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Topic Review
Stemness and Apoptosis
Stemness and apoptosis may highlight the dichotomy between regeneration and demise in the complex pathway proceeding from ontogenesis to the end of life. In the last few years, the concept has emerged that the same microRNAs (miRNAs) can be concurrently implicated in both apoptosis-related mechanisms and cell differentiation. Whether the differentiation process gives rise to the architecture of brain areas, any long-lasting perturbation of miRNA expression can be related to the occurrence of neurodevelopmental/neuropathological conditions. Moreover, as a consequence of neural stem cell (NSC) transformation to cancer stem cells (CSCs), the fine modulation of distinct miRNAs becomes necessary. This event implies controlling the expression of pro/anti-apoptotic target genes, which is crucial for the management of neural/neural crest-derived CSCs in brain tumors, neuroblastoma, and melanoma.
  • 614
  • 20 Apr 2023
Topic Review
ZEB Family Members in Cancer Progression
Post-translational modification (PTM), the essential regulatory mechanisms of proteins, play essential roles in physiological and pathological processes. In addition, PTM functions in tumour development and progression. Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB) family homeodomain transcription factors, such as ZEB1 and ZEB2, play a pivotal role in tumour progression and metastasis by induction epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), with activation of stem cell traits, immune evasion and epigenetic reprogramming.
  • 303
  • 19 Apr 2023
Topic Review
The Role of LncRNA in Kidney Disease
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a large, heterogeneous class of transcripts and key regulators of gene expression at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in different cellular contexts and biological processes. LncRNAs plays an important role in renal pathogenesis. Altered expression of lncRNAs has been increasingly closely related to the onset and development of many diseases due to their role in gene regulation processes at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, post-translational, and epigenetic levels. Therefore, increasing attention is being paid to their role as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in several human diseases. Regarding kidney diseases, there are numerous studies that have analyzed and demonstrated the role of lncRNAs mainly in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and acute kidney injury (AKI), and to a lesser extent in chronic kidney disease (CKD), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGs), and immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN).
  • 283
  • 19 Apr 2023
Topic Review
The Extracellular Matrix in Cancer
As the core component of all organs, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is an interlocking macromolecular meshwork of proteins, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans that provides mechanical support to cells and tissues. In cancer, the ECM can be remodelled in response to environmental cues, and it controls a plethora of cellular functions, including metabolism, cell polarity, migration, and proliferation, to sustain and support oncogenesis. The biophysical and biochemical properties of the ECM, such as its structural arrangement and being a reservoir for bioactive molecules, control several intra- and intercellular signalling pathways and induce cytoskeletal changes that alter cell shapes, behaviour, and viability.
  • 626
  • 18 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Cancer Spheroids and Organoids
Spheroids and organoids are important novel players in medical and life science research. They are gradually replacing two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Indeed, three-dimensional (3D) cultures are closer to the in vivo reality and open promising perspectives for academic research, drug screening, and personalized medicine. A large variety of cells and tissues, including tumor cells, can be the starting material for the generation of 3D cultures, including primary tissues, stem cells, or cell lines.
  • 378
  • 18 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Tubulin Post-Translational Modifications
Microtubules (MTs) are dynamic structures that are part of the cell cytoskeleton. They play important roles in various cellular functions, such as intracellular organization and transport, cell division, and cell migration. MTs are made up of α/β-tubulin heterodimers that display diversity due to the existence of different tubilin isotypes and post-translational modifications (PTMs). One specific PTM, tubulin-acetylation, occurs inside the MT lumen and has been pointed out as a hallmark of stable old MTs. However, the question if it is a cause or a consequence of long-lived MTs has never been clarified. The view on tubulin acetylation is that this modification alters the mechanical properties of MTs allowing MTs to bend and to resist age-related lattice damage caused by multiple interactions with different factors during their existence. However, how this ability of MTs to survive structural damage is translated into specific cellular functions is still controversial, and it is far from being elucidated. This PTM is also associated with cellular responses to stress and various human pathologies.The regulation of enzymes involved in tubulin acetylation and deacetylation is important for maintaining proper cell physiology. 
  • 867
  • 17 Apr 2023
Topic Review
ATRX/DAXX and ALT
ATRX is named for its causal role in ATR-X syndrome (α-thalassemia with mental impairment, X-linked), an X-linked disorder characterized by developmental delays, urogenital abnormalities, distinctive craniofacial features, and α-thalassemia caused by insufficient α-globin expression. Because of the central role of decreased α-globin mRNA expression in the ATR-X phenotype, research on ATRX initially focused on its potential as a transcriptional regulator. In fact, ATRX in concert with DAXX play wide-ranging roles in maintaining chromatin and reckoning with problematic DNA repeat sequences, with downstream effects on gene expression that have critical impacts in development. Proliferating cells must enact a telomere maintenance mechanism to ensure genomic stability. In a subset of tumors, telomeres are maintained not by telomerase, but through a homologous recombination-based mechanism termed Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres or ALT. The ALT process is linked to mutations in the ATRX/DAXX/H3.3 histone chaperone complex. This complex is responsible for depositing non-replicative histone variant H3.3 at pericentric and telomeric heterochromatin but has also been found to have roles in ameliorating replication in repeat sequences and in promoting DNA repair.
  • 258
  • 17 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Transcription
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Averaged over multiple cell types in a given tissue, the quantity of mRNA is more than 10 times the quantity of ncRNA (though in particular single cell types ncRNAs may exceed mRNAs). The general preponderance of mRNA in cells is valid even though less than 2% of the human genome can be transcribed into mRNA (Human genome), while at least 80% of mammalian genomic DNA can be actively transcribed (in one or more types of cells), with the majority of this 80% considered to be ncRNA. Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by an RNA polymerase, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript. Transcription proceeds in the following general steps: If the stretch of DNA is transcribed into an RNA molecule that encodes a protein, the RNA is termed messenger RNA (mRNA); the mRNA, in turn, serves as a template for the protein's synthesis through translation. Other stretches of DNA may be transcribed into small non-coding RNAs such as microRNA, transfer RNA (tRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), or enzymatic RNA molecules called ribozymes as well as larger non-coding RNAs such as ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). Overall, RNA helps synthesize, regulate, and process proteins; it therefore plays a fundamental role in performing functions within a cell. In virology, the term transcription may also be used when referring to mRNA synthesis from an RNA molecule (i.e., equivalent to RNA replication). For instance, the genome of a negative-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA -) virus may be a template for a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA +)[clarification needed]. This is because the positive-sense strand contains the sequence information needed to translate the viral proteins needed for viral replication. This process is catalyzed by a viral RNA replicase.[clarification needed]
  • 2.7K
  • 14 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Eukaryotic Ribosome (80S)
Ribosomes are a large and complex molecular machine that catalyzes the synthesis of proteins, referred to as translation. The ribosome selects aminoacylated transfer RNAs (tRNAs) based on the sequence of a protein-encoding messenger RNA (mRNA) and covalently links the amino acids into a polypeptide chain. Ribosomes from all organisms share a highly conserved catalytic center. However, the ribosomes of eukaryotes (animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms with a nucleus) are much larger than prokaryotic (bacterial and archaeal) ribosomes and subject to more complex regulation and biogenesis pathways. Eukaryotic ribosomes are also known as 80S ribosomes, referring to their sedimentation coefficients in Svedberg units, because they sediment faster than the prokaryotic (70S) ribosomes. Eukaryotic ribosomes have two unequal subunits, designated small subunit (40S) and large subunit (60S) according to their sedimentation coefficients. Both subunits contain dozens of ribosomal proteins arranged on a scaffold composed of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). The small subunit monitors the complementarity between tRNA anticodon and mRNA, while the large subunit catalyzes peptide bond formation.
  • 4.5K
  • 14 Apr 2023
Topic Review
MicroRNA-502-3p and Human Diseases: Focus on Alzheimer's Disease
The microRNA-500’s family has five different genotypes: microRNA-362, microRNA-500a, microRNA-500b, microRNA-501, and microRNA-502 (Genesnames.org). All the forms of miR-500 family members are expressed in humans and different animal species. The miR-502-3p sequence is 22 nucleotides long and is found in Homo sapiens (Has-miR-502-3p) as annotated by 7 gene databases such as MalaCards, miRBase, GeneCards, TarBase, ENA, RefSeq, and LncBase. The miR-502 were also found to be conserved in seven different animal species such as Cow (Bos taurus) Bta-miR-502a; Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) Cfa-miR-502; Horse (Equus caballus) Eca-miR-502-3p; Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) Ggo-miR-502a; Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) Mml-miR-502-3p); Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Ocu-miR-502-3p; and Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) Ppy-miR-502-3p (https://rnacentral.org/rna) (accessed on 26 February 2023). The miR-502-3p is encoded by the MIR502 gene (ENSG00000272080) which is composed of an 86 base-pairs genomic sequence, a plus stranded RNA orientation starting from 50,014,598, and ending at 50,014,683. The MiR502 gene is located at the Chromosome X genomic location: 50,014,598-50,014,683 forward strands.
  • 436
  • 13 Apr 2023
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