Search results for " Biochemistry"
showing 10 items of 5648 documents
Drosophila and humans share similar mechanisms of insulin secretion
2017
Drosophila and humans share similar mechanisms of insulin secretion
Sublethal streptomycin concentrations and lytic bacteriophage together promote resistance evolution.
2017
Sub-minimum inhibiting concentrations (sub-MICs) of antibiotics frequently occur in natural environments owing to wide-spread antibiotic leakage by human action. Even though the concentrations are very low, these sub-MICs have recently been shown to alter bacterial populations by selecting for antibiotic resistance and increasing the rate of adaptive evolution. However, studies are lacking on how these effects reverberate into key ecological interactions, such as bacteria-phage interactions. Previously, co-selection of bacteria by phages and antibiotic concentrations exceeding MICs has been hypothesized to decrease the rate of resistance evolution because of fitness costs associated with re…
Resveratrol in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Behavioral and Molecular Effects
2020
Resveratrol (RSV) is a polyphenolic stillbenoid with significant anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties recently tested in animal models of several neurological diseases. Altered immune alteration and oxidative stress have also been found in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and these alterations could add to the pathophysiology associated with ASD. We reviewed the current evidence about the effects of RSV administration in animal models and in patients with ASD. RSV administration improves the core-symptoms (social impairment and stereotyped activity) in animal models and it also displays beneficial effects in other behavioral abnormalities such as hyperactivity, anxi…
ceRNA Network Regulation of TGF-β, WNT, FOXO, Hedgehog Pathways in the Pharynx of Ciona robusta
2021
The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) family of cytokines performs a multifunctional signaling, which is integrated and coordinated in a signaling network that involves other pathways, such as Wintless, Forkhead box-O (FOXO) and Hedgehog and regulates pivotal functions related to cell fate in all tissues. In the hematopoietic system, TGF-β signaling controls a wide spectrum of biological processes, from immune system homeostasis to the quiescence and self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Recently an important role in post-transcription regulation has been attributed to two type of ncRNAs: microRNAs and pseudogenes. Ciona robusta, due to its philogenetic position close to verte…
Cytotoxic Potential of the Coelomic Fluid Extracted from the Sea Cucumber Holothuria tubulosa against Triple-Negative MDA-MB231 Breast Cancer Cells
2019
Growing evidence has demonstrated that the extracts of different holothurian species exert beneficial effects on human health. Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) are highly malignant tumors that present a poor prognosis due to the lack of effective targeted therapies. In the attempt to identify novel compounds that might counteract TNBC cell growth, we studied the effect of the exposure of the TNBC cell line MDA-MB231 to total and filtered aqueous extracts of the coelomic fluid obtained from the sea cucumber Holoturia tubulosa, a widespread species in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, we examined cell viability and proliferative behaviour, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, autophag…
Host Cell Rab GTPases in Hepatitis B Virus Infection
2018
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a leading cause of liver disease and is presently estimated to infect more than 250 million humans. The extremely successful spread of this virus among the human population is explained by its effective transmission strategies and its manifold particle types, including virions, empty envelopes and naked capsids. Due to its tiny genome, HBV depends on cellular machineries to thrive in infected hepatocytes. To enter, traverse and exit the cell, HBV exploits host membrane trafficking pathways, including intracellular highways directed by Rab GTPases. Here, we review recent discoveries focused on how HBV co-opts and perturbs host Rab GTPase functions with an emphasis …
Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation in Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA)
2020
The syndromes of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) encompass a group of invalidating and progressive rare diseases that share the abnormal accumulation of iron in the basal ganglia. The onset of NBIA disorders ranges from infancy to adulthood. Main clinical signs are related to extrapyramidal features (dystonia, parkinsonism and choreoathetosis), and neuropsychiatric abnormalities. Ten NBIA forms are widely accepted to be caused by mutations in the genes PANK2, PLA2G6, WDR45, C19ORF12, FA2H, ATP13A2, COASY, FTL1, CP, and DCAF17. Nonetheless, many patients remain without a conclusive genetic diagnosis, which shows that there must be additional as yet undiscovered NBIA gen…
AC‐1001 H3 CDR peptide induces apoptosis and signs of autophagy in vitro and exhibits antimetastatic activity in a syngeneic melanoma model
2016
Antibody-derived peptides modulate functions of the immune system and are a source of anti-infective and antitumor substances. Recent studies have shown that they comprise amino acid sequences of immunoglobulin complementarity-determining regions, but also fragments of constant regions. VH CDR3 of murine mAb AC-1001 displays antimetastatic activities using B16F10-Nex2 murine melanoma cells in a syngeneic model. The peptide was cytotoxic in vitro in murine and human melanoma cells inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis by the intrinsic pathway. Signs of autophagy were also suggested by the increased expression of LC3/LC3II and Beclin 1 and by ultrastructural evidence. AC-1001 H…
2019
Tumor-derived lactic acid inhibits T and natural killer (NK) cell function and, thereby, tumor immunosurveillance. Here, we report that melanoma patients with high expression of glycolysis-related genes show a worse progression free survival upon anti-PD1 treatment. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac lowers lactate secretion of tumor cells and improves anti-PD1-induced T cell killing in vitro. Surprisingly, diclofenac, but not other NSAIDs, turns out to be a potent inhibitor of the lactate transporters monocarboxylate transporter 1 and 4 and diminishes lactate efflux. Notably, T cell activation, viability, and effector functions are preserved under diclofenac treatm…
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in the context of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition in non-small-cell lung cancer
2018
The identification of oncogenic driver mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led to the development of targeted drugs. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) directed against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) target lung tumours bearing EGFR-activating mutations. This new therapeutic strategy has greatly improved tumour response rates. However, drug resistance invariably occurs during TKI-based treatment. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one of the resistance mechanisms identified in EGFR-mutated NSCLC treated with TKIs. In this review we gather together the most important findings on this phenomenon in relation to cancer stem cells and cancer epigenetics. We…