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Topic Review
Plant Meiosis
Meiosis is an essential cell-division process for ensuring genetic diversity across generations. Meiotic recombination ensures the accuracy of genetic interchange between homolous chromosomes and segregation of parental alleles. Programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), catalyzed by the evolutionarily conserved topoisomerase VIA (a subunit of the archaeal type II DNA topoisomerase)-like enzyme Spo11 and several other factors, is a distinctive feature of meiotic recombination initiation.
  • 781
  • 22 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Glucose-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Diabetic Kidney Disease
The kidney is one of the most energy-demanding organs and, after the heart, has the second highest expression of proteins involved in mitochondrial function and oxygen consumption. The kidney requires energy mainly for solute reabsorption, among other tasks including waste removal, maintenance of electrolyte and fluid balance and acid–base homeostasis. The generation of an ion gradient across the plasma membrane by Na+/K+-ATPase is essential for solute reabsorption. Therefore, mitochondrial dysfunction is postulated to play a central role in the pathogenesis and progression of kidney diseases including DKD. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD).
  • 780
  • 02 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Post-Translational Role of UFMylation in Physiology and Disease
Ubiquitin-fold modifier 1 (UFM1) is a newly identified ubiquitin-like protein that has been conserved during the evolution of multicellular organisms. In a similar manner to ubiquitin, UFM1 can become covalently linked to the lysine residue of a substrate via a dedicated enzymatic cascade. Although a limited number of substrates have been identified so far, UFM1 modification (UFMylation) has been demonstrated to play a vital role in a variety of cellular activities, including mammalian development, ribosome biogenesis, the DNA damage response, endoplasmic reticulum stress responses, immune responses, and tumorigenesis.
  • 780
  • 19 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Nucleus in Drosophila Oocyte Development
Oogenesis is a developmental process leading to the formation of an oocyte, a haploid gamete, which upon fertilisation and sperm entry allows the male and the female pronuclei to fuse and give rise to a zygote. In addition to forming a haploid gamete, oogenesis builds up a store of proteins, mRNAs, and organelles in the oocyte needed for the development of the future embryo. In several species, such as Drosophila, the polarity axes determinants of the future embryo must be asymmetrically distributed prior to fertilisation. In the Drosophila oocyte, the correct positioning of the nucleus is essential for establishing the dorsoventral polarity axis of the future embryo and allowing the meiotic spindles to be positioned in close vicinity to the unique sperm entry point into the oocyte.
  • 780
  • 19 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Quantitative Super-Resolution Imaging and GPCR Oligomerization Analysis
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of cell surface receptors in eukaryotic cells. These seven-transmembrane receptors have influence in physiological events such as cell to cell communication, immune responses, nerve transmission and even hunger and sleep regulation. The role of GPCRs in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, cancer, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders accentuates the need to investigate this family of receptors further. More than a third of all drugs approved by the FDA target GPCRs but often such drugs have a variety of poorly understood mechanisms, as a recent example surrounding opioid receptor agonists illustrates.
  • 779
  • 15 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Lysine-Specific Demethylase 2 in Cancers
Epigenetic mechanisms are known to play a key role in cancer progression. Specifically, histone methylation involves reversible post-translational modification of histones that govern chromatin structure remodelling, genomic imprinting, gene expression, DNA damage repair, and meiotic crossover recombination, among other chromatin-based activities. Demethylases are enzymes that catalyse the demethylation of their substrate using a flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent amine oxidation process. Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) and its homolog, lysine-specific demethylase 2 (LSD2), are overexpressed in a variety of human cancer types and, thus, regulate tumour progression. 
  • 779
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Plant-RNA in Extracellular Vesicles
The release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a common language, used by living organisms from different kingdoms as a means of communication between them. Extracellular vesicles are lipoproteic particles that contain many biomolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. The primary role of EVs is to convey information to the recipient cells, affecting their function. Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PDEVs) can be isolated from several plant species, and the study of their biological properties is becoming an essential starting point to study cross-kingdom communication, especially between plants and mammalians. 
  • 779
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Regulation of PIN-FORMED Protein Degradation
Auxin action largely depends on the establishment of auxin concentration gradient within plant organs, where PIN-formed (PIN) auxin transporter-mediated directional auxin movement plays an important role. It has revealed the need of polar plasma membrane (PM) localization of PIN proteins as well as regulation of PIN polarity in response to developmental cues and environmental stimuli, amongst which a typical example is regulation of PIN phosphorylation by AGCVIII protein kinases and type A regulatory subunits of PP2A phosphatases.
  • 779
  • 27 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Anti-Inflammatory Fibronectin-AgNP
The engineering of vascular regeneration still involves barriers that need to be conquered. In the current study, a novel nanocomposite comprising of fibronectin (denoted as FN) and a small amount of silver nanoparticles (AgNP, ~15.1, ~30.2 or ~75.5 ppm) was developed and its biological function and biocompatibility in Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and rat models was investigated. The surface morphology as well as chemical composition for pure FN and the FN-AgNP nanocomposites incorporating various amounts of AgNP were firstly characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Among the nanocomposites, FN-AgNP with 30.2 ppm silver nanoparticles demonstrated the best biocompatibility as assessed through intracellular ROS production, proliferation of MSCs, and monocytes activation. The expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, were also examined. FN-AgNP 30.2 ppm significantly inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine expression compared to other materials, indicating superior performance of anti-immune response. Mechanistically, FN-AgNP 30.2 ppm significantly induced greater expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal-cell derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1α) and promoted the migration of MSCs through matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) signaling pathway. Besides, in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that FN-AgNP 30.2 ppm stimulated greater protein expressions of CD31 and von Willebrand Factor (vWF) as well as facilitated better endothelialization capacity than other materials. Furthermore, the histological tissue examination revealed the lowest capsule formation and collagen deposition in rat subcutaneous implantation of FN-AgNP 30.2 ppm. In conclusion, FN-AgNP nanocomposites may facilitate the migration and proliferation of MSCs, induce endothelial cell differentiation, and attenuate immune response. These finding also suggests that FN-AgNP may be a potential anti-inflammatory surface modification strategy for vascular biomaterials. 
  • 778
  • 08 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Necroptosis in Brief
Necroptosis is a recently discovered form of programmed cell death that has gained significant attention in scientific and medical research. This review provides a comprehensive exploration of necroptosis, covering its molecular mechanisms and regulatory pathways. Key components like receptor-interacting protein kinases (RIPK1 and RIPK3) and mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL) are discussed in detail, along with their roles in necroptotic cell death. The research also highlights the physiological functions of necroptosis in development, tissue maintenance, and immune response, as well as its involvement in diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory conditions, and cancer. Additionally, it touches on potential therapeutic interventions and the future outlook of necroptosis research.
  • 778
  • 18 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Vimentin in Oral Cancers
Oral carcinogenesis is a multistep process. As much as 5% to 85% of oral tumors can develop from potentially malignant disorders (PMD). Although the oral cavity is accessible for visual examination, the ability of current clinical or histological methods to predict the lesions that can progress to malignancy is limited.
  • 776
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Furin in Type 2 Diabetes
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are chemical or enzymatic alterations that occur on proteins after they are synthesized from their corresponding genes. They are essential for protein function and are involved in various biological processes, including protein folding, localization, stability, activity, and interaction with other proteins. Proprotein convertases (PCs) are irreversible post-translational modifiers that have been extensively studied and are considered as key targets for novel therapeutics. They cleave proteins at specific sites causing conformational changes affecting their functions. Furin is considered as a PC model in regulating growth factors and is involved in regulating many pro-proteins. 
  • 776
  • 12 Oct 2023
Topic Review
T Cell-Based Therapies of HCC
The scope of therapeutic options for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has recently been expanded by immunotherapeutic regimens. T cell-based therapies, especially in combination with other treatments have achieved far better outcomes compared to conventional treatments alone. However, there is an emerging body of evidence that eliciting T cell responses in immunotherapeutic approaches is insufficient for favorable outcomes.
  • 775
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Corneal Regeneration Using Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Adipose-derived stem cells are a subtype of mesenchymal stem cell that offers the important advantage of being easily obtained (in an autologous manner) from low invasive procedures, rendering a high number of multipotent stem cells with the potential to differentiate into several cellular lineages, to show immunomodulatory properties, and to promote tissue regeneration by a paracrine action through the secretion of extracellular vesicles containing trophic factors. This secretome is being investigated as a potential source for a cell-free based regenerative therapy for human tissues, which would significantly reduce the involved costs, risks and law regulations, allowing for a broader application in real clinical practice.
  • 775
  • 02 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Lysosomes in Regulating Metabolism of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the capacity to renew blood cells at all stages of life and are largely quiescent at a steady state. It is essential to understand the processes that govern quiescence in HSCs to enhance bone marrow transplantation. It is hypothesized that in their quiescent state, HSCs primarily use glycolysis for energy production rather than mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In addition, the HSC switch from quiescence to activation occurs along a continuous developmental path that is driven by metabolism. Specifying the metabolic regulation pathway of HSC quiescence will provide insights into HSC homeostasis for therapeutic application. Therefore, understanding the metabolic demands of HSCs at a steady state is key to developing innovative hematological therapeutics. Lysosomes are the major degradative organelle in eukaryotic cells. Catabolic, anabolic, and lysosomal function abnormalities are connected to an expanding list of diseases.
  • 775
  • 27 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Astrocytes as Glutamate Producers and Targets in ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting motor neurons (MNs) in the motor cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord. ALS involves different cell types, such as neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes. Since all these cells express the same mutated genes in patients, ALS can arise from a combination of damaged MNs and their glial partners rather than only from the neuronal lineage. Many studies highlighted the solid non-neuronal signature in ALS and suggested astrocytes and microglia as critical players in disease progression rather than disease onset. Conversely, data support an alteration of oligodendrocyte function at the disease pre-symptomatic and early symptomatic stages.
  • 775
  • 01 Nov 2023
Topic Review
COVID-19: the Immunological Challenges
Although COVID-19 pneumonia is a novel disease that is different from other types of ARDS, severe COVID-19-associated ARDS shares typical ARDS lung pathology such as diffuse alveolar damage and hyaline membrane formation. As Prasanna et al. summarized, the general rationale for low-dose radiation treatment of COVID-19 is its inhibition of the cytokine storm, which promotes pulmonary dysfunction and ultimately ARDS. Inflammation is a dynamic and progressive process that is tightly associated with redox-modulated reactions. When recruited to sites of inflammation, macrophages and neutrophils generate reactive species, including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS). With multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines being secreted, the latter together with elevated levels of ROS and RNS deteriorate redox homeostasis, and further worsen the disease. During the past two decades, research has revealed that low-dose radiation-mediated homeostasis is associated with enhanced cellular detoxification of ROS by a major antioxidant enzyme (manganese superoxide dismutase, MnSOD) within the mitochondria. This adaptive protection of mitochondrial metabolic functions is thought to provide experimental and theoretical support for using low-dose radiation to limit virus replication. Other antioxidants, including glutathione, were also shown to be increased following exposure to low doses of sparsely ionizing radiation such as X and γ rays. Schaue et al. suggested that it might be difficult and challenging for patients with complicated conditions and advanced age to rebalance redox levels, and low-dose radiation treatment might be of clinical value with its broad suppression of various inflammatory, pro-oxidant pathways at multiple levels.
  • 775
  • 29 Sep 2021
Topic Review
PE_PGRS33 and humoral immune response
PE_PGRS proteins are surface antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and a few other pathogenic mycobacteria. The PE_PGRS33 protein is among the most studied PE_PGRSs. It is known that the PE domain of PE_PGRS33 is required for the protein translocation through the mycobacterial cell wall, where the PGRS domain remains available for interaction with host receptors. Interaction with Toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) promotes secretion of inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, which are key in the immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis (TB). Here, we address key challenges in the development of a TB vaccine and attempt to provide a rationale for the development of new vaccines aimed at fostering a humoral response against Mtb. We show that the PGRS domain of PE_PGRS33 exposes four PGII sandwiches on the outer surface, which we propose to be directly involved through their loops in the interactions with the host receptors and as such are promising targets for a vaccination strategy aimed at inducing a humoral response. 
  • 774
  • 27 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Fibrillin-1 Microfibrils in Organismal Physiology
Fibrillin-1 is the major structural component of the 10 nm-diameter microfibrils that confer key physical and mechanical properties to virtually every tissue, alone and together with elastin in the elastic fibers. Mutations in fibrillin-1 cause pleiotropic manifestations in Marfan syndrome (MFS), including dissecting thoracic aortic aneurysms, myocardial dysfunction, progressive bone loss, disproportionate skeletal growth, and the dislocation of the crystalline lens. 
  • 774
  • 15 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Microtubule Cytoskeleton Organization, Cell Polarity, and Phosphoinositide Signaling
The capacity for cancer cells to metastasize to distant organs depends on their ability to execute the carefully choreographed processes of cell adhesion and migration. As most human cancers are of epithelial origin (carcinoma), the transcriptional downregulation of adherent/tight junction proteins (e.g., E-cadherin, Claudin and Occludin) with the concomitant gain of adhesive and migratory phenotypes has been extensively studied.
  • 774
  • 09 Oct 2023
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