Topic Review
Oxidative Stress in Cirrhosis and Portal Hypertension
Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the antioxidant system reducing its capability to detoxify ROS or repair the resulting damage, i.e., ROS overwhelms antioxidants. Oxidative stress is a key pathogenic factor in chronic liver injury of various etiologies, such as alcoholic liver disease.
  • 157
  • 07 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Calcium’s Role and Signaling in Muscle Aging
Calcium signaling involves the movement of calcium ions within or between cells, which can affect the electrochemical gradients between intra- and extracellular membranes, ligand binding, enzyme activity, and other mechanisms that determine cell fate. Calcium signaling in muscle, as elucidated by the sliding filament model, plays a significant role in muscle contraction. However, as organisms age, alterations occur within muscle tissue. These changes include sarcopenia, loss of neuromuscular junctions, and changes in mineral concentration, all of which have implications for calcium’s role. Additionally, a field of study that has gained recent attention, cellular senescence, is associated with aging and disturbed calcium homeostasis, and is thought to affect sarcopenia progression. 
  • 240
  • 06 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Mitochondrial Impairment Is Involved in RGC Degeneration
Dysfunctional mitochondria are implicated in the development and progression of retinal pathologies and are directly involved in retinal neuronal degeneration. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are higher energy consumers susceptible to mitochondrial dysfunctions that ultimately cause RGC loss. Proper redox balance and mitochondrial homeostasis are essential for maintaining healthy retinal conditions and inducing neuroprotection.
  • 152
  • 28 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Current Techniques in Drug Delivery across Blood–Brain Barrier
Non-invasive drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) represents a significant advancement in treating neurological diseases. The BBB is a tightly packed layer of endothelial cells that shields the brain from harmful substances in the blood, allowing necessary nutrients to pass through. It is a highly selective barrier, which poses a challenge to delivering therapeutic agents into the brain. Several non-invasive procedures and devices have been developed or are currently being investigated to enhance drug delivery across the BBB.
  • 120
  • 27 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Lipidome Fingerprint of Longevity
Lipids were determinants in the appearance and evolution of life. Studies disclose the existence of a link between lipids and animal longevity. Findings from both comparative studies and genetics and nutritional interventions in invertebrates, vertebrates, and exceptionally long-lived animal species—humans included—demonstrate that both the cell membrane fatty acid profile and lipidome are a species-specific optimized evolutionary adaptation and traits associated with longevity. All these emerging observations point to lipids as a key target to study the molecular mechanisms underlying differences in longevity and suggest the existence of a lipidome profile of long life.
  • 87
  • 15 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Lipoxidation End-Product Malondialdehyde-Lysine in Aging and Longevity
The nonenzymatic adduction of malondialdehyde (MDA) to the protein amino groups leads to the formation of malondialdehyde-lysine (MDALys). The degree of unsaturation of biological membranes and the intracellular oxidative conditions are the main factors that modulate MDALys formation. The low concentration of this modification in the different cellular components, found in a wide diversity of tissues and animal species, is indicative of the presence of a complex network of cellular protection mechanisms that avoid its cytotoxic effects. 
  • 135
  • 15 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Non-Enzymatic Modification of Aminophospholipids by Carbonyl-Amine Reactions
Non-enzymatic modification of aminophospholipids by lipid peroxidation-derived aldehydes and reducing sugars through carbonyl-amine reactions are thought to contribute to the age-related deterioration of cellular membranes and to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Much evidence demonstrates the modification of aminophospholipids by glycation, glycoxidation and lipoxidation reactions. Therefore, a number of early and advanced Maillard reaction-lipid products have been detected and quantified in different biological membranes. These modifications may be accumulated during aging and diabetes, introducing changes in cell membrane physico-chemical and biological properties.
  • 120
  • 15 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Potential Biochemical Properties and Genetics of C-Reactive Protein
C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is supposed to be an accredited benchmark for physicians, to reveal or rule out inflammation, and multifarious scientific endeavors have been made so as to detect the direct pleiotropic functions of this protein. The use of CRP as the most important and critical immunochemical marker of several medical conditions, including infections such as sepsis, physiological organ diseases, various autoimmune disorders, malignancies and other health conditions, has become widely popular.
  • 631
  • 14 Nov 2023
Topic Review
The Ponto-Geniculo-Occipital Waves in Dreaming
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is the main sleep correlate of dreaming. Ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) waves are a signature of REM sleep. They represent the physiological mechanism of REM sleep that specifically limits the processing of external information. PGO waves look just like a message sent from the pons to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the visual thalamus, the occipital cortex, and other areas of the brain. The dedicated visual pathway of PGO waves can be interpreted by the brain as visual information, leading to the visual hallucinosis of dreams. PGO waves are considered to be both a reflection of REM sleep brain activity and causal to dreams due to their stimulation of the cortex. 
  • 239
  • 06 Nov 2023
Topic Review
ClC-1 Chloride Channel Structure and Myotonia-Causing Mutations Update
Myotonia congenita is a hereditary muscle disease mainly characterized by muscle hyperexcitability, which leads to a sustained burst of discharges that correlates with the magnitude and duration of involuntary aftercontractions, muscle stiffness, and hypertrophy. Mutations in the chloride voltage-gated channel 1 (CLCN1) gene that encodes the skeletal muscle chloride channel (ClC-1) are responsible for this disease, which is commonly known as myotonic chloride channelopathy. The structure of the channel has been updated and the biophysical properties of the mutated channel have been explored and analyzed, providing important clues to the general function/dysfunction of the wild-type and mutated channels.
  • 183
  • 02 Nov 2023
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