International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Volume 21, Issue 23

β-Arrestins (ARRBs) are ubiquitously expressed scaffold proteins that mediate inactivation of G-protein-coupled receptor signaling, and in certain circumstances, G-protein independent pathways. Intriguingly, the two known ARRBs, β-arrestin1 (ARRB1) a...

Methylation is a universal biochemical process which covalently adds methyl groups to a variety of molecular targets. It plays a critical role in two major global regulatory mechanisms, epigenetic modifications and imprinting, via methyl tagging on h...

The treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections is impeded by the prevalence of MRSA and the formation of persisters and biofilms. Previously, we identified two celecoxib derivatives, Cpd36 and Cpd46, to eradicate MRSA and other staphylococci. Thro...

Hydroa vacciniforme (HV) is a rare form of photosensitivity disorder in children and is frequently associated with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection, whereas HV-like lymphoproliferative disorders (HVLPD) describe a spectrum of EBV-associated T...

Exosomes are endosome-derived extracellular vesicles that allow intercellular communication. However, the biological significance of adipocyte exosomal RNAs remains unclear. To determine the role of RNAs from bovine adipocytes and exosomes in bovine...

The mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake in trypanosomatids shares biochemical characteristics with that of animals. However, the composition of the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter complex (MCUC) in these parasites is quite peculiar, suggesting lineage-specific ad...

Plant-derived natural polyphenols exhibit anticancer activity without showing any noticeable toxicities to normal cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of p53 on the anticancer effect of polyphenols isolated from Korean Artemisia a...

Transcripts of alpha-fetoprotein (Afp), H19, and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) genes are highly expressed in mouse fetal liver, but decrease drastically during maturation. While transcriptional regulation of these genes has been well studied, t...

As aerobic organisms, we are continuously and throughout our lifetime subjected to an oxidizing atmosphere and, most often, to environmental threats. The lung is the internal organ most highly exposed to this milieu. Therefore, it has evolved to conf...

Table grape is a fruit with increasing interest due to its attributes and nutritional compounds. During recent years, new cultivars such as those without seeds and with new flavors have reached countries around the world. For this reason, postharvest...

CC-115 is a dual inhibitor of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase and the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) that is currently being studied in phase I/II clinical trials. DNA-PK is essential for the repair of DNA-double strand break...

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is initiated by the deposition and accumulation of low-density lipoproteins in the artery wall. In this review, we will discuss the role of T- and B-cells in human plaques at different stages of...

People with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have significantly higher rates of subclinical and overt epileptiform activity. In animal models, oligomeric Aβ amyloid is able to induce neuronal hyperexcitability even in the early phases of the disea...

Although the inhibitors of singly mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase are effective for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), their clinical efficacy has been limited due to the emergence of various double and triple...

The duration of denture use, oral hygiene, smoking and male sex were identified as risk factors for oral mucosal lesions. As it is well known, all the oral mucosal lesions associated with risk factors have an important degree of malignity. Chronic me...

Banana is one of the most important food and fruit crops in the world and its growth is ceasing at 10–17 °C. However, the mechanisms determining the tolerance of banana to mild (>15 °C) and moderate chilling (10–15 °C) are...

Recently, modern therapies involving immune checkpoint inhibitors, cytokines, and oncolytic virus have been developed. Because of the limited treatment effect of modern therapy alone, the immunostimulatory effect of radiotherapy attracted increasing...

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading genetic disorder of intellectual disability caused by the loss of the functional fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). To date, there is no efficacious mechanism-based medication for FXS. With regard to po...

C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL2) was originally reported as a chemical mediator attracting mononuclear cells to inflammatory tissue. Many studies have reported that CCL2 can directly activate cancer cells through a variety of mechanisms. CCL2 can also promo...

Macrophages play a crucial role during the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system. Important regulators of the metabolic and inflammatory phenotype of macrophages are liver X rec...

RNA binding protein with multiple splicing (RBPMS) is expressed exclusively in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the retina and can label all RGCs in normal retinas of mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, and monkeys, but its function in these cell...

LTR retrotransposons (RTEs) play a crucial role in plant genome evolution and adaptation. Although RTEs are generally silenced in somatic plant tissues under non-stressed conditions, some expressed RTEs (exRTEs) escape genome defense mechanisms. As o...

Genomic instability is generally considered as a hallmark of tumorigenesis and a prerequisite condition for malignant transformation. Aluminium salts are suspected environmental carcinogens that transform mammary epithelial cells in vitro through unk...

Kynurenic acid is an endogenous modulator of ionotropic glutamate receptors and a suppressor of the immune system. Since glutamate and microglia are important in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, we investigated the possible action of the synthetic kynur...

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone crucial for bone mineral metabolism. In addition, vitamin D has pleiotropic actions in the body, including anti-cancer actions. These anti-cancer properties observed within in vitro studies frequently report the reducti...

Various neuroprotective agents have been studied for the treatment of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) diseases, but issues concerning the side effects of systemically administered drugs and the short retention time of intravitreally injected drugs limit...

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential nutrient for the maintenance of cells. In healthy mammals, extracellular Pi is maintained within a narrow concentration range of 0.70 to 1.55 mM. Mammalian cells depend on Na⁺/Pi cotransporters for Pi absorpti...

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a ubiquitous cofactor in the body, operating in the inner mitochondrial membrane, where it plays a vital role in the generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through the electron transport chain (ETC). In addition to this, C...

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin cancer that predominantly arises in chronically sun-damaged skin. Immunosuppression, genetic disorders such as xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), exposure to certain drugs and environme...

Gluten fragments released in gut of celiac individuals activate the innate or adaptive immune systems. The molecular mechanisms associated with the adaptive response involve a series of immunodominant gluten peptides which are mainly recognized by hu...

Mendelian neurodevelopmental disorders customarily present with complex and overlapping symptoms, complicating the clinical diagnosis. Individuals with a growing number of the so-called rare disorders exhibit unique, disorder-specific DNA methylation...

The immune system has been increasingly recognized as a major contributor in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The double-edged nature of the immune system poses a problem in harnessing immunomodulatory therapies to prevent and slow...

With the advent of long-duration space explorations, ionizing radiation (IR) may pose a constant threat to astronauts without the protection of Earth’s magnetic field, or hypomagnetic field (HMF). However, the potential biological effects of a...

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation eventually develop resistance to EGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Treatment resistance remains the primary obstacle to the successful tr...

Activation of P2X7 signaling, due to high glucose levels, leads to blood retinal barrier (BRB) breakdown, which is a hallmark of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Furthermore, several studies report that high glucose (HG) conditions and the related activati...

Small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) has the potential to revolutionize therapeutics since it can knockdown very efficiently the target protein. It is starting to be widely used to interfere with cell infection by HIV. However, naked siRNAs are...

Carbapenem resistance is a major global health problem that seriously compromises the treatment of infections caused by nosocomial pathogens. Resistance to carbapenems mainly occurs via the production of carbapenemases, such as VIM, IMP, NDM, KPC and...

SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) infection is associated, alongside with lung infection and respiratory disease, to cardiovascular dysfunction that occurs at any stage of the disease. This includes ischemic heart disease,...

The micronutrients iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are not only essential for plant survival and proliferation but are crucial for human health. Increasing Fe and Zn levels in edible parts of plants, known as biofortification, is seen a sustainable approach...

We analyzed the whole-genome experimental maps of nucleosomes in Drosophila melanogaster and classified genes by the expression level in S2 cells (RPKM value, reads per kilobase million) as well as the number of tissues in which a gene was expressed...

Acute or chronic administration of guanosine (GUO) induces anxiolytic-like effects, for which the adenosine (ADO) system involvement has been postulated yet without a direct experimental evidence. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether adenosine recep...

Inflammation is a biological response of the immune system to defend the body from negative stimulation. However, the excessive inflammatory response can damage host tissues and pose serious threats. Exopolysaccharide (EPS), one of the postbiotics, i...

In 2020, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, contributing to the burden of the already overloaded health system. Late or incorrect diagnosis of patients with CVDs compromises treatment efficiency and pati...

The skin is a critical barrier that protects against damage and infection. Within the epidermis and dermis reside γδ T cells that play a variety of key roles in wound healing and tissue homeostasis. Skin-resident γδ T cells re...

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a highly potent sphingolipid metabolite, which controls numerous physiological and pathological process via its extracellular and intracellular functions. The breast is mainly composed of epithelial cells (mammary gla...

So far, studies about targeted therapies and predictive biomarkers for vulva carcinomas are rare. The leucine zipper downregulated in cancer 1 gene (LDOC1) has been identified in various carcinomas as a tumor-relevant protein influencing patients&rsq...

The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) during keratinocyte (KC) differentiation and in skin diseases with epidermal phenotypes has attracted strong interest over the past few years. However, combined mRNA and miRNA expression analyses to elucidate the intric...

Medical research is changing into direction of precision therapy, thus, sophisticated preclinical models are urgently needed. In human pathogenic virus research, the major technical hurdle is not only to translate discoveries from animals to treatmen...

Transgenic modification of the two most common genes (APPsw, PS1ΔE9) related to familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in rats has produced a rodent model that develops pathognomonic signs of AD without genetic tau-protein modification. We use...

Recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM) in children is clinically defined as the occurrence of at least three episodes of acute otitis media over a course of 6 months. A further common pathological condition of interest in the context of pediatric otolar...