Topic Review
Physiological Role of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase in Eye
Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways represent ubiquitous cellular signal transduction pathways that regulate all aspects of life (such as development of eye) and are frequently altered in disease. Once activated through phosphorylation, these MAPKs in turn phosphorylate and activate transcription factors present either in the cytoplasm or in the nucleus, leading to the expression of target genes and, as a consequence, they elicit various biological responses. 
  • 700
  • 08 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Physiological and Molecular Differences in SMA NSCs
Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult nervous tissue were among the last to be identified and isolated in a living organism. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency have recently approved new drugs to treat spinal muscular atrophy 1 (SMA1) in young patients, they are mostly ineffective in older patients since many motor neurons have already been lost. Therefore, understanding nervous system (NS) physiology in SMA patients is essential.
  • 620
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Photodynamic Therapy: Principles and Reaction Mechanisms
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a two-stage treatment that implies the use of light energy, oxygen, and light-activated compounds (photosensitizers) to elicit cancerous and precancerous cell death after light activation (phototoxicity). The biophysical, bioengineering aspects and its combinations with other strategies are highlighted herein, both conceptually and as they are currently applied clinically. Advancements of PDT with the use of nanotechnology are further explored, including quantum dots as innovative photosensitizers or energy donors as well as the combination of PDT with radiotherapy and immunotherapy as future promising cancer treatments. Finally, the potential significance of organoids as physiologically relevant models for PDT has been emphasized.
  • 336
  • 26 Jan 2024
Topic Review Video
Photodynamic Therapy for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is a major health concern worldwide, and current treatments, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, are associated with significant side effects and limitations. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising alternative that has the potential to provide a minimally invasive and highly targeted approach to treating prostate cancer. PDT involves the use of photosensitizers (PSs) that are activated by light to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can induce tumor cell death. 
  • 379
  • 03 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Phosphatidylinositol Binding Clathrin-Assembly Protein and Alzheimer’s Disease
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified the PICALM (Phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin-assembly protein) gene as the most significant genetic susceptibility locus after APOE and BIN1. PICALM is a clathrin-adaptor protein that plays a critical role in clathrin-mediated endocytosis and autophagy.
  • 481
  • 22 Dec 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Phosphatidyl Inositol 4-Kinases
In recent decades, phosphoinositides (or PIs) have emerged as essential signaling molecules. Despite their low cellular abundance, PIs are found to be involved in various cellular processes, including cell migration, vesicular trafficking, cell cycle regulation, metabolism, cytoskeletal remodeling, autophagy, aging, apoptosis, and cell signaling. Recent studies have shown that aberrant activity of either lipid kinases or phosphatases leads to various medical implications like cancer, diabetes, and microbial infections, suggesting an essential role for these lipid molecules and enzymes in their metabolism. This entry focused on one of the critical enzymes involved in phosphoinositide metabolism: phosphatidyl inositol 4-kinase (PI4-Kinase).
  • 738
  • 02 Jul 2024
Topic Review
Phenylketonuria and Hereditary Tyrosinemia
Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) and fumarylacetoacetate hydroxylase (FAH) are two highly regulated liver enzymes that catalyze the rate-limiting step in phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolism. Mammalian PAH (phenylalanine 4-monooxygenase, E.C. 1.14.16.1) catalyzes the stereospecific hydroxylation of L-phenylalanine into L-tyrosine using tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), non-heme iron, and dioxygen as co-substrates in the cytosol of the liver and kidney. PAH facilitates oxidation of excess L-phenylalanine into carbon dioxide and water, and is the major enzyme degrading 75% of L-phenylalanine from the diet. PAH assembles as a homotetrameric protein, each subunit composed of N-terminal regulatory domain for allosteric activation by Phe, a central catalytic domain, and C-terminal helix responsible for tetramer formation.
  • 889
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Phenotypical and Functional Polymorphism of Liver Resident Macrophages
Liver diseases are one of the main causes of mortality. In this regard, the development of new ways of reparative processes stimulation is relevant. Macrophages play a leading role in the regulation of liver homeostasis in physiological conditions and in pathology. In this regard, the development of new liver treatment methods is impossible without taking into account this cell population. Resident macrophages of the liver, Kupffer cells, represent a unique cell population, first of all, due to their development. Most of the liver macrophages belong to the self-sustaining macrophage cell population, whose origin is not bone marrow. In addition, Kupffer cells are involved in such processes as regulation of hepatocyte proliferation and apoptosis, remodeling of the intercellular matrix, lipid metabolism, protective function, etc. Such a broad spectrum of liver macrophage functions indicates their high functional plasticity. The Recent data on the development, phenotypic and functional plasticity, and participation in the reparative processes of liver macrophages: resident macrophages (Kupffer cells) and bone marrow-derived macrophages were summarized.
  • 570
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Phase Separation of Intrinsically Disordered Nucleolar Proteins
The process of phase separation allows for the establishment and formation of subcompartmentalized structures, thus enabling cells to perform simultaneous processes with precise organization and low energy requirements. Chemical modifications of proteins, RNA, and lipids alter the molecular environment facilitating enzymatic reactions at higher concentrations in particular regions of the cell. 
  • 690
  • 14 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Pharmacological Activation of AMPK
The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is the central component of a signaling pathway that is conserved in essentially all eukaryotes, the exceptions being a few parasites (e.g., Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria) that spend most of their life cycle living inside other eukaryotic cells, in which case the host cell provides AMPK and the parasite may therefore have been able to dispense with it. AMPK is activated by various stresses that act via both classical (canonical) and non-classical (non-canonical) pathways. Pharmacological activation of AMPK can also be achieved via a range of mechanisms. Here, we enumerate the different classes of AMPK activators and describe their mechanisms of action.
  • 981
  • 27 Jan 2021
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