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Topic Review
Natural Dibenzo-α-pyrone: Friends or Foes?
Dibenzo-α-pyrone (DAP) is the basic scaffold of a group of naturally occurring chemicals. From one angle, the gastrointestinal metabolites urolithins are regarded as beneficial, while from the other, the emerging mycotoxin alternariol and related fungal metabolites are evaluated critically with regards to potential hazardous effects. 
  • 951
  • 20 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Synthetic Cathinones
New psychoactive substances represent a public health threat since they are not controlled by international conventions, are easily accessible online and are sold as a legal alternative to illicit drugs. Among them, synthetic cathinones are widely abused due to their stimulant and hallucinogenic effects. To circumvent the law, new derivatives are clandestinely synthesized and, therefore, synthetic cathinones keep emerging on the drug market, with their chemical and toxicological properties still unknown.
  • 923
  • 08 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Mechanisms of Snake Venom Induced Pain
Not all venoms contain the same constituents; not all sensory neurons or other components of the nervous system are vulnerable to the same peptide or enzyme; not all tissues and organs have the same innervation or vulnerability to venom constituents; and, lastly, snakes have incredibly diverse venom proteomes, a diversity driven by geographical and other environmental factors. Documentation of specific pain syndromes in greater detail in future epidemiological studies of snake bite is also critical. 
  • 896
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Engineered Bacteriophages
Engineered bacteriophages (phages) are bacteriophages that have been genetically or chemically altered in some way to create or improve a property for an application, although it would be equally valid to use this term for phages altered for research.   Application-directed properties can include: enhanced bacterial killing to improve phage therapy; insertion of reporter genes to facilitate biosensor-mediated detection; insertion of targeting peptides to a virion surface protein to enhance binding properties to bacteria or other types of cells; attachment of non-protein molecules (e.g. antibiotics or nanoparticles) to phage capsid surface proteins to facilitate phage-mediated delivery; anchoring of phages to a surface to improve target capture.  It is also possible to combine modifications to develop, for example, a phage-based cancer treatment that has binding peptides for cancer cell targeting and is conjugated to either a radioisotope nanoparticle or chemotherapy drug to improve delivery.
  • 884
  • 14 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Heavy Metal Accumulation in Rice and Aquatic Plants
Aquatic ecosystems are contaminated with heavy metals by natural and anthropogenic sources. Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) cause significant damage to aquatic ecosystems and can invariably affect human health. These metals can enter the human body through food chains, and the presence of heavy metals in food can lead to numerous human health consequences. Heavy metals in aquatic plants can affect plant physicochemical functions, growth, and crop yield. 
  • 883
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Indirect Effect of Pesticides
Pesticides can indirectly affect target and non-target species in ways that are often contrary to their intended use. Such effects are mediated through interactions with other species or the physical environment and depend on ecological mechanisms. Typical mechanisms are the release of herbivores from predation and release from competition among species with similar niches. 
  • 801
  • 05 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Anabaenopeptins
Anabaenopeptins (APs) are structurally diverse peptides widely distributed in distinct ecosystems among cyanobacteria. Some structural features of these molecules are shared with other cyanotoxins, such as the presence of modified residues, exocyclic amino acids, circular structure, and amino acids in D-configuration. However, among the cyanopeptides, the ureido linkage is exclusively found in APs. Thus, these cyclic peptides demonstrate toxicity and structural diversity which will be explored in this topic, including biotechnological and ecological relevance, and their distribution.
  • 800
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Nanoplastic and the Gut-Brain Axis
The widespread usage of plastic places a significant burden on the environment and impacts numerous aquatic and terrestrial species. Humans in particular can be affected by plastic pollution, predominantly via inhalation and ingestion, as well as trophic transfer along the food chain. Under natural conditions synthetic materials undergo degradation into micro- and nanoparticles, especially prone to interact with biological systems. Organisms exposed to nanoplastic accumulate it in multiple tissues, including the gut and the brain. The scarce but consistent evidence shows that exposure to plastic nanoparticles can indeed affect both the digestive and the nervous system, therefore, potentially pose a threat to the complex network of mutual interactions between them, known as the gut-brain axis.
  • 791
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Intra-Organismal Distribution of Tetrodotoxin in Tetrodotoxin-Bearing Animals
Tetrodotoxin (TTX), one of the deadliest natural toxins, has attracted the interest of researchers from various fields for decades. This non-protein, weakly basic, heat-resistant low-molecular-weight toxin selectively blocks voltage-gated sodium channels along the muscle and nerve cells.
  • 773
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Epithelial Cells in Environmental-Associated Airway Diseases
People are exposed to contaminants through the respiratory tract and skin; they first reach the bloodstream and, subsequently, the organs, causing more or less serious damage to health. Thus, the effects of atmospheric pollution affect the respiratory tract with acute symptoms and the circulatory system with cardiovascular events, leading to hospitalizations and mortality. In addition to the acute effects, long-term effects can also be had, including an alteration of lung function in adults, children, and adolescents. Specifically, in children and adolescents, chronic exposure to air pollution is associated with a reduction in forced vital capacity (FVC), which correlates with age and can be interpreted as a reduction in the lung growth and respiratory function of the lower airways. Children, together with elderly persons, are the most sensitive subjects to environmental pollution; to these are added subjects with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Emerging contaminants induce pulmonary toxicity by promoting an inflammatory response in lung epithelial cells.
  • 771
  • 15 Mar 2022
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