototoxicity. The development of more sensitive detectors and long-wavelength fluorescent dyes as well as the implementation of semi-automatic software for data analysis allowed to gain insights in essential physiological functions, expanding the frontiers of cellular and molecular imaging. The future applications of 2PM are promising to push the intravital microscopy beyond the existing limits. 
  • 1.2K
  • 17 May 2022
Topic Review
Methods of Increasing the Bioavailability of Polyphenols
Polyphenols, a class of bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, and lignans, are commonly found in plant-based diets with a variety of biological actions, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. Unfortunately, polyphenols are not widely used in nutraceuticals since many of the chemicals in polyphenols possess poor oral bioavailability. Thankfully, polyphenols can be encapsulated and transported using bio-based nanocarriers, thereby increasing their bioavailability. Polyphenols’ limited water solubility and low bioavailability are limiting factors for their practical usage, but this issue can be resolved if suitable delivery vehicles are developed for encapsulating and delivering polyphenolic compounds.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Heat Shock Protein 90
Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone that could modulate the pain signaling.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Jan 2021
Topic Review
PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras-Based Antiviral Strategies
The PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTAC), a technology for targeted protein degradation, relies on using heterobifunctional molecules to recruit intracellular protein degradation machinery to the intracellular target protein of interest. This chemically-induced proximity between protein degradation machinery and the target POI results in polyubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation of the target protein. Despite the field of PROTAC technology being relatively new, PROTACs have found wide applications not just as a technical tool but also as a therapeutic approach for infectious and non-infectious diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 May 2023
Topic Review
S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine Hydrolase
S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHase) is a major regulator of cellular methylation reactions that occur in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. SAHase activity is also a significant source of l-homocysteine and adenosine, two compounds involved in numerous vital, as well as pathological processes. Therefore, apart from cellular methylation, the enzyme may also influence other processes important for the physiology of particular organisms.
  • 1.2K
  • 17 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Physical Methods Used to Inactivate Bacteriophages
Bacteriophage-based applications have a renaissance today, increasingly marking their use in industry, medicine, food processing, biotechnology, and more. However, phages are considered resistant to various harsh environmental conditions; besides, they are characterized by high intra-group variability. Phage-related contaminations may therefore pose new challenges in the future due to the wider use of phages in industry and health care. The risk of bacteriophage infection can be reduced by several techniques, including sterilization by physical agents.
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Antibiofilm Therapeutics Strategies to Overcome Antimicrobial Drug Resistance
Biofilms embrace the capability to resist and survive harsh environmental conditions and defeat the host immune system, so there is a desire for exploring new antibiofilm agents. Antibiofilm agents that can abet the process of dismantling the biofilm has provided research strategies for designing new biofilm dispersal inducers.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Plant Kunitz Inhibitors and Their Interaction with Proteases
Plant Kunitz inhibitors generally exhibit highly conserved primary structures. These inhibitors usually have a reactive site located in the region that binds to the enzyme, and the formation of the enzyme–inhibitor complex occurs in 1:1 stoichiometry. Their reactive sites are frequently composed of Arg and Lys; they may occasionally contain Glu, Ala, or Val.
  • 1.2K
  • 13 May 2022
Topic Review
Cancer Chemoprevention
Carcinogenesis is a multistep process characterized by a progression of molecular changes that ultimately transform a cell to undergo uncontrolled proliferation.
  • 1.2K
  • 02 Apr 2021
Topic Review
RIF1 Links Replication Timing
Replication timing (RT) is a cellular program to coordinate initiation of DNA replication in all origins within the genome. RIF1 (replication timing regulatory factor 1) is a master regulator of RT in human cells. This role of RIF1 is associated with binding G4-quadruplexes and changes in 3D chromatin that may suppress origin activation over a long distance. 
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Cholinesterase Modeling and Simulation
The cholinesterase enzyme family has but two members: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE).  Computational efforts to better understand these enzymes, with a focus on their structural and catalytic properties and dynamics, includes docking and other Monte Carlo based calculations, as well as dynamic simulations of varying rigor and resource-demand including molecular dynamics, Langevin dynamics, quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics, and related algorithms. 
  • 1.2K
  • 21 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Microalgal Lipid Extracts
Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and age-associated diseases (AAD) are some of the gravest health concerns worldwide, accounting for up to 70% of total deaths globally. NCD and AAD, such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, are associated with low-grade chronic inflammation and poor dietary habits. Modulation of the inflammatory status through dietary components is a very appellative approach to fight these diseases and is supported by increasing evidence of natural and dietary components with strong anti-inflammatory activities. The consumption of bioactive lipids has a positive impact on preventing chronic inflammation and consequently NCD and AAD. Thus, new sources of bioactive lipids have been sought out. Microalgae are rich sources of bioactive lipids such as omega-6 and -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and polar lipids with associated anti-inflammatory activity. PUFAs are enzymatically and non-enzymatically catalyzed to oxylipins and have a significant role in anti and pro-resolving inflammatory responses. Therefore, a large and rapidly growing body of research has been conducted in vivo and in vitro, investigating the potential anti-inflammatory activities of microalgae lipids. The anti-inflammatory potential of microalgae lipids and their possible use to prevent or mitigate chronic inflammation are summarized. 
  • 1.2K
  • 16 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Biomarker Studies in Stress Biology
Endpoints assessed at the population or community level are most often the result of the sum of effects on individuals, arising from the effects at the cellular and molecular levels. Within this framework, these lower biological level endpoints are more responsive at an early stage of exposure, making them potential toolboxes to be used as early-warning markers to address stress. Given this, by linking responses and understanding organisms’ metabolism and physiology, the possibilities for the use of biomarkers in stress biology are vast.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
GPCR Reconstitution and Labeling for Solution NMR
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large membrane protein family found in higher organisms, including the human body. GPCRs mediate cellular responses to diverse extracellular stimuli and thus control key physiological functions, which makes them important targets for drug design. Signaling by GPCRs is related to the structure and dynamics of these proteins, which are modulated by extrinsic ligands as well as by intracellular binding partners such as G proteins and arrestins. 
  • 1.2K
  • 19 Jul 2022
Topic Review
The Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 and its inhibitors
Mpro, also known as 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), is a 33.8 kDa, three-domain cysteine protease, essential for proteolytic maturation and viral replication of coronaviruses. This enzyme is an excellent target for a potential drug, as it is essential for viral replication and has no closely related homologues in humans, making its inhibitors unlikely to be toxic. 
  • 1.2K
  • 08 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Peretinoin
Peretinoin, an retinoid acid (RA), a metabolite of vitamin A and its related analogues (termed retinoids) has been suggested as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment. The synthetic oral retinoid peretinoin is the only agent for the secondary chemoprevention of HCC after curative therapy that is currently well applied into clinical development.
  • 1.2K
  • 12 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Molecular and Cellular Functions of S100A10
S100A10 (p11, annexin II light chain, calpactin light chain) is a multifunctional protein with a wide range of physiological activity. S100A10 is unique among the S100 family members of proteins since it does not bind to Ca2+, despite its sequence and structural similarity. 
  • 1.2K
  • 13 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Gene annotation for 'Flaviviridae' genomes
Responding to the ongoing and severe public health threat of viruses of the family Flaviviridae, including dengue, hepatitis C, West Nile, yellow fever, and Zika, demands a greater understanding of how these viruses emerge and spread. Updated phylogenies are central to this understanding. Most cladograms of Flaviviridae focus on specific lineages and ignore outgroups, thus hampering the efficacy of the analysis to test ingroup monophyly and relationships. This is due to the lack of annotated Flaviviridae genomes, which has gene content variation among genera. This variation makes analysis without partitioning difficult. Therefore, we developed an annotation pipeline for the genera of Flaviviridae (Flavirirus, Hepacivirus, Pegivirus, and Pestivirus), named “Fast Loci Annotation of Viruses” (FLAVi: flavi-web.com), that combines ab initio and homology-based strategies. FLAVi recovered 100% of the genes in Flavivirus and Hepacivirus genomes. In Pegivirus and Pestivirus, annotation efficiency was 100% except for one partition each. There were no false positives. The combined phylogenetic analysis of multiple genes made possible by annotation has clear impacts over the tree topology compared to phylogenies that we inferred without outgroups or data partitioning. The final tree is largely congruent with previous hypotheses and adds evidence supporting the close phylogenetic relationship between dengue and Zika.
  • 1.2K
  • 27 Oct 2020
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