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Topic Review
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a complex monogenic kidney disease which progressively leads to kidney failure. A brief description of the main characteristics and known causes of ADPKD pathology, as well as the current pharmacological treatment is presented. Numerous research tools have been developed over the last decades to study this pathology and have allowed significant progress in understanding ADPKD specific disease mechanisms, even though the precise pathophysiological mechanisms of this pathology still remain elusive. As no perfect model of ADPKD currently exists, a broad overview of available and emerging in vitro and in vivo research models used to study this disease is given. Finally, a multimodal approach, combining different and carefully selected in vitro and in vivo research tools is suggested, in order to produce reliable results relevant to the human disease.
  • 906
  • 06 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), mainly transmitted by ticks, belonging to the genus Orthonairovirus (family Nairoviridae, order Bunyavirales). CCHFV causes a potentially severe, or even fatal, human disease, and it is widely distributed in Africa, Asia, eastern Europe and, more recently, in South-western Europe. Until a few years ago, no cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) had been reported in western Europe, with the exception of several travel-associated cases. 
  • 905
  • 10 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Evolution Road of Seaweed Aquaculture
Seaweeds (marine macroalgae) are autotrophic organisms capable of producing many compounds of interest. For a long time, seaweeds have been seen as a great nutritional resource, primarily in Asian countries to later gain importance in Europe and South America, as well as in North America and Australia. It has been reported that edible seaweeds have a nutritional value along with a low caloric input and with the presence of proteins, minerals (iron and calcium), vitamins, structural polysaccharides (fibers), omega-6 and omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids. Moreover, they have plenty of bioactive molecules that can be applied in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic areas. There are historical registers of harvest and cultivation of seaweeds but with the increment of the studies of seaweeds and their valuable compounds, their aquaculture has increased. The methodology of cultivation varies from onshore to offshore. Seaweeds can also be part of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), which has great opportunities but is also very challenging to the farmers. This multidisciplinary field applied to the seaweed aquaculture is very promising to improve the methods and techniques; this area is developed under the denominated industry 4.0.  Aquaculture consists in the creation or culture of aquatic organisms (in this case, Marine Macroalgae or Seaweeds), through the application of techniques designed to increase the production of these same organisms, in addition to the natural capabilities of the environment
  • 905
  • 06 Apr 2021
Topic Review
CASK-Related Intellectual Disability
CASK-related intellectual disability is a disorder of brain development that has two main forms: microcephaly with pontine and cerebellar hypoplasia (MICPCH), and X-linked intellectual disability (XL-ID) with or without nystagmus. Within each of these forms, males typically have more severe signs and symptoms than do females; the more severe MICPCH mostly affects females, likely because only a small number of males survive to birth.
  • 905
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Bone Resorption
Bone resorption, the process by which bone is broken down to liberate products needed by the body’s metabolism, most prominently, but not exclusively, calcium, is incompletely understood.
  • 905
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Surfactant and the Glycocalyx
Gas exchange in the lung takes place via the air-blood barrier in the septal walls of alveoli. The tissue elements that oxygen molecules have to cross are the alveolar epithelium, the interstitium and the capillary endothelium. The epithelium that lines the alveolar surface is covered by a thin and continuous liquid lining layer. Pulmonary surfactant acts at this air-liquid interface. By virtue of its biophysical and immunomodulatory functions, surfactant keeps alveoli open, dry and clean. What needs to be added to this picture is the glycocalyx of the alveolar epithelium. Here, we briefly review what is known about this glycocalyx and how it can be visualized using electron microscopy. The application of colloidal thorium dioxide as a staining agent reveals differences in the staining pattern between type I and type II alveolar epithelial cells and shows close associations of the glycocalyx with intraalveolar surfactant subtypes such as tubular myelin. These morphological findings indicate that specific spatial interactions between components of the surfactant system and those of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx exist which may contribute to the maintenance of alveolar homeostasis, in particular to alveolar micromechanics, to the functional integrity of the air-blood barrier, to the regulation of the thickness and viscosity of the alveolar lining layer, and to the defence against inhaled pathogens. Exploring the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx in conjunction with the surfactant system opens novel physiological perspectives of potential clinical relevance for future research.
  • 904
  • 03 May 2021
Topic Review
Aphid–Plant–Phytovirus Pathosystems
Aphids are responsible for the spread of more than half of the known phytovirus species. Virus transmission within the plant–aphid–phytovirus pathosystem depends on vector mobility which allows the aphid to reach its host plant and on vector efficiency in terms of ability to transmit phytoviruses.
  • 904
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
G-quadruplexes and ligands: Biophysical methods
Progress in the design of G-quadruplex (G4) binding ligands relies on the availability of approaches that assess the binding mode and nature of the interactions between G4 forming sequences and their putative ligands. The experimental approaches used to characterize G4/ligand interactions can be categorized in structure-based methods (circular dichroism (CD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and x-ray crystallography), affinity and apparent affinity-based methods (surface plasmon resonance (SPR), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and mass spectrometry (MS)), and high-throughput methods (fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-melting, G4-fluorescent intercalator displacement assay (G4-FID), affinity chromatography and microarrays. Each method has unique advantages and drawbacks, which makes it essential to select the ideal strategies for the biological question being addressed. The structural- and affinity and apparent affinity-based methods are in several cases complex and/or time-consuming and can be combined with fast and cheap high-throughput approaches to improve the design and development of new potential G4 ligands. In the last years, the joint use of these techniques permitted the discovery of a huge number of G4 ligands investigated for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Overall, this review article highlights in detail the most used approaches to characterize the G4/ligand interactions, as well as the applications and type of information that can be obtained from the use of each technique.
  • 904
  • 03 Dec 2021
Topic Review
The Concept of “Quantum-Like”
The birth and spread of the prefix “quantum-” to disciplines other than physics, and the introduction of the term “quantum-like”, reflect the increasing dissatisfaction with the perceived limits and pitfalls of classic Western thought. Of course, the latter remains valuable; what is wrong is its dogmatic use and the claim of its exclusive capacity to comprehend the world. The development of quantum physics has been paralleled by the introduction of paraconsistent logics, such as fuzzy logic and dialetheism, a clear sign of the need for smoothing the inflexibility of Aristotelian logic. There is also a fil rouge (viz. an epistemological symmetry) linking the paradigm of quantum physics to ancient pre-Socratic and Eastern philosophies, suggesting the need for reappraising them in the process of reexamination of the classical thought. The increasing use of the term “quantum-like” calls for the defining and sharing of its meaning in order to properly adopt it and avoid possible misuse. 
  • 904
  • 14 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Functional Aspects of Epidermal Barrier
The epidermis is a living, multilayered barrier with five functional levels, including a physical, a chemical, a microbial, a neuronal, and an immune level. 
  • 904
  • 03 Nov 2021
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