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Topic Review
Quantitative Vitamin A Analysis Approaches
Ensuring that animals receive a well-balanced diet and appropriate feed formulation can significantly enhance animal productivity, improve the quality of their products, and promote better animal welfare. Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is a vital micronutrient crucial for maintaining optimal health and well-being in livestock. It plays a central role in various physiological functions, including immune response regulation, vision maintenance, and cellular differentiation. Consequently, the accurate determination of vitamin A levels in animal feed and premixes is essential for ensuring animal health and production. Beyond preventing deficiencies and associated health issues, it forms the foundation for their overall growth and performance.
  • 131
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Heterologous Expression and Production of Oxidoreductase Enzymes
Enzymes are biocatalysts with complex structures and specific catalytic mechanisms that determine their distinctive properties, such as high catalytic activity and selectivity of specific substrates. Oxidoreductase (OXR) enzymes are in high demand for biocatalytic applications in the food industry and cosmetics (glucose oxidase (GOx) and cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH)), bioremediations (horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and laccase (LAC)), and medicine for biosensors and miniature biofuel cells (GOx, CDH, LAC, and HRP). Therefore, scientists are still trying to find optimal fermentation formulas and, most recently, also using protein engineering and directed evolution for an additional increase in the yield of recombinant enzyme production. 
  • 148
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Targets on Astrocytes for the Treatment of ALS
Astrocytes, the most numerous and giant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS), possess the unique ability to divide and proliferate throughout life. The cytosol of astrocytes exhibits a distinctive star-shaped morphology, housing a critical structural component known as the glial filament. Comprised of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), this intermediate filament is essential to the cytoskeleton and serves as a standard marker for astrocytes. Importantly, it is not entirely exclusive to astrocytes but also labels neural stem cells. Apart from organizing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and supporting, sequestering, and isolating neurons, these cells perform a multitude of vital biological functions. These include the metabolism, synthesis, and secretion of neurotrophic factors, regulation of neurotransmitters and calcium homeostasis, maintenance of mitochondrial function, participation in nervous system and circuit development, and regulation of the immune status of the CNS. However, these functions are partially or wholly lost in reactive astrocytes. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal illness characterized by the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons (MNs), with an average survival of 3–5 years.
  • 218
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Plant Responses to Stress Combinations
Stress combinations describe the simultaneous exposure of plants to two or more stresses. In the past, stress combinations were defined as simple combinations of two or at most three different stresses, and extensive research has been conducted in this realm. Given the escalating environmental complexity arising from heightened levels of various pollutants and erratic weather patterns due to climate change, studies indicate a substantial decline in plant growth and survival even when each stressor is at a relatively low level, as the number of stressors amplifies their effects. Therefore, studying plant responses to basic stress combinations alone is inadequate for intricate environments.Therefore, the concept of stress combinations has recently broadened, introducing a novel approach to studying plant responses to combined stresses termed “multifactorial stress combinations”(MFSCs). This term denotes combinations of three or more (n ≥ 3) stressors affecting the plant simultaneously or in succession. The simultaneous impacts on plants come from a multitude of stressors such as anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic biotic factors, climatic drivers, and soil-related abiotic factors.
  • 118
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Methods for Determining Bacterial Contamination of Platelet Products
A wide variety of direct and indirect methods have been used to test platelets for the presence of bacterial contamination, and those that are in current use will be discussed. Tests performed on platelet products have been defined by the recent US FDA guidance document on this subject as primary and secondary. Primary testing is the initial bacterial detection test, usually by culture, performed following collection and before release of products for transfusion. Secondary testing is any additional test to detect bacteria in a platelet unit that showed no bacterial contamination upon primary testing. Secondary testing can be by culture or rapid testing methods.
  • 105
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Integrated Approach for Carotenoid Biofortification in Cowpea
Legumes are a source of important secondary metabolites including carotenoids, and they play a significant role in food and diet diversification and ecosystem protection. Carotenoids are the second-most abundant naturally occurring pigments on earth, synthesized by plants, which fulfill important physiological functions. The main carotenoid pigments found in the photosystems of plants include α-Carotene and β-carotene, which are further hydroxylated to produce xanthophylls (e.g., lutein and zeaxanthin). The crucial roles of carotenoids and their metabolites in photooxidative protection and photosynthesis, not to mention nutrition, vision, and cellular differentiation, make them an important class of biological pigments. In cowpeas, carotenoids are mainly present in seeds, leaves, and pods, which contribute to the antioxidant properties of this legume. Increasing the content of carotenoids in cowpeas will contribute to food and nutrition security in the tropics. 
  • 94
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
The Biogenesis of Exosomes
Exosomes, ranging from 30 to 150 nanometers in diameter, emerge as crucial biological nano-scale lipid bilayer vesicles. These vesicles are secreted by various cell types, including dendritic cells, macrophages, B cells, T cells, mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and several cancer cells.
  • 205
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Monomeric Extracellular Ubiquitin
Ubiquitin (Ub) was discovered in 1975 in bovine thymus and subsequently found in multiple organisms and tissues. Ub is a small 76-amino-acid protein with a molecular weight of 8.6 kDa and a surface area of 4800 Å2. It is highly conserved across species. Indeed, human and mouse Ub are identical and differ from yeast by only two amino acids (96% sequence identity), indicating a well-conserved role in regulating important cellular processes across diverse and evolutionarily distant organisms. Ub is encoded by four different genes in humans; two of them, UBA52 and RSP27A, encode for a single Ub fused to the ribosomal L40 and S27A proteins, respectively, whereas the other two, UBB and UBC, produce three and nine head-to-tail tandem Ubs with a C-terminal cysteine (C) or valine (V), respectively. After expression, the polyubiquitins, as well as the C-terminal C or V extensions, are processed by specific cellular deubiquitinases (DUBs) to generate Ub.
  • 178
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Natural Protective Products for Protecting Plants against Insects
Plant protection against insects relies on four main pillars: prevention and biological, chemical, and physical action. The use of chemical insecticides, a common practice, should be avoided unless all other methods have failed due to their potential negative impact on both humans and the environment.
  • 206
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Replication Protein A
Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric protein complex and the main single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding protein in eukaryotes. RPA has key functions in most of the DNA-associated metabolic pathways and DNA damage signalling. Its high affinity for ssDNA helps to stabilise ssDNA structures and protect the DNA sequence from nuclease attacks. RPA consists of multiple DNA-binding domains which are oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB)-folds that are responsible for DNA binding and interactions with proteins. These RPA–ssDNA and RPA–protein interactions are crucial for DNA replication, DNA repair, DNA damage signalling, and the conservation of the genetic information of cells. Proteins such as ATR use RPA to locate to regions of DNA damage for DNA damage signalling.
  • 753
  • 18 Feb 2024
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