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Topic Review
Src Family Kinase
Src family kinases (SFKs) are key regulators of cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. The expression of these non-receptor tyrosine kinases is strongly correlated with cancer development and tumor progression. Thus, this family of proteins serves as an attractive drug target.
  • 1.1K
  • 14 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Recurrent Spliceosome Mutations in Cancer
Splicing alterations have been widely documented in tumors where the proliferation and dissemination of cancer cells is supported by the expression of aberrant isoform variants. Splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a ribonucleoprotein complex that orchestrates the complex process of intron removal and exon ligation. In recent years, recurrent hotspot mutations in the spliceosome components U1 snRNA, SF3B1, and U2AF1 have been identified across different tumor types. Such mutations in principle are highly detrimental for cells as all three spliceosome components are crucial for accurate splice site selection: the U1 snRNA is essential for 3′ splice site recognition, and SF3B1 and U2AF1 are important for 5′ splice site selection. Nonetheless, they appear to be selected to promote specific types of cancers.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Alcohol-Poisoning Symptoms
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are recognized as “probiotics.” The word “probiotics” is defined as “the live microorganisms conferring a health benefit on the host when administered in adequate amounts”, and probiotic LAB strains traditionally have been used to manufacture fermented foods. It has been reported that some LAB cells and fermented foods containing the bacteria have potent health benefits, such as promoting intestinal homeostasis, possessing anti-allergic properties, and preventing and improving obesity.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Squamous Cell Carcinomas
Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are cancers that arise from both stratified squamous and non-squamous epithelium of diverse anatomical sites and collectively represent one of the most frequent solid tumors. Despite such heterogeneous anatomical origins, SCCs have unified oncogenic and metabolic features centered around maintaining redox homeostasis that may ultimately be attractive therapeutic targets.
  • 1.1K
  • 06 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Bio-Photonic Cavities
An eco-friendly approach to usual optical cavities, in which an electromagnetic radiation can release energy to matter by interacting with its molecular or atomic structure. Based on bio-inspired and biodegradable meta-surfaces, able to behave as a resonator for light, their optical response can be engineered at will to accomplish a particular optical task.  
  • 1.1K
  • 24 Nov 2021
Topic Review
LEAFY COTYLEDON 2: A Regulatory Factor in Plant
Transcription factors are key molecules in the regulation of gene expression in all organisms. The transcription factor LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 (LEC2), which belongs to the DNA-binding protein family, contains a B3 domain. The transcription factor is involved in the regulation of important plant biological processes such as embryogenesis, somatic embryo formation, seed storage protein synthesis, fatty acid metabolism, and other important biological processes.
  • 1.1K
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
The Neurokinin-1 Receptor
Substance P (SP), through the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R), behaves as a universal mitogen in cancer cells. The NK-1R is overexpressed in tumor cells and, in addition, affects the viability of cancer cells. NK-1R antagonists counteract all the previous actions mediated by SP through NK-1R. In a concentration-dependent manner, these antagonists promote tumor cell death by apoptosis. Therefore, NK-1R is a potential and promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment by using NK-1R antagonists (e.g., aprepitant) alone or in combination therapy with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
  • 1.1K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Ferredoxin-NADP+ Oxidoreductase and Flavodoxin
Distinct isoforms of FAD-containing ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) and ferredoxin (Fd) are involved in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic electron transfer systems. The FNR (FAD)-Fd [2Fe-2S] redox pair complex switches between one- and two-electron transfer reactions in steps involving FAD semiquinone intermediates. In cyanobacteria and some algae, one-electron carrier Fd serves as a substitute for low-potential FMN-containing flavodoxin (Fld) during growth under low-iron conditions. This complex evolves into the covalent FNR (FAD)-Fld (FMN) pair, which participates in a wide variety of NAD(P)H-dependent metabolic pathways as an electron donor, including bacterial sulfite reductase, cytochrome P450 BM3, plant or mammalian cytochrome P450 reductase and nitric oxide synthase isoforms. These electron transfer systems share the conserved Ser-Glu/Asp pair in the active site of the FAD module. In addition to physiological electron acceptors, the NAD(P)H-dependent diflavin reductase family catalyzes a one-electron reduction of artificial electron acceptors such as quinone-containing anticancer drugs. Conversely, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), which shares a Fld-like active site, functions as a typical two-electron transfer antioxidant enzyme, and the NQO1 and UDP-glucuronosyltransfease/sulfotransferase pairs function as an antioxidant detoxification system.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Amyloid Precursor Protein in AD
       Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and globally, over 46 million people are affected by this devastating disease. AD causes irreversible mental and cognitive deficiency including memory loss, personality disorder, and intellectual abnormality in patients older than 65 years. Central sensory systems including the visual system are also affected during the advanced stages of the disease . Collectively, complications of AD diminish the lifespan, hamper the quality of life, and cause physical impairment, which finally appears as a terrible difficulty in normal life activities. To decrease the social and economic costs and the burden of the disease on patients and their families, recently, several attempts have been made to identify disease diagnostic markers. Neuroimaging methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, have been developed enabling researchers to diagnose AD at the early stages of the disease. Moreover, distinct biomarkers, which are essential to figure out the pathological characteristics of AD, have been observed in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The advancement of AD is associated with three cardinal neuropathological features such as extracellular deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) to produce neuritic plaques, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and synaptic degeneration. These pathological alterations arise in the neocortex, hippocampus, and other subcortical regions that are crucial for cognitive functions. Aβ has been considered as the foremost risk factor that playing a vital role in the initiation and progression of AD. Aβ is generated into the typical individual, but in some instances, this peptide leads to aggregation, the starting point of disease progression. Many findings elucidate that Aβ oligomers might play a central role in neuronal dysfunction and AD. 
  • 1.0K
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Exosomes Diversity
Cells can communicate through special “messages in the bottle”, which are recorded in the bloodstream inside vesicles, namely exosomes. The exosomes are nanovesicles of 30–100 nm in diameter that carry functionally active biological material, such as proteins, messanger RNA (mRNAs), and micro RNA (miRNAs). Therefore, they are able to transfer specific signals from a parental cell of origin to the surrounding cells in the microenvironment and to distant organs through the circulatory and lymphatic stream. More and more interest is rising for the pathological role of exosomes produced by cancer cells and for their potential use in tumor monitoring and patient follow up. In particular, the exosomes could be an appropriate index of proliferation and cancer cell communication for monitoring the minimal residual disease, which cannot be easily detectable by common diagnostic and monitoring techniques. The lack of unequivocal markers for tumor-derived exosomes calls for new strategies for exosomes profile characterization aimed at the adoption of exosomes as an official tumor biomarker for tumor progression monitoring.
  • 1.0K
  • 21 Nov 2020
Topic Review
MicroRNAs Responding to Space Radiation
High-energy and high-atom-number (HZE) space radiation poses an inevitable potential threat to astronauts on deep space exploration missions. In addition to inducing damage at the DNA level, space radiation also causes epigenetic changes, such as microRNAs, which is important to understanding of the machanisms underlying space radiobiological effects.
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Glutathione in Brain Disorders and Aging
Glutathione is a remarkably functional molecule with diverse features, which include being an antioxidant, a regulator of DNA synthesis and repair, a protector of thiol groups in proteins, a stabilizer of cell membranes, and a detoxifier of xenobiotics. Glutathione exists in two states-oxidized and reduced. Under normal physiological conditions of cellular homeostasis, glutathione remains primarily in its reduced form.
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Autophagy in Cancer Cells
The role of autophagy is to degrade damaged or unnecessary cellular structures. Both in vivo and in vitro studies suggest a dual role of autophagy in cancer—it may promote the development of neoplasms, but it may also play a tumor protective function. The mechanism of autophagy depends on the genetic context, tumor stage and type, tumor microenvironment, or clinical therapy used. Autophagy also plays an important role in cell death as well as in the induction of chemoresistance of cancer cells. The following review describes the extensive autophagic cell death in relation to dietary polyphenols and cancer disease. Polyphenols are organic chemicals that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and immunomodulating properties, and can also initiate the process of apoptosis. In addition, polyphenols reduce oxidative stress and protect against reactive oxygen species. This review presents in vitro and in vivo studies in animal models with the use of polyphenolic compounds such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), oleuropein, punicalgin, apigenin, resveratrol, pterostilbene, or curcumin and their importance in the modulation of autophagy-induced death of cancer cells.
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Post-Translational Control of Protein Expression
Proteins are fundamental biomolecules of living cells, and their expression levels depend on the balance between the synthesis and degradation. The genetic manipulation of the target protein using CRISPR/Cas9, Cre/loxP, tetracyclin system, and RNA interference, are widely used for the regulation of proteins at the DNA, transcriptional, or mRNA level. Recently, researchers have developed various types of molecular tools for the regulation of protein expression at the post-translational level, which rely on harnessing cellular proteolytic machinery including ubiquitin–proteasome pathway, autophagy-lysosome pathway, and endocytosis. The post-translational control of protein expression using small molecules, antibodies, and light can offer significant advantages regarding speed, tunability, and reversibility. These technologies are expected to be applied to pharmacotherapy and cell therapy, as well as research tools for fundamental biological studies.
  • 1.0K
  • 23 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Clinical Applications of Short Non-Coding RNA-Based Therapies
RNA therapies have demonstrated clinical potential for both the treatment of cancer and other pathologies. Therapeutic delivery and resulting adverse events remain significant roadblocks in implementing many of these drugs into clinical practice, but the FDA approval of three Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) therapies has been a milestone in developing therapies tailored to disease-driving target genes. While it seems that RNAs can be administered “naked” in closed-compartment organs such as eyes and lungs, more research is needed for systemic administration. Lipid nanoparticles represent a promising delivery method, but some challenges remain because of their potential to elicit an immune response, relatively low circulation times, and relatively large size. The use of GalNAc for the delivery and targeting of siRNAs has made significant progress, but delivery systems targeted to organs other than the liver would broaden the range of diseases that could be treated with RNA therapies.
  • 1.0K
  • 07 Apr 2022
Topic Review
The Insulin-like Growth Factor System and Colorectal Cancer
Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are peptides which exert mitogenic, endocrine and cytokine activities. Together with their receptors, binding proteins and associated molecules, they participate in numerous pathophysiological processes, including cancer development. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a disease with high incidence and mortality rates worldwide, whose etiology usually represents a combination of the environmental and genetic factors. IGFs are most often increased in CRC, enabling excessive autocrine/paracrine stimulation of the cell growth. Overexpression or increased activation/accessibility of IGF receptors is a coinciding step which transmits IGF-related signals. A number of molecules and biochemical mechanisms exert modulatory effects shaping the final outcome of the IGF-stimulated processes, frequently leading to neoplastic transformation in the case of irreparable disbalance.
  • 1.0K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
ADGRG1/GPR56 in Tumor Progression
Cellular communication plays a critical role in diverse aspects of tumorigenesis including tumor cell growth/death, adhesion/detachment, migration/invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) which constitute the largest group of cell surface receptors are known to play fundamental roles in all these processes. When considering the importance of GPCRs in tumorigenesis, the adhesion GPCRs (aGPCRs) are unique due to their hybrid structural organization of a long extracellular cell-adhesive domain and a seven-transmembrane signaling domain. Indeed, aGPCRs have been increasingly shown to be associated with tumor development by participating in tumor cell interaction and signaling. ADGRG1/GPR56, a representative tumor-associated aGPCR, is recognized as a potential biomarker/prognostic factor of specific cancer types with both tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting functions. 
  • 1.0K
  • 16 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Synthetic Polymers and Protein Fibrillation under Crowded Conditions
Protein amyloid fibrils have widespread implications for human health. Fibrillation has been studied using a variety of crowding agents to mimic the packed interior of cells or to probe the mechanisms and pathways of the process. One commonly used class of crowding agents is synthetic polymers. Complex effects are observed depending on the specific paring of polymer and fibrillating protein, but generally crowding with synthetic polymers favors fibrillation.
  • 1.0K
  • 22 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Protein Sorting at the Outer Mitochondrial Membrane
Mitochondria are double membrane-bound organelles consisting of an outer membrane, intermembrane space (IMS), inner membrane, and matrix that play critical functions in cells including metabolism, energy production, regulation of intrinsic apoptosis, and maintenance of calcium homeostasis. Mitochondria are fascinatingly equipped with their own genome and machinery for transcribing and translating 13 essential proteins of the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS). The rest of the proteins (99%) that function in mitochondria in the various pathways described above are nuclear-transcribed and synthesized as precursors in the cytosol. These proteins are imported into the mitochondria by the unique mitochondrial protein import system that consists of seven machineries. Proper functioning of the mitochondrial protein import system is crucial for optimal mitochondrial deliverables, as well as mitochondrial and cellular homeostasis.
  • 1.0K
  • 17 May 2023
Topic Review
Cytochrome c oxidase Assembly Factors
An overview of cytochrome c oxidase assembly factors in baker's yeast and humans with hypotheses regarding the assembly process in low oxygen conditions and during initial entry into the inner mitochondrial membrane.
  • 1.0K
  • 10 Oct 2020
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