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Topic Review
Membrane Contact Sites in Autophagy
Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are formed by stable association between regions of the limiting membrane of two or more organelles, which are physically tethered together and exert specific functions. MCSs are very dynamic; they can rapidly assemble and disassemble, according to their function, and the gap between the adjacent membranes is highly variable. The term autophagy entails all those transport pathways that deliver intracellular components to vacuoles/lysosomes for turnover. Three main autophagic processes have been described: (1) macroautophagy, which is characterized by the sequestration of the cargoes by double-membrane autophagosomes that fuse with vacuoles or lysosomes; (2) microautophagy, which involves the direct engulfment of the cargo by the endosomes or vacuoles/lysosomes; and (3) chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), in which single polypeptides with a specific recognition sequence are recognized by HSP70 and translocated into the mammalian lysosomes via a channel formed by LAMP2A.
  • 717
  • 13 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Telocytes in Modulating Gut Motility Function and Development
Telocytes (TCs) are interstitial cells with distinct features. They have extensions that react to mechanical stimulation through calcium channels. The ability of TCs to communicate with surrounding cells, especially stem cells (SCs), through gap junctions and extracellular vesicles opens a wide range of questions. Moreover, the hypothesis that TCs are capable of carrying out the cellular niche for stem cell regulation and support suggests that TCs could play an important part in the response to major changes in homeostasis. It also suggests that TCs have a significant functional role in tissues that have an increased turnover.
  • 717
  • 25 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Transfer RNAs Present in Extracellular Vesicles
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small cargo-containing structures with a lipid bilayer but do not have the cellular machinery required to replicate. They have been shown to play a role in cell-to-cell communication, as they can be found to transport biological material including proteins, lipids, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) between cells, leading to cellular changes within multi-cellular organisms. It is a process that has been conserved through evolution, found both in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
  • 716
  • 21 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Role of Neurotrophin Signaling in CNS Homeostasis
Neurotrophins (NTs), also known as neurotrophic factors, are proteins involved in many important functions in the central nervous system (CNS), such as survival, synaptic plasticity, apoptosis, differentiation, and growth. The current knowledge of NTs includes the nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), NT-4, NT-5, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). These NTs are commonly known to be synthesized by CNS cells. However, other cell types, including immune system cells, can produce NTs and express their receptors on the cell surface. These proteins also play a vital role in regulating immune functions, promoting the survival of different immune cells such as monocytes and lymphocytes and influencing cytokine expression. NTs significantly contribute to healthy CNS development and maintenance. Furthermore, most mechanisms mediated by NTs signaling have essential physiological effects which perdure through most animal lifecycles. In consequence, alterations in neurotrophic signaling can have substantial ramifications, especially during embryonic development.
  • 714
  • 31 May 2022
Topic Review
Vascular Inflammatory Diseases and Endothelial Phenotypes
The physiological functions of endothelial cells control vascular tone, permeability, inflammation, and angiogenesis, which significantly help to maintain a healthy vascular system. Several cardiovascular diseases are characterized by endothelial cell activation or dysfunction triggered by external stimuli such as disturbed flow, hypoxia, growth factors, and cytokines in response to high levels of low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, aging, drugs, and smoking. Increasing evidence suggests that uncontrolled proinflammatory signaling and further alteration in endothelial cell phenotypes such as barrier disruption, increased permeability, endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT), and metabolic reprogramming further induce vascular diseases, and multiple studies are focusing on finding the pathways and mechanisms involved in it.
  • 714
  • 27 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Generating Osteoclasts from Human Femoral Heads
Proper formation of the skeleton during development is crucial for the mobility of humans and the maintenance of essential organs. The production of bone is regulated by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. An imbalance of these cells can lead to a decrease in bone mineral density, which leads to fractures. The data demonstrated that isolated cells can be differentiated into functional osteoclasts, as indicated by the 92% and 83% of cells that stained positive for TRAP and Cathepsin K, respectively. Furthermore, isolated cells remain viable and terminally differentiate into osteoclasts when stimulated with RANKL. These data demonstrate that cells isolated from human femoral heads can be differentiated into osteoclasts to study bone disorders during development and adulthood.
  • 713
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Efferent Duct Multicilia in Male Fertility
Cilia are microtubule-based hair-like organelles on the cell surface. Cilia have been implicated in various biological processes ranging from mechanosensation to fluid movement. Ciliary dysfunction leads to a plethora of human diseases, known as ciliopathies.
  • 713
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
TRIM Proteins Family
TRIM (TRIpartite Motif-containing) proteins family is one of the largest groups of E3 ubiquitin ligases. Among them, interest in TRIM8 has greatly increased in recent years. TRIM8 functions are not limited to ubiquitination, and it has a role either as an oncogene or as a tumor suppressor gene, acting as a “double-edged weapon”. This is linked to its involvement in the selective regulation of three pivotal cellular signaling pathways: the p53 tumor suppressor, NF-κB and JAK-STAT pathways.
  • 712
  • 29 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles in Normal Pregnancy
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small vesicles ranging from 20–200 nm to 10 μm in diameter that are discharged and taken in by many different types of cells. Depending on the nature and quantity of their content—which generally includes proteins, lipids as well as microRNAs (miRNAs), messenger-RNA (mRNA), and DNA—these particles can bring about functional modifications in the receiving cells. During pregnancy, placenta and/or fetal-derived EVs have recently been isolated, eliciting interest in discovering their clinical significance. 
  • 712
  • 26 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Precision Oncology Beyond Genomics
Cancer is a multifactorial disease with increasing incidence. There are more than 100 different cancer types, defined by location, cell of origin, and genomic alterations that influence oncogenesis and therapeutic response. This heterogeneity between tumors of different patients and also the heterogeneity within the same patient’s tumor pose an enormous challenge to cancer treatment.
  • 712
  • 06 May 2021
Topic Review
PTP1B
The tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) acts as a key negative regulator of insulin receptor, and a plethora of studies confirmed that uncontrolled activity of this enzyme is one of the main causes that lead to IR (insulin resistance). According to this hypothesis, it has been demonstrated that the overexpression of PTP1B promotes IR in liver, muscle, adipose tissue, pancreas, and brain.
  • 712
  • 29 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Drosophila Rab39 Attenuates Lysosomal Degradation
Lysosomal degradation, the common destination of autophagy and endocytosis, is one of the most important elements of eukaryotic metabolism. The small GTPases Rab39A and B are potential new effectors of this pathway, as their malfunction is implicated in severe human diseases like cancer and neurodegeneration.
  • 712
  • 18 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Long Non-Coding RNAs as Emerging Targets
Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are non-protein coding molecules longer than 200 nucleotides. They play essential roles in normal cell function and development, and can contribute to diseases such as cancer when dysregulated. Although lncRNAs have oncogenic or tumor-suppressive properties in lung cancer and can serve as stable biomarkers, this is still an understudied field. 
  • 712
  • 25 Jun 2023
Topic Review
CircRNA Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Growth and Development
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel class of non-coding RNA generated by pre-mRNA back splicing, which is characterized by a closed-loop structure. The skeletal muscle is the largest organ in animals, which constitutes 30~–50% of the body mass. Skeletal muscle plays an important role in locomotion and metabolism. Therefore, proper muscle growth and homeostasis are the critical determinants of human motor performance. Recent studies showed that circRNAs are abundant in skeletal muscle tissue, and their expression levels are regulated during muscle development and aging. 
  • 711
  • 23 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Mechanism of Action of circRNAs in Cancer Cells
The ever-increasing number of cancer cases and persistently high mortality underlines the urgent need to acquire new perspectives for developing innovative therapeutic approaches. As the research on protein-coding genes brought significant yet only incremental progress in the development of anticancer therapy, much attention is now devoted to understanding the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in various types of cancer. The ncRNAs recognized previously as “dark matter” are, in fact, key players in shaping cancer development. Moreover, breakthrough discoveries concerning the role of a new group of ncRNAs, circular RNAs, have evidenced their high importance in many diseases, including malignancies. 
  • 711
  • 17 Feb 2023
Topic Review
CAF partners with Endometrial Tumor-Cells
A tumor cell carrying characteristic genomic alteration(s) exists within its host’s microenvironment. The tempero-spatial interaction of tumor cells with its microenvironment is the deterministic factor for tumor growth, progression, resistance to therapy, and its outcome in clinics. This manuscript presents a systemic review of the role of CAF in endometrial cancers. Here we present the functional characteristics of CAF in the context of endometrial cancers. We review (1) the characteristics of CAF, (2) their evolution from being anti-tumor to pro-tumor, (3) their involvement in regulating growth and several metastasis-associated phenotypes of tumor cells, (4) their participation in perturbing immune defense and evading immune surveillance, and (5) their role in mediating drug resistance via tumor-CAF cross-talk with particular reference to endometrial cancers. We interrogate the functional characteristics of CAF in the light of its dialogue with tumor cells and other components of TME towards developing a CAF-based strategy for precision therapy to supplement tumor-based therapy. The purpose of the review is to present a new vision and initiate a thought process which recognizes the importance of CAF in a tumor, thereby resulting in a novel approach to the design and management of the disease in endometrial cancers.
  • 710
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Structure and Architecture of BRCT Domains
The human BRCT domain was first resolved from the crystal structure of the N-terminal BRCT of the X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 1 (XRCC1), determined by X-ray crystallography to a 3.2 Å resolution. Its tertiary structure features a central core of four-stranded parallel β-sheet (β1, β2, β3, and β4) flanked by two α-helices (α1 and α3) on the C-terminal end, a single α-helix (α2) on the N-terminal end, and two surface loops connecting β1 with α1 and α2 with β3 (the overall structure being β1-α1-β2-β3-α2-β4-α3). BRCT domains have been identified in a wide group of living organisms (from bacteria, parasites to mammals) and viruses. As mentioned above, those domains take part in a variety of important cell processes including DDR and cell cycle control. In addition, a few of these protein modules have been shown to be involved in pathologies such as cancer or infectious diseases including leishmaniasis. Therefore, significant efforts have been made towards finding compounds able to specifically inhibit the functions of these protein domains.
  • 710
  • 24 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Epicardial Cell Heterogeneity during Cardiogenesis and Heart Regeneration
The outermost layer of the heart, the epicardium, is an essential cell population that contributes, through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), to the formation of different cell types and provides paracrine signals to the developing heart. Despite its quiescent state during adulthood, the adult epicardium reactivates and recapitulates many aspects of embryonic cardiogenesis in response to cardiac injury, thereby supporting cardiac tissue remodeling. Thus, the epicardium has been considered a crucial source of cell progenitors that offers an important contribution to cardiac development and injured hearts. 
  • 710
  • 12 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Basic Biology of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive as well as the most dangerous form of breast cancer. Due to the lack of biomarkers that can be targeted by specific molecular therapeutics, treatment is usually limited to chemotherapy and surgery where applicable. 
  • 708
  • 06 May 2023
Topic Review
Netosis in Brief
Netosis is a complex and fascinating cellular process that plays a pivotal role in our immune defense system. It involves the formation and release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) composed of chromatin and antimicrobial proteins. These NETs act as sophisticated snares, capturing and neutralizing various pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, and parasites. The process begins with chromatin decondensation, mediated by enzymes like PAD4, allowing the extrusion of chromatin from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Subsequent rupture of the nuclear envelope leads to NET formation and their release into the extracellular environment. While netosis is essential for immune defense, dysregulation can contribute to autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders, and even thrombosis. Understanding netosis opens doors to potential therapeutic interventions targeting this intricate cellular mechanism.
  • 708
  • 18 Sep 2023
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