Topic Review
Ursolic Acid Targets Cancer Hallmarks
Cancer is a multifactorial disease characterized by various hallmarks, including uncontrolled cell growth, evasion of apoptosis, sustained angiogenesis, tissue invasion, and metastasis, among others. Traditional cancer therapies often target specific hallmarks, leading to limited efficacy and the development of resistance. Thus, there is a growing need for alternative strategies that can address multiple hallmarks concomitantly. Ursolic acid (UA), a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoid, has recently emerged as a promising candidate for multitargeted cancer therapy. 
  • 230
  • 05 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Urinary EVs in kidney-related diseases
Intercellular communication governs multicellular interactions in complex organisms. A variety of mechanisms exist through which cells can communicate, e.g., cell-cell contact, the release of paracrine/autocrine soluble molecules, or the transfer of extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are membrane-surrounded structures released by almost all cell types, acting both nearby and distant from their tissue/organ of origin. In the kidney, EVs are potent intercellular messengers released by all urinary system cells and are involved in cell crosstalk, contributing to physiology and pathogenesis. Moreover, urine is a reservoir of EVs coming from the circulation after crossing the glomerular filtration barrier—or originating in the kidney. Thus, urine represents an alternative source for biomarkers in kidney-related diseases, potentially replacing standard diagnostic techniques, including kidney biopsy. 
  • 422
  • 19 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Ureteral Neuroendocrine Neoplasms
Primary ureteral neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are rare. Small-cell neuroendocrine cancer (NEC) of the ureter is usually observed in elderly patients, and around 15 cases have been observed in females so far.
  • 350
  • 14 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Unravelling Plant Cell Death in Host Plants
Pathogens within the oomycete genus Phytophthora are among some of the most destructive plant pathogens globally, causing disease and significant losses in important agricultural and forestry crops, damaging the environment, as well as impeding attempts to mitigate climate change. What is of increasing interest is the involvement of Phytophthora effectors in regulating programed cell death (PCD)—in particular, the hypersensitive response. 
  • 377
  • 14 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Unexpected Role of MPO-Oxidized LDLs in Atherosclerosis
Inflammation and its resolution are the result of the balance between pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving factors, such as specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). This balance is crucial for plaque evolution in atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) has been related to oxidative stress and atherosclerosis, and MPO-oxidized low-density lipoproteins (Mox-LDLs) have specific characteristics and effects. They participate in foam cell formation and cause specific reactions when interacting with macrophages and endothelial cells. They also increase the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in macrophages and the resulting antioxidant response. Mox-LDLs also drive macrophage polarization. Mox-LDLs are known to be pro-inflammatory particles. However, in the presence of Mox-LDLs, endothelial cells produce resolvin D1 (RvD1), a SPM. SPMs are involved in the resolution of inflammation by stimulating efferocytosis and by reducing the adhesion and recruitment of neutrophils and monocytes. RvD1 also induces the synthesis of other SPMs. In vitro, Mox-LDLs have a dual effect by promoting RvD1 release and inducing a more anti-inflammatory phenotype macrophage, thereby having a mixed effect on inflammation.
  • 395
  • 23 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Uncoupling Aging from Chronological Time
Cellular life evolved from simple unicellular organisms that could replicate indefinitely, being essentially ageless. At this point, life split into two fundamentally different cell types: the immortal germline representing an unbroken lineage of cell division with no intrinsic endpoint and the mortal soma, which ages and dies. We consider aging as a process not fixed to the pace of chronological time but one that can speed up or slow down depending on the rate of intrinsic cellular clocks. Moreover germline factor reprogramming might be used to slow the rate of aging and potentially reverse it by causing the clocks to tick backward. Therefore, reprogramming may eventually lead to therapeutic strategies to treat degenerative diseases by altering aging itself, the one condition common to us all.
  • 507
  • 02 May 2021
Topic Review
Ultraviolet Protection in the Cornea
Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation induces DNA lesions in all directly exposed tissues. In the human body, two tissues are chronically exposed to UV: the skin and the cornea. The most frequent UV-induced DNA lesions are cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) that can lead to apoptosis or induce tumorigenesis. Lacking the protective pigmentation of the skin, the transparent cornea is particularly dependent on nucleotide excision repair (NER) to remove UV-induced DNA lesions. The DNA damage response also triggers intracellular autophagy mechanisms to remove damaged material in the cornea. Therapeutic solutions involving xenogenic DNA-repair enzymes such as T4 endonuclease V or photolyases exist and are widely distributed for dermatological use. 
  • 538
  • 23 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Ultrastructural Features of the Blood-Brain Barrier
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic barrier separating neurocytes and brain tissues from blood that is extremely sealed and strictly regulated by transporters such as aquaporin-4 (AQP-4), glucose transporter (GLUT), and specialized tight junctional complexes (TJCs) including tight junctions (TJs), adherens junctions (AJs), and Zonulae occludens (ZOs). With specifically selective transcellular and paracellular permeability, the BBB maintains a homeostatic microenvironment to protect the central nervous system (CNS).
  • 293
  • 27 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Ultrastructural Features of Endothelial Cell Centrosome
The location of the centrosome near the center of the interphase cell, the concentration of various regulatory proteins in it, the organization of the centrosome radial system of microtubules through which intracellular transport is carried out by motor proteins and the involvement of the centrosome in the process of the perception of the external signals and their transmission make this cellular structure a universal regulatory and distribution center, controlling the entire dynamic morphology of an animal cell.
  • 186
  • 27 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Ultrasound-Mediated Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy
Ultrasound (US) is a nearly innocuous and widely available imaging technique with a well-established role in various diagnostic applications. Diagnostic US techniques uses high frequency ultrasound waves to view real-time tissue and organs inside the human body. The use of US as a drug delivery facilitator was first described in the mid 90s, using the physical transient increased cell membrane permeability from sonoporation. Subsequent research reported the enhanced biophysical effects of ultrasound by incorporation of MBs.
  • 460
  • 05 Nov 2021
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