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Topic Review
Hypoxia-Inducible Factors in Osteogenesis
As central mediators of homeostasis, hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) can allow cells to survive in a low-oxygen environment and are essential for the regulation of osteogenesis and skeletal repair.
  • 500
  • 13 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Replicative Senescence in Different Types of Stem Cells
Stem cells serve as a source of cellular material in embryogenesis and postnatal growth and regeneration. This requires significant proliferative potential ensured by sufficient telomere length. Telomere attrition in the stem cells and their niche cells can result in the exhaustion of the regenerative potential of high-turnover organs, causing or contributing to the onset of age-related diseases. Telomerase activity is present in most types of adult stem cells, though at substantially lower levels. Such lower levels are sufficient for slowing down telomere shortening and expanding the replicative lifespan  but cannot prevent replicative senescence. In this case, low telomerase expression may provide protection against the malignant transformation of stem cells.
  • 850
  • 13 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Aquaporin 4
Aquaporin-4, also known as AQP4, is a water channel protein encoded by the AQP4 gene in humans. AQP4 belongs to the aquaporin family of integral membrane proteins that conduct water through the cell membrane. A limited number of aquaporins are found within the central nervous system (CNS): AQP1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 11, but more exclusive representation of AQP1, 4, and 9 are found in the brain and spinal cord. AQP4 shows the largest presence in the cerebellum and spinal cord grey matter. In the CNS, AQP4 is the most prevalent aquaporin channel, specifically located at the perimicrovessel astrocyte foot processes, glia limitans, and ependyma. In addition, this channel is commonly found facilitating water movement near cerebrospinal fluid and vasculature. Aquaporin-4 was first identified in 1986. It was the first evidence of the existence of water transport channels. The method that was used to discover the existence of the transport channels was through knockout experiments. With this technique they were able to show the significant role of AQP4 in CNS injuries and brain water imbalances. In 1994 the channel was successfully cloned and initially named Mercury-Insensitive Water Channel.
  • 301
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
DNA Vaccine
A DNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that transfects a specific antigen-coding DNA sequence into the cells of an organism as a mechanism to induce an immune response. DNA vaccines work by injecting genetically engineered plasmid containing the DNA sequence encoding the antigen(s) against which an immune response is sought, so the cells directly produce the antigen, thus causing a protective immunological response. DNA vaccines have theoretical advantages over conventional vaccines, including the "ability to induce a wider range of types of immune response". Several DNA vaccines have been tested for veterinary use. In some cases, protection from disease in animals has been obtained, in others not. Research is ongoing over the approach for viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases in humans, as well as for cancers. In August 2021, Indian authorities gave emergency approval to ZyCoV-D. Developed by Cadila Healthcare, it is the first DNA vaccine approved for humans.
  • 452
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Medical Applications of Senescence-Associated β-Galactosidase Assay
β-galactosidase is a lysosomal hydrolase, which cleaves terminal β-d-galactose residues. Senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) assay found its place in the routine work of thousands of biological laboratories. There is a bulk of evidence that supports the future implementation of β-galactosidase detection as a prognostic marker in medical practice as well.
  • 875
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
The “Prion-like” Nature of Tau and Its Strains
Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the hyperphosphorylation and deposition of tau proteins in the brain. In Alzheimer’s disease, and other related tauopathies, the pattern of tau deposition follows a stereotypical progression between anatomically connected brain regions. Increasing evidence suggests that tau behaves in a “prion-like” manner, and that seeding and spreading of pathological tau drive progressive neurodegeneration.
  • 482
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Techniques to Preserve Endothelial Cells in Vein Grafts
Endothelial cells comprise the intimal layer of the vasculature, playing a crucial role in facilitating and regulating aspects such nutrient transport, vascular homeostasis, and inflammatory response. Endothelial dysfunction is believed to be a key driver for vein graft disease—a pathology in which vein grafts utilised in coronary artery bypass graft surgery develop intimal hyperplasia and accelerated atherosclerosis, resulting in poor long-term patency rates. Activation and denudation of the endothelium following surgical trauma and implantation of the graft encourage a host of immune, inflammatory, and cellular differentiation responses that risk driving the graft to failure. Several approaches have been developed to mitigate the onset and progression of this pathology both clincally and surgically, including optimisation of surgical technique, vein preservation conditions and pharma-modulation. Novel approaches are also under investigation in recent years, including the use of topical gene therapy and the utilisation of endothelial progenitor/colony-forming cells to regenerate vein grafts with the view to improving patient outcomes.
  • 495
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
GPCRs In Intracellular Compartments: Implications For Drug Discovery
The architecture of eukaryotic cells is defined by extensive membrane-delimited compartments, which entails separate metabolic processes that would otherwise interfere with each other, leading to functional differences between cells. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of cell surface receptors, and their signal transduction is traditionally viewed as a chain of events initiated from the plasma membrane. Furthermore, their intracellular trafficking, internalization, and recycling were considered only to regulate receptor desensitization and cell surface expression. On the contrary, accumulating data strongly suggest that GPCRs also signal from intracellular compartments. GPCRs localize in the membranes of endosomes, nucleus, Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum apparatuses, mitochondria, and cell division compartments. Importantly, from these sites they have shown to orchestrate multiple signals that regulate different cell pathways. 
  • 520
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Therapeutic Strategies for Leukemic Stem Cells
Notoriously known for their capacity to reconstitute hematological malignancies in vivo, leukemic stem cells (LSCs) represent key drivers of therapeutic resistance and disease relapse, posing as a major medical dilemma. Despite having low abundance in the bulk leukemic population, LSCs have developed unique molecular dependencies and intricate signaling networks to enable self-renewal, quiescence, and drug resistance. The abundance of molecular and phenotypical aberrations associated with LSCs offers a wealth of promising therapeutic targets. Therapeutic designs have focused on drugging surface biomarkers selectively overexpressed on LSCs, antagonizing the protective bone marrow (BM) microenvironment niche to dismantle LSC dormancy, blocking signal transduction to re-sensitize resistant LSCs to available chemotherapeutics, and even expediting the drug supply pipeline through drug repurposing. Evidently, growing insight into the biological properties and prognostic values of LSCs have prompted the implementation of many clinical trials and have laid critical groundwork for the development of more effective, personalized, scalable, and less-toxic therapeutic strategies.
  • 474
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Ions and Ion Channels
Life depends upon the ability of cells to evaluate and adapt to a constantly changing environment and to maintain internal stability to allow essential biochemical reactions to occur. Ions and ion channels play a crucial role in this process and are essential for survival. Alterations in the expression of the transmembrane proteins responsible for maintaining ion balance that occur as a result of mutations in the genetic code or in response to iatrogenically induced changes in the extracellular environment is a characteristic feature of oncogenesis and identifies cancer as one of a constellation of diseases known as channelopathies.
  • 297
  • 08 Oct 2022
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