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Topic Review
Biography
Topic Review
Serum lipidomics in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a highly debilitating chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease most prevalent in women. The true etiology of this disease is complex, multifactorial, and is yet to be completely elucidated. Changes in the lipid profile at a molecular level in RA are still poorly understood. Studies on the variation of lipid profile in RA using lipidomics showed that fatty acid and phospholipid profile, especially in phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, are affected in this disease. These promising results could lead to the discovery of new diagnostic lipid biomarkers for early diagnosis of RA and targets for personalized medicine.
882
15 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Osteoclasts
There are sexually dimorphic differences in osteoclast formation and function that may have significant importance for understanding why females are prone to have a lower bone mass than males at any given age and are at increased risk for osteoporosis. Osteoclasts are the principal mediators of bone resorption. They form through the fusion of mononuclear precursor cells under the principal influence of the cytokines macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF, aka CSF-1) and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL, aka TNFSF11).
882
04 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Herpesvirus Infection in Strix Owls
The herpesvirus partial DNA polymerase gene was detected using polymerase chain reaction in oropharyngeal swabs of 16 out of 170 owls examined that were captured in or near nest boxes. Herpesvirus was detected in Ural owls (Strix uralensis), in both adults and young, but not in tawny owls (Strix aluco). In yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), as the main prey of tawny owls and Ural owls in the area, herpesvirus was detected in the organs of 2 out of 40 mice captured at the same locations as the owls. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the herpesvirus sequences detected in the Ural owls differed from the herpesvirus sequences detected in the yellow-necked mice. The results indicate that herpesvirus infection exists in the breeding wild Ural owl population. However, herpesvirus-infected owls did not show any clinical or productivity deviances and, based on a phylogenetic comparison of detected herpesvirus sequences and sequences obtained from Genbank database, it seems that mice and other rodents are not the source of owl infections. The most probable transmission pathway is intraspecific, especially from adults to their chicks, but the origin of herpesvirus in owls remains to be investigated.
882
22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Cyanobacterial Polyhydroxyalkanoates
Conventional petrochemical plastics have become a serious environmental problem. Its unbridled use, especially in non-durable goods, has generated an accumulation of waste that is difficult to measure, threatening aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The replacement of these plastics with cleaner alternatives, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), can only be achieved by cost reductions in the production of microbial bioplastics, in order to compete with the very low costs of fossil fuel plastics. The biggest costs are carbon sources and nutrients, which can be appeased with the use of photosynthetic organisms, such as cyanobacteria, that have a minimum requirement for nutrients, and also using agro-industrial waste, such as the livestock industry, which in turn benefits from the by-products of PHA biotechnological production, for example pigments and nutrients. Circular economy can help solve the current problems in the search for a sustainable production of bioplastic: reducing production costs, reusing waste, mitigating CO2, promoting bioremediation and making better use of cyanobacteria metabolites in different industries.
881
23 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Sulfated Polysaccharides from Seaweeds
Sulfated polysaccharides derived from seaweeds, considered a potential source of bioactive compounds for drug development, have shown antiviral activity against a broad spectrum of viruses, mainly including common DNA viruses and RNA viruses. In addition, sulfated polysaccharides can also improve the body’s immunity. Sulfated polysaccharides from seaweeds, including carrageenan, galactan, fucoidan, alginate, ulvan, p-KG03, naviculan, and calcium spirulan, may provide new ideas for the development of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines.
881
16 May 2022
Topic Review
Virus Genetic Diversity
Virosaurus database offers curated virus sequences, available at various degree of clustering. Clustering virus sequences with different similarity scores gives an indication of the genetic diversity of a each virus, and how deep it is. For example HIV-1 and Influenza sequences present high numbers of clusters when clustered at 98% similarity. At 90% similarity, the number of influenza virus clusters dramatically drops by a factor of about 20, when for HIV-1it drops by a factor of 2. This suggest that the diversity of HIV-1 sequence is somehow deeper that the one for influenza.
881
10 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Predicting Response to Immune-Checkpoint Inhibition
The therapeutic concept of unleashing a pre-existing immune response against the tumor by the application of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has resulted in long-term survival in advanced cancer patient subgroups. Established biomarkers such as programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor mutational burden (TMB) help to select patients who will most likely benefit from ICI, however, biomarker negativity does not exclude responses. Investigating alterations in the antigen presenting pathway as well as radiomics have the potential to determine tumor immunogenicity and response to ICI. A plethora of steps is crucial for proper tumor neoantigen presentation and T cell recognition. Alterations in the antigen presenting pathway give rise to resistance mechanisms that in turn abolish the effect of ICI. Tumor neoantigen prediction models have been shown to identify cancer patients who benefit most from immune-checkpoint blockade, however, a high false positive rate is a drawback of these models. The predictive value of already established biomarkers is considerably heterogeneous across various malignancies and intratumoral and intrapatient heterogeneity complicate tumor tissue-based biomarker assessment. Radiomics offers the opportunity to evaluate biomarkers based on imaging studies without the necessity to perform tumor tissue biopsies. Several radiomics studies have shown to predict clinical outcome with ICI. Radiomics might also help to identify patients who are at risk for hyperprogressive disease upon initiation of anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 therapy and patients who are at risk for high grade immune-related adverse events.
881
29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Xylose Metabolism in Bacteria
Some wild-type and genetically modified bacteria can metabolize xylose through three different main pathways of metabolism: xylose isomerase pathway, oxidoreductase pathway, and non-phosphorylative pathway (including Weimberg and Dahms pathways). Two of the commercially interesting intermediates of these pathways are xylitol and xylonic acid, which can accumulate in the medium either through manipulation of the culture conditions or through genetic modification of the bacteria.
881
28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Hsp90 in Cardiac Diseases
Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone that interacts with up to 10% of the proteome. The extensive involvement in protein folding and regulation of protein stability within cells makes Hsp90 an attractive therapeutic target to correct multiple dysfunctions in the heart.
881
24 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Golden Perch
Freshwater ecosystems and their associated biota have been negatively impacted by the human development of water resources. Fundamental to restoration activities for target species is an understanding of the factors affecting population decline or recovery. Within Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin, recovery efforts to address the population decline of native freshwater fish include stock enhancement, habitat restoration, and the delivery of environmental water. Essential to guiding future management actions is information to assess the efficacy of these efforts. We undertook a study to investigate whether natural spawning and recruitment, stock enhancement, or a combination of the two is contributing to sustaining populations of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) in the highly regulated Lachlan River, Australia. Otolith microchemistry and genetic analyses were used as complementary tools to determine the source (hatchery origin or wild-spawned) of existing populations in the catchment. We identified that natural spawning and recruitment was contributing to riverine populations in some years but that populations were heavily reliant on stocking. It was not possible to distinguish hatchery and wild-born fish using genetic tools, highlighting the value of using multiple lines of evidence to establish causal mechanisms contributing to population recovery.
881
27 Oct 2020
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