Topic Review
Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING)
The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an adaptor protein involved in the activation of IFN-β and many other genes associated with the immune response activation in vertebrates. STING induction has gained attention from different angles such as the potential to trigger an early immune response against different signs of infection and cell damage, or to be used as an adjuvant in cancer immune treatments. Pharmacological control of aberrant STING activation can be used to mitigate the pathology of some autoimmune diseases. The STING structure has a well-defined ligand binding site that can harbor natural ligands such as specific purine cyclic di-nucleotides (CDN). In addition to a canonical stimulation by CDNs, other non-canonical stimuli have also been described, but the exact mechanism of some of them has not been well defined.
  • 453
  • 31 May 2023
Topic Review
Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Infectious Diseases
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are attractive in various fields of regenerative medicine due to their therapeutic potential and complex unique properties. Basic stem cell research and the global COVID-19 pandemic have given impetus to the development of cell therapy for infectious diseases. 
  • 449
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Potential Therapeutic Targets on SARS-CoV-2
Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is caused by an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus, referred to as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which belongs to the realm Riboviria, order Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae, genus Betacoronavirus and the species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus. This viral disease is characterized by a myriad of varying symptoms, such as pyrexia, cough, hemoptysis, dyspnoea, diarrhea, muscle soreness, dysosmia, lymphopenia and dysgeusia amongst others. The virus mainly infects humans, various other mammals, avian species and some other companion livestock. SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry is primarily accomplished by molecular interaction between the virus’s spike (S) protein and the host cell surface receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), although other host cell-associated receptors/factors, such as neuropilin 1 (NRP-1) and neuropilin 2 (NRP-2), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs), as well as proteases such as TMPRSS2 (transmembrane serine protease 2) and furin, might also play a crucial role in infection, tropism, pathogenesis and clinical outcome.
  • 448
  • 15 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Botulinum Toxin Type A
Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) which is generally known as anti-contraction of muscles has been reported as a successful treatment in various types of chronic ulcers.
  • 447
  • 22 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Immunomodulatory Effects of Histone Deacetylase 6 Inhibitors
Patients diagnosed with metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM) have a poor survival prognosis. Unfortunately for this rare disease, there is no known cure and suitable therapeutic options are limited. Histone deacetylase 6 inhibitors (HDAC6i) are currently in clinical trials for other cancers and show potential beneficial effects against tumor cell survival in vitro and in vivo. In MUM cells, HDAC6i show an anti-proliferative effect in vitro and in preclinical zebrafish xenograft models. 
  • 447
  • 05 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Mitochondrial Volume Regulation and Swelling Mechanisms in Cardiomyocytes
Mitochondrion, known as the “powerhouse” of the cell, regulates ion homeostasis, redox state, cell proliferation and differentiation, and lipid synthesis. The inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) controls mitochondrial metabolism and function. It possesses high levels of proteins that account for ~70% of the membrane mass and are involved in the electron transport chain, oxidative phosphorylation, energy transfer, and ion transport, among others. The mitochondrial matrix volume plays a crucial role in IMM remodeling. Several ion transport mechanisms, particularly K+ and Ca2+, regulate matrix volume. Small increases in matrix volume through IMM alterations can activate mitochondrial respiration, whereas excessive swelling can impair the IMM topology and initiates mitochondria-mediated cell death. The opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores, the well-characterized phenomenon with unknown molecular identity, in low- and high-conductance modes are involved in physiological and pathological increases of matrix volume.
  • 445
  • 10 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Telomere Length and Male Fertility
Telomeres are evolutionary conserved,  multifunctional  DNA-protein complexes located at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Infertility is the inability of a couple to conceive naturally after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.  Male infertility is a complex multifactorial pathological condition with profoundly different phenotypic presentations. Lifestyle factors, genetics, and telomeres are associated with male infertility. A moderate involvement of telomere length in male infertility and SNPs to be pleiotropic and to be involved in other regulatory mechanisms independent from telomere homeostasis, but involved in the spermatogenic process.
  • 446
  • 18 May 2021
Topic Review
Torsin AAA+ Proteins
Torsin ATPases are members of the AAA+ (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) superfamily of proteins, which participate in essential cellular processes. While AAA+ proteins are ubiquitously expressed and demonstrate distinct subcellular localizations, Torsins are the only AAA+ to reside within the nuclear envelope (NE) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) network. Moreover, due to the absence of integral catalytic features, Torsins require the NE- and ER-specific regulatory cofactors, lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1) and luminal domain like LAP1 (LULL1), to efficiently trigger their atypical mode of ATP hydrolysis. Despite their implication in an ever-growing list of diverse processes, the specific contributions of Torsin/cofactor assemblies in maintaining normal cellular physiology remain largely enigmatic. Resolving gaps in the functional and mechanistic principles of Torsins and their cofactors are of considerable medical importance, as aberrant Torsin behavior is the principal cause of the movement disorder DYT1 early-onset dystonia.
  • 446
  • 30 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Multilayer Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheets
Cell and gene therapies have been developing dramatically over the past decade. To face and adapt to the development of these new therapies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrote and updated new guidelines from 2016 and keep updating them. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most used cells for treatment, far ahead from the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), based on registered clinical trials at clinicaltrials.gov. They are widely used because of their differentiation capacity and their anti-inflammatory properties, but some controversies still require clear answers. Additional studies are needed to determine the dosage, the number, and the route of injections (location and transplantation method), and if allogenic MSCs are safe compared to autologous MSC injection, including their long-term effect. In this review, we summarized the research our company is conducting with the adipose stromal cells in engineering cell sheets and their potential application
  • 446
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Neural Stem Cell-Based Therapy
Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) has been proposed as an alternative novel therapy to replace damaged neural circuitry after ischemic stroke onset. Nonetheless, albeit the potential of these cells for stroke therapy, many critical challenges are yet to be overcome to reach clinical applications. The major limitation of the NSC-based therapy is its inability to retain most of the donor stem cells after grafting into an ischemic brain area which is lacking of essential oxygen and nutrients for the survival of transplanted cells. Low cell survival rate limits the capacity of NSCs to repair the injured area and this poses a much more difficult challenge to the NSC-based therapy for ischemic stroke. In order to enhance the survival of transplanted cells, several stem cell culture preconditioning strategies have been employed. For ischemic diseases, hypoxic preconditioning is the most commonly applied strategy since the last few decades. Now, the preconditioning strategies have been developed and expanded enormously throughout years of efforts. This entry systematically presented studies searched from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus and the Google Scholar database up to 31 March 2020 based on search words containing the following terms:“precondition” or “pretreatment” and “neural stem cell” and “ischemic stroke”. The searched data comprehensively reported seven major NSC preconditioning strategies including hypoxic condition, small drug molecules such as minocycline, doxycycline, interleukin-6, adjudin, sodium butyrate and nicorandil, as well as electrical stimulation using conductive polymer for ischemic stroke treatment. We discussed therapeutic benefits gained from these preconditioned NSC for in vitro and in vivo stroke studies and the detailed insights of the mechanisms underlying these preconditioning approaches. Nonetheless, there was a scarcity of evidence on the ecacy of these preconditioned NSCs in human clinical studies, therefore, it is still too early to draw a definitive conclusion on the efficacy and safety of this active compound for patient usage. Thus, we suggest for more in-depth clinical investigations of this cell-based therapy to develop into more conscientious and judicious evidence-based therapy for clinical application in the future.
  • 445
  • 02 Jul 2021
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