Lead (Pb) is a toxic heavy metal that is harmful to humans, especially male reproductive organs. Luteolin (LUT) is a naturally occurring flavonoid with numerous biological activities. Our aim was to investigate the possible reproprotective effect of LUT against testicular deficits induced by Pb intoxication. In the present study, 28 rats were distributed into 4 groups: control, LUT (50 mg/kg), lead

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is the most common monogenic disease that has an adverse impact on the patients' health and quality of life. ADPKD is usually known as “adult‐type disease,” but rare cases have been reported in pediatric patients. We present here a 2‐year‐old Tunisian girl with renal cyst formation and her mother with adult onset ADPKD. Disease‐causing mutation has

Age‐related cognitive failure is a main devastating incident affecting even healthy people. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the utmost common form of dementia among the geriatric community. In the pathogenesis of AD, cerebrovascular dysfunction is revealed before the beginning of the cognitive decline. Mounting proof shows a precarious impact of cerebrovascular dysregulation in the development of AD pathology

While activation of immune system may lead to a lower risk of some diseases, it has been shown that a history of atopic allergic disorders such as asthma, hay fever, eczema, and food allergies could be related to several types of cancer. However, the evidence is not entirely conclusive. Two proposals suggest a possible mechanism for the association between allergic disorders and cancers: immune surveillance

Parkinson's disease (PD) induced by environmental toxins involves a multifactorial cascade of harmful factors, thus motivating the search for therapeutic agents able to act on the greatest number of molecular targets. This study evaluated the efficacy of 50 mg/kg purified anacardic acids (AAs), isolated from cashew nut shell liquid, on multiple steps of oxidative stress and inflammation induced by

Increasing findings are suggesting the vital roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the glioblastoma tumorigenesis. However, whether the novel lncRNA LINC00021 modulates temozolomide (TMZ) resistance of glioblastoma is still unclear. Clinically, lncRNA LINC00021 was significantly up-regulated in glioblastoma, especially the TMZ-resistant tissue and cells, and the LINC00021 overexpression was closely

The 10th jubilee conference (IPK2019) took place on September 15-19, 2019 in Warsaw, on the Ochota campus as the IUBMB Focused Meeting entitled "Inhibitors of Protein Kinases. Kinase inhibitors in target biology and disease".

Interleukin (IL)-22 is a member of IL-10 family cytokines with various immunologic functions. As its name implies, IL-22 is known to be secreted mainly by Th22 cells, a recently discovered lineage of CD4+ T cells. Also, Th17, Th1, natural killer cells, γδT cells, and innate immune cells along with some nonlymphoid cells have been confirmed as secondary cellular sources of IL-22. Different cell types

A series of halogenated derivatives of natural flavonoids: baicalein and chrysin were designed and investigated as possible ligands for the catalytic subunit of tumor-associated human kinase CK2. Thermal shift assay method, in silico modeling, and high-performance liquid chromatography-derived hydrophobicity together with IC50 values determined in biochemical assay were used to explain the ligand affinity

Immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is currently broadly used in the treatment of different types of cancer. The treatment targeting programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death-ligand 1 axis is already approved by Food and Drug Administration for numerous cancers. These kinds of therapy brought spectacular results in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer where systemic

A pool of Plasmodium falciparum casein kinase 1 (PfCK1) has been shown to localize to the host red blood cell (RBC) membrane and be secreted to the extracellular medium during trophozoite stage of development. We attempted to identify mechanisms for secretion of PfCK1 and its appearance on the RBC membrane. We found that two host proteins with established functions in membrane trafficking in higher

Cellular homeostasis requires tight coordination between nucleus and mitochondria, organelles that each possesses their own genomes. Disrupted mitonuclear communication has been found to be implicated in many aging processes. However, little is known about mitonuclear signaling regulator in sarcopenia which is a major contributor to the risk of poor health-related quality of life, disability, and premature

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is commonly caused by Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica. In the present study, the differential expression of proteins was identified in the amastigote-like forms of L. tropica and L. major in Iranian isolates. Initially, the samples were cultured and identified using PCR-RFLP technique. The Leishmania isolates were then grown in host-free (axenic) culture and prepared

Cardiac hypoxia plays a significant role in various types of heart disease, and improper treatment of hypoxia often leads to myocardial cell damage or even death. Transcriptome profiling and open chromatin mapping have been used as powerful tools to understand the development of heart disease, but the interplay between gene expression and chromatin accessibility has not been extensively investigated

Exosomes carrying microRNAs (miRNAs) mediate cell-to-cell communication, which play important roles in cancer growth and progression. However, the roles and molecular mechanisms of the miRNAs in the exosomes from carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are still not clear. The miRNA array showed that miR-3613-3p was an upregulated miRNA in CAFs exosomes. It was verified that miR-3613-3p was upregulated

CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein9) may be viewed as an adaptive bacterial immune system. When a virus infects a bacterium, a fragment of the virus genome is inserted into the CRISPR sequence of the bacterial genome as a memory. When the bacterium becomes infected again with the same virus, an RNA molecule that is a transcript of the memory

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine), a pleotropic molecule with a wide distribution, has received considerable attention in recent years, mostly because of its various major effects on tissues or cells since it has both receptor-dependent and receptor-independent actions over a wide range of concentrations. These biological and physiological functions of melatonin include regulation of circadian

In Huntington's disease, the length of the polyglutamine tract in the mutant protein correlates positively with the formation of aggregates and disease symptoms and severity of the disease. Some disease-modifying factors exist. However, no organized study has been carried out to investigate the effect of polyglutamine length in the mutant protein on the efficacy of a therapeutic strategy. We had shown

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is an inflammatory disease. Studies have shown that adipose tissue and inflammation play important roles in the pathogenesis of IBD. C1q/TNF-related protein-3 (CTRP3) is a newly discovered adipokine playing a substantial role during inflammatory process, and for the first time in the present

microRNA-3607 (miR-3607) has been identified as an important biomarker, and its aberrant expression exerts a significant role in tumorigenesis. However, the biological function of miR-3607 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) needs to be deciphered comprehensively. Clinical samples of HCC patients, as well as normal cases, were derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Quantitative reverse transcription

Small extracellular vesicle (sEV) has precise impacts on tumor microenvironment and play vital functions in intercellular interaction. However, the functional role of sEV miRNA on laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is largely unresolved. Here, the expression of miR‐1246 in LSCC tissues and plasma sEV was examined. The internalization ability of sEV was determined by uptake assay. Then, the source

Exosomes, as natural occurring vesicles, play highly important roles in the behavior and fate of ischemic diseases and different tumors. Secretion, composition, and function of exosomes are remarkably influenced by hypoxia in ischemic diseases and tumor microenvironment. Exosomes secreted from hypoxic cells affect development, growth, angiogenesis, and progression in ischemic diseases and tumors through

Diarrhea‐predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS‐D) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in the world, lacking effective therapies. The crucial roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in IBS‐D have attracted increasing attention. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of miR‐495 on the visceral sensitivity of the IBS‐D through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by targeting PKIB. Microarray

We investigated the role of leukemia stem cells in chemoresistance and recurrence of acute myeloid leukemia. Total RNA was isolated from cells or tissues using TRIzol reagent. Cell viability was assessed with the tetrazolium assay. MicroRNA‐34a (miR‐34a), which acts on cell death regulation pathways, was noticeably downregulated in non‐M3 acute myeloid leukemia stem cells compared with normal hematopoietic

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting females of reproductive age. It has been associated with cardiometabolic disorders including diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disorders, and increases the risk of developing fecundity pathologies including recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and infertility. C1q/tumor necrosis factor‐α‐related protein‐6 (CTRP6)

Biofilms are microbial communities established in the self‐produced extracellular substances that include up to 80% of associated microbial infections. During biofilm formation, bacterial cells shift from the planktonic forms to aggregated forms surrounded by an extracellular polymeric substance. The bacterial biofilm shows resistance against immune reactions as well as antibiotics and is potentially

Obesity is considered as a high‐risk susceptibility state for most metabolic disorders and is directly related to preadipocyte differentiation or adipogenesis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are the key factors which have regulatory functions on various critical physiological and biological processes. PVT1 was identified as an oncogenic lncRNA which could promote angiogenesis in gastric cancer. However

The cancer stem cell theory states that a subset of tumor cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), has the ability to self‐renew and differentiate within the tumors. According to this theory, CSCs would be mainly responsible for tumor initiation, progression, resistance to therapy, recurrence, and metastasis. In this study, a culture system was setup to enrich CSCs from bladder cancer (T24), lung cancer

Over the years, microRNA‐20b‐3p (miR‐20b‐3p) has been found to play an essential role in human diseases; we aimed to investigate the effect of miR‐20b‐3p on the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR). The DR rat models were established by streptozotocin injection and treated with miR‐20b‐3p mimics, silenced, or overexpressed thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP). Afterward, the expression of miR‐20b‐3p

Meningiomas are among the most common primary brain tumors. There is a growing need for novel ways of differentiating between benign (World Health Organization [WHO] grade I) and atypical (WHO grade II) meningiomas as well as for novel markers of the tumor's future behavior. A difference between glucose metabolism in atypical and benign meningiomas is well known. However, a significant correlation

This study aimed to analyze the relation between long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) LINCE00630 and radio-resistance and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Relative expression of LINC00630, BEX1, and DNMT3B in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells and clinical samples was determined by real-time PCR. Prognosis in respect of LINC00630 expression was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival curve. LINC00630 and BEX1 were

Guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C) is the receptor for the heat-stable enterotoxin, which causes diarrhea, and the endogenous ligands, guanylin and uroguanylin. GC-C is predominantly expressed in the intestinal epithelium and regulates fluid and ion secretion in the gut. The receptor has a complex domain organization, and in the absence of structural information, mutational analysis provides clues to mechanisms

During mixed‐acid fermentation, Escherichia coli transports succinate mainly via transporters of the Dcu family. Here, we analyze the influence of Dcu transporters on hydrogenase (Hyd) and fermentative formate dehydrogenase (FDH‐H) activities and how this is affected by external pH and carbon source. Using selected dcu mutations, it was shown that Dcu carriers mainly affect Hyd and FDH‐H activities

C─H⋯O hydrogen bonds constitute a unique class of cohesive interactions. Their properties are similar to those of canonical H-bonds, although their energy is significantly lower, typically in the 0.5-2.5 kcal/mol range. Polarised C─H groups, such as those adjacent to electronegative groups, or within aromatic moieties, are particularly strong donors. C─H⋯O bonds are ubiquitous in nucleic acids and

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potentially powerful weapon against Candida albicans, and the regulation of intracellular NO levels is therefore important for controlling its physiological functions. Lactoferricin B like peptide (LBLP) is a 23-mer antimicrobial peptide (AMP) derived from the Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans. We confirmed that LBLP treatment led to the generation of endogenous NO in C. albicans

It is indicated that malvidin has anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant effects on various cells, although the function of malvidin in preventing inflammatory reactions caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is still not known. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of malvidin on inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in PBMCs as caused by

Adoptive cell therapy using patients' own T‐cells is expected to be an ideal cancer treatment strategy with excellent antitumor effects and low side effects. However, this therapy targeting solid tumors is unlikely to be effective because tumor tissues have an environment that suppresses T‐cell function. In particular, interaction between programmed death‐1 (PD‐1) and its ligand (PD‐L1) inhibits T‐cell

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents around 2-3% of all malignancies diagnosed in adult patients. Most frequent (around 70-80% cases) and the most aggressive subtype is clear cell RCC (ccRCC). Mutations in VHL (von Hippel Lindau) gene, characteristic for this cancer type, lead to altered activity of the trimeric VBC (pVHL-elongin B-C) complex and consequently to HIF-1α stabilization. In this study

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a kind of primary bone cancer that is considered as the leading cause of children death. Surgery and chemotherapy are considered as common treatment approaches for OS; the rate of survival for patients is almost 60–70%. Besides the used therapeutic approaches, it seems that there is a crucial need to launch new treatments for OS. In this regard, more understanding about cellular

The mammary gland is a secretory organ, which develops as a network of growing epithelial ducts composed of luminal and basal cells that invade the surrounding adipose tissue through a series of developmental cycles. Mammary stem cells (MaSCs) maintain an accurate tissue homeostasis, and their proliferation and cell fate determination are regulated by multiple hormones and local factors. The WNT pathway

Chromogranin A (CgA) is a soluble glycoprotein stored with hormones and neuropeptides in secretory granules (SG) of most (neuro)endocrine cells and neurons. Since its discovery in 1967, many studies have reported its structural characteristics, biological roles, and mechanisms of action. Indeed, CgA is both a precursor of various biologically active peptides and a granulogenic protein regulating the

Phosphatidic acid (PA) produced by phospholipase D1 has been shown to contribute to secretory vesicle exocytosis in a large number of cell models. Among various hypotheses, PA may contribute to recruit and/or activate at the exocytotic site a set of proteins from the molecular machinery dedicated to secretion, but also directly influence membrane curvature thereby favoring membrane rearrangements required

Besides a fundamental structural role at the plasma membrane, spectrin‐ and actin‐based skeletons have been proposed to participate in various processes including vesicular trafficking. Neuroendocrine cells release hormones and neuropeptides through calcium‐regulated exocytosis, a process that is coordinated by a fine remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton. We describe here that calcium‐regulated exocytosis

Synaptic neurotransmission at the splanchnic nerve-chromaffin cell synapse is a chief element of the stimulus-secretion coupling in the adrenal medullary tissue, managing and regulating the secretion of catecholamines. Making the state of play more intricate than initially envisioned, the synaptic vesicles of nerve terminals innervating the medulla contain various compounds, including various neurotransmitters

The vacuolar H+ -adenosine triphosphatases (vATPases) acidify multiple intracellular organelles, including synaptic vesicles (SVs) and secretory granules. Acidification of SVs represents a critical point during the SV cycle: without acidification, neurotransmitters cannot be loaded into SVs. Despite the obvious importance of the vesicle acidification process for neurotrasmission and the life of complex

Activity-dependent plasticity of synaptic connections is a hallmark of the mammalian brain and represents a key mechanism for rewiring neural circuits during development, experience-dependent plasticity, and brain disorders. Cellular models of memory, such as long-term potentiation and long-term depression, share common principles to memory consolidation. As for memory, the maintenance of synaptic

Synucleinopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the accumulation of either neuronal/axonal or glial insoluble proteinaceous aggregates mainly composed of α-synuclein (α-syn). Among them, the most common disorders are Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, and some forms of familial parkinsonism. Both α-syn fibrils and oligomers have been found to

The sodium channel NaX (encoded by the SCN7A gene) was originally identified in the heart and skeletal muscle and is structurally similar to the other voltage-gated sodium channels but does not appear to be voltage gated. Although NaX is expressed at high levels in cardiac and skeletal muscle, little information exists on the function of NaX in these tissues. Transcriptional profiling of ion channels

We investigated the rosiglitazone (RSG) effect on adriamycin (ADM)-induced cardio toxicity in experimental animals. Forty adult Wistar male rats were separated into four groups as follows: normal control; RSG (10 mg/kg)-treated; ADM (10 mg/kg)-administered; and ADM (10 mg/kg) + RSG (10 mg/kg)-treated. Serum lipid level, different biochemical biomarkers, histological analysis, and nuclear factor erythroid

BACKGROUND Familial combined hyperlipidemia or FCHL is one of the most common genetic causes of hyperlipidemia and is associated with elevation of cholesterol, triglycerides or both, and increased serum apolipoprotein B (apoB). Linkage analysis and next generation sequencing have been successfully used for identifying rare genetic variants that have moderate-to-large effects. METHODS We characterized

Viral replication and related protein expression inside the host cells, and host antiviral immune responses can lead to the occurrence of diverse diseases. With the outbreak of viral infection, a large number of newly diagnosed and died patients infected with various viruses are still reported every year. Viral infection has already been one of the major global public health issues and lead to huge

Respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with the presence of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) in the air. In the present study, the effect of synthesized ursolic acid derivatives on mice model of PM2.5‐induced COPD was investigated in vivo. The mice model of COPD was established by the administration of 25 μL of PM2.5 suspension through intranasal route daily

Deposition of amyloid protein, particularly Aβ1-42 , is a major contributor to the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, almost no deposition of Aβ in the peripheral tissues could be found. Human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant protein in the blood, has been reported to inhibit amyloid formation through binding Aβ, which is believed to play an important role in the peripheral clearance

Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular degradation process involving lysosomal degradation for the turnover of proteins, protein complexes, and organelles. Defects in autophagy produces impaired intercellular communication and have subsequently been shown to be associated with pathological conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. Curcumin is a polyphenol found in the rhizome of Curcuma longa

Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs) are highly proliferative, clonogenic, and multipotent stem cells with a neural crest cell origin. This property could be a desirable option for potential therapeutic applications. In this study, we focus on the effects of Rho kinase inhibitors Y‐27632 and Noggin on the proliferation of SHEDs and their differentiation into neuron‐like cells. SHEDs

The association between passive smoking (PS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has not yet been fully clarified.

Although ovarian cancer has a lower prevalence than breast cancer, its mortality rate is three times higher, which is reported to increase in the coming years. As the early stages of ovarian cancer do not have any obvious symptoms, in most of the cases, this cancer is diagnosed at advanced stages with a poor prognosis. Moreover, in many patients who are diagnosed with advanced stage, relapse of the

In recent years, the high throughput and the low cost of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have led to an increase of the amount of (meta)genomic data, revolutionizing genomic research studies. However, the quality of sequencing data could be affected by experimental errors derived from defective methods and protocols. This represents a serious problem for the scientific community with

The dietary inflammatory index (DII) is a novel way of describing diet that has been studied in relation to various health conditions, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) in several populations. We aimed to investigate the association between DII and CVD events among a representative population sample in northeastern Iran. This prospective cohort study was a subsample of 4,672 adults aged 35-65 years

Neonicotinoids are a widely used class of insecticides that target the acetylcholine recognition site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system of insects. Although neonicotinoids display a high specificity for insects, their use has been recently debated since several studies led to the hypothesis that they may have adverse ecological effects and potential risks to mammals