Search results for "Cher"
showing 10 items of 3423 documents
Nature versus design: synthetic biology or how to build a biological non-machine.
2015
The engineering ideal of synthetic biology presupposes that organisms are composed of standard, interchangeable parts with a predictive behaviour. In one word, organisms are literally recognized as machines. Yet living objects are the result of evolutionary processes without any purposiveness, not of a design by external agents. Biological components show massive overlapping and functional degeneracy, standard-free complexity, intrinsic variation and context dependent performances. However, although organisms are not full-fledged machines, synthetic biologists may still be eager for machine-like behaviours from artificially modified biosystems.
Structure–Activity Relationship of Plesiomonas shigelloides Lipid A to the Production of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 by Human and Murine Macrophages
2017
Plesiomonas shigelloides is a Gram-negative bacterium that is associated with diarrheal disease in humans. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the main surface antigen and virulence factor of this bacterium. The lipid A (LA) moiety of LPS is the main region recognized by target cells of immune system. Here, we evaluated the biological activities of P. shigelloides LA for their abilities to induce the productions of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) by human and murine macrophages [THP-1 macrophages and immortalized murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (iBMDM)]. Four native P. shigelloides LA preparations differing in their phosphoethanolamine (PEtn) substitution, length, number, …
Non-Redundant tRNA Reference Sequences for Deep Sequencing Analysis of tRNA Abundance and Epitranscriptomic RNA Modifications
2021
Analysis of RNA by deep-sequencing approaches has found widespread application in modern biology. In addition to measurements of RNA abundance under various physiological conditions, such techniques are now widely used for mapping and quantification of RNA modifications. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules are among the frequent targets of such investigation, since they contain multiple modified residues. However, the major challenge in tRNA examination is related to a large number of duplicated and point-mutated genes encoding those RNA molecules. Moreover, the existence of multiple isoacceptors/isodecoders complicates both the analysis and read mapping. Existing databases for tRNA sequencing pr…
Recombinant mussel protein Pvfp-5β: A potential tissue bioadhesive
2019
During their lifecycle, many marine organisms rely on natural adhesives to attach to wet surfaces for movement and self-defence in aqueous tidal environments. Adhesive proteins from mussels are biocompatible and elicit only minimal immune responses in humans. Therefore these proteins have received increased attention for their potential applications in medicine, biomaterials and biotechnology. The Asian green mussel Perna viridis secretes several byssal plaque proteins, molecules that help anchor the mussel to surfaces. Among these proteins, protein-5β (Pvfp-5β) initiates interactions with the substrate, displacing interfacial water molecules before binding to the surface. Here, we establis…
Testing the Domino Theory of Gene Loss in Buchnera aphidicola: The Relevance of Epistatic Interactions
2018
The domino theory of gene loss states that when some particular gene loses its function and cripples a cellular function, selection will relax in all functionally related genes, which may allow for the non-functionalization and loss of these genes. Here we study the role of epistasis in determining the pattern of gene losses in a set of genes participating in cell envelope biogenesis in the endosymbiotic bacteria Buchnera aphidicola. We provide statistical evidence indicating pairs of genes in B. aphidicola showing correlated gene loss tend to have orthologs in Escherichia coli known to have alleviating epistasis. In contrast, pairs of genes in B. aphidicola not showing correlated gene loss…
Management goals for type 1 Gaucher disease: An expert consensus document from the European working group on Gaucher disease
2018
Gaucher Disease type 1 (GD1) is a lysosomal disorder that affects many systems. Therapy improves the principal manifestations of the condition and, as a consequence, many patients show a modified phenotype which reflects manifestations of their disease that are refractory to treatment. More generally, it is increasingly recognised that information as to how a patient feels and functions [obtained by patient- reported outcome measurements (PROMs)] is critical to any comprehensive evaluation of treatment. A new set of management goals for GD1 in which both trends are reflected is needed. To this end, a modified Delphi procedure among 25 experts was performed. Based on a literature review and …
Bayesian approach to urinary ESBL-producing Escherichia coli
2014
This is a retrospective study about the prevalence of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (EEC) in urinary specimens from patients from the Comunitat Valenciana from January 2007 to December 2008. Data were retrieved from RedMIVA, and Bayesian generalized linear mixed models were considered to study the prevalence of EEC with regard to demographical and microbiological factors. The total number of infections considered was 164,502, the amount of urinary isolates was 70,827 belonging to 49,304 different patients, and 5,161 (7.3%) of the urinary isolates were EEC. Three out of four E. coli were isolated in women (76.8%), men showed higher rates of EEC (9.7% in men vs. 6.5% in women). EEC patients…
PRR signaling during in vitro macrophage differentiation from progenitors modulates their subsequent response to inflammatory stimuli.
2017
Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists drive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) to differentiate along the myeloid lineage in vitro and also in vivo following infection. In this study, we used an in vitro model of HSPC differentiation to investigate the functional consequences (cytokine production) that exposing HSPCs to various pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and Candida albicans cells have on the subsequently derived macrophages. Mouse HSPCs (Lin- cells) were cultured with GM-CSF to induce macrophage differentiation in the presence or absence of the following pattern recognition receptor (PRR) agonists: Pam3CSK4 (TLR2 ligand), LPS (TLR4 ligand), depleted zymosan (wh…
Specific inflammatory response of Anemonia sulcata (Cnidaria) after bacterial injection causes tissue reaction and enzymatic activity alteration
2015
The evolution of multicellular organisms was marked by adaptations to protect against pathogens. The mechanisms for discriminating the ’’self’’ from ’’non-self” have evolved into a long history of cellular and molecular strategies, from damage repair to the co-evolution of host-pathogen interactions. We investigated the inflammatory response in Anemonia sulcata (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) following injection of substances that varied in type and dimension, and observed clear, strong and specific reactions, especially after injection of Escherichia coli and Vibrio alginolyticus. Moreover, we analyzed enzymatic activity of protease, phosphatase and esterase, showing how the injection of different ba…
Gene variants of osteoprotegerin, estrogen-, calcitonin- and vitamin D-receptor genes and serum markers of bone metabolism in patients with Gaucher d…
2018
Anca Zimmermann,1 Radu A Popp,2 Heidi Rossmann,3 Simona Bucerzan,4 Ioana Nascu,4 Daniel Leucuta,5 Matthias M Weber,1 Paula Grigorescu-Sido41Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, 1st Clinic and Polyclinic of Internal Medicine, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; 2Department of Medical Genetics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 3Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany; 4Center of Genetic Diseases, 1st Pediatric Clinic, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 5Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaPurpose: Oste…