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Topic Review
Multidrug Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria
Antibiotic resistance has increased markedly in Gram-negative bacteria, causing severe infections intractable with traditional drugs and amplifying mortality and healthcare costs. Consequently, to find novel antimicrobial compounds, active on multidrug resistant bacteria, is mandatory. In this regard, cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs)—able to kill pathogens on contact—could represent an appealing solution. However, low selectivity, hemolytic toxicity and cost of manufacturing, hamper their massive clinical application. In the recent years—starting from CAMPs as template molecules—less toxic and lower-cost synthetic mimics of CAMPs, including cationic peptides, polymers and dendrimers, have been developed. Although the pending issue of hemolytic toxicity and biodegradability is still left not completely solved, cationic antimicrobial polymers (CAPs), compared to small drug molecules, thanks to their high molecular weight, own appreciable selectivity, reduced toxicity toward eukaryotic cells, more long-term activity, stability and non-volatility. With this background, an updated overview concerning the state of the art of the main manufactured types of CAPs, active on Gram-negative bacteria, is herein reported, including synthetic procedure and action’s mechanism. Information about the antibacterial activity, advantages and drawbacks of the most appealing compounds was also provided.
  • 953
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Tumor Microenvironment
In the relatively short history of anti-tumor treatment, numerous medications have been developed against a variety of targets. Intriguingly, although many anti-tumor strategies have failed in their clinical trials, metformin, an anti-diabetic medication, demonstrated anti-tumor effects in observational studies and even showed its synergistic potential with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in subsequent clinical studies. Looking back from bedside-to-bench, it may not be surprising that the anti-tumor effect of metformin derives largely from its ability to rewire aberrant metabolic pathways within the tumor microenvironment. As one of the most promising breakthroughs in oncology, ICIs were also found to exert their immune-stimulatory effects at least partly via rewiring metabolic pathways. These findings underscore the importance of correcting metabolic pathways to achieve sufficient anti-tumor immunity. Herein, we start by introducing the tumor microenvironment, and then we review the implications of metabolic syndrome and treatments for targeting metabolic pathways in anti-tumor therapies. We further summarize the close associations of certain aberrant metabolic pathways with impaired anti-tumor immunity and introduce the therapeutic effects of targeting these routes. Lastly, we go through the metabolic effects of ICIs and conclude an overall direction to manipulate metabolic pathways in favor of anti-tumor responses.
  • 953
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
3D Cell Culture in Micro-Bioreactors
Bioreactors have proven useful for a vast amount of applications. Besides classical large-scale bioreactors and fermenters for prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, micro-bioreactors, as specialized bioreactor systems, have become an invaluable tool for mammalian 3D cell cultures. 
  • 953
  • 27 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Chronic Arthritis
Chronic arthritis is not a singular disorder; it is stands for multifaceted autoimmune and inflammatory disabling conditions causing joint pain or joint deformity. Chronic arthritis in children is diagnosed when all three of the following criteria are met. First, the age of onset is younger than 16 years. Second, arthritis includes swelling or effusion, or presence of two or more of the following: a) limitation of range of motion; b) tenderness or pain on motion; c) increased heat in one or more joints; and third, the duration of disease is 6 weeks or longer. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and adult rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are two major groups with chronic joint pain and inflammation, extra-articular manifestations, and high risk of comorbidities, which can cause physical and ocular disability, as well as create great socio-economic pressure worldwide. The pathogenesis of arthritis manifested in childhood and adulthood is multifactorial, unclear, and overly complex, in which immunity plays an important role. Although there are more and more biological agents with different mechanisms of action for the treatment of arthritis, the results are not as expected, because there are partial responses or non-responsive patients to these compounds, high therapeutic costs, side effects, and so on; therefore, we must turn our attention to other therapeutic modalities. Updating knowledge on molecular and cellular mechanisms in the comparative pathogenesis of chronic arthritis in both children and adults is necessary in the early and correct approach to treatment. Photobiomodulation (PBM) represents a good option, offering cost-effective advantages over drug therapy, with a quicker, more positive response to treatment and no side effects. The successful management of PBM in arthritis is based on the clinician’s ability to evaluate correctly the inflammatory status of the patient, to seek the optimal solution, to choose the best technology with the best physical parameters, and to select the mode of action to target very precisely the immune system and the signaling pathways at the molecular level with the exact amount of quantum light energy in order to obtain the desired immune modulation and the remission of the disease. Light is a very powerful tool in medicine because it can simultaneously target many cascades of immune system activation in comparison with drugs, so PBM can perform very delicate tasks inside our cells to modulate cellular dysfunctions, helping to initiate self-organization phenomena and finally, healing the disease.
  • 952
  • 21 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Protein Homeostasis Network in Yeast
The balance of proteins in cells, is proteostasis (protein homeostasis).  While protein balances can be moderated by cell division, in non-dividing cells, with age there is declining proteostasis and the accumulation of deleterious proteins can present as major problems, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, etc. Budding yeast also exhibit ageing and can offer convenient means to discover more about biological pathways involved in proteostasis.  Similarities of yeast and humans mean that yeast can provide valuable insights into multiple pathways of proteostasis, and can be used as a model for analysing drugs that may improve proteostasis and counter age-related decline in neuronal health.
  • 952
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
HSP in Diabetes and Alzheimer
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are growing in prevalence worldwide. The development of T2D increases the risk of AD disease, while AD patients can show glucose imbalance due to an increased insulin resistance. T2D and AD share similar pathological features and underlying mechanisms, including the deposition of amyloidogenic peptides in pancreatic islets (i.e., islet amyloid polypeptide; IAPP) and brain (β-Amyloid; Aβ). Both IAPP and Aβ can undergo misfolding and aggregation and accumulate in the extracellular space of their respective tissues of origin. As a main response to protein misfolding, there is evidence of the role of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in moderating T2D and AD. HSPs play a pivotal role in cell homeostasis by providing cytoprotection during acute and chronic metabolic stresses. In T2D and AD, intracellular HSP (iHSP) levels are reduced, potentially due to the ability of the cell to export HSPs to the extracellular space (eHSP). The increase in eHSPs can contribute to oxidative damage and is associated with various pro-inflammatory pathways in T2D and AD.
  • 952
  • 27 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Human Permanent Denervated Muscles Recovery
We demonstrated the long-term clinical value of co-activating thigh muscles through hbFES strategy using high currents and large surface electrodes. This Vienna Strategy is able to reverse, at clinically relevant levels, the adverse effects of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), even in the worst-case scenario of complete lesion of lower motor neurons, as it may occur in complete conus and cauda equina syndrome. Continued regularly, hbFES for denervated, degenerating muscles helps to maintain healthier leg muscles and skin, reducing the risks of life-threatening SCI complications. By products of these studies are new approaches for counteracting aging muscle atrophy, new color clinical imaging of muscle tissue and Machine Learning Predictive Systems for skeletal muscle diagnostics and managements.
  • 952
  • 01 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Anti-Prostate Cancer Properties of Anthocyanidins/Anthocyanins
As water-soluble flavonoid derivatives, anthocyanidins and anthocyanins are the plants pigments mostly rich in berries, pomegranate, grapes, and dark color fruits. Many bioactivity properties of these advantageous phytochemicals have been reported; among them, their significant abilities in the suppression of tumor cells are of the promising therapeutic features, which have recently attracted great attention. The prostate malignancy, is considered the 2nd fatal and the most distributed cancer type in men worldwide.  In general, the anthocyanins (especifically cyanidin-3-O-glucoside) indicated higher activity against prostatic neoplasms compared to their correlated anthocyanidins (e.g., delphinidin); in which potent anti-inflammatory, apoptosis, and anti-proliferative activities were analyzed. 
  • 952
  • 11 Apr 2022
Topic Review
New Breeding Techniques in Citrus
The development of novel citrus varieties with improved quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses is one of the main purposes of breeding programs. Thus far, the use of conventional breeding techniques in citrus has been shown to be time consuming and diffcult due to the many limitations of typical of tree crops, such as the long juvenility and high heterozygosity. The application of NPBTs could overcome these problems, offering new tools that combine site-specific and targeted editing with a reduction in the time for plant breeding, thus leading to lower production costs. Many aspects need to be considered to apply transgenesis to citrus, among them transformation efficiency, and regeneration potential of citrus commercial varieties
  • 952
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Malting Process
The malting process converts raw grain into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting; the most common are barley, sorghum, wheat and rye. There are a number of different types of equipment that can be used to produce the malt. A traditional floor malting germinates the grains in a thin layer on a solid floor, and the grain is manually raked and turned to keep the grains loose and aerated. In a modern malt house the process is more automated, and the grain is germinated on a floor that is slotted to allow air to be forced through the grain bed. Large mechanical turners keep the much thicker bed loose with higher productivity and better energy efficiency.
  • 952
  • 11 Oct 2022
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