A Novel Fluorescent Gemcitabine Prodrug That Follows a Nucleoside Transporter-Independent Internalization and Bears Enhanced Therapeutic Efficacy With Respect to Gemcitabine.

The multiplexity of cancer has rendered it the second leading cause of mortality worldwide and theragnostic prodrugs have gained popularity in recent years as a means of treatment. Theragnostic prodrugs enable the simultaneous diagnosis and therapy of tumors via high-precision real-time drug release monitoring. Herein, we report the development of the small theragnostic prodrug GF, based on the nucleoside anticancer agent gemcitabine and the fluorescent dye 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein.

Targeting the interaction of pleiotrophin and VEGFA with protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor zeta 1 inhibits endothelial cell activation and angiogenesis.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor zeta 1 (PTPRZ1) is a transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase (TP) that serves as a receptor for pleiotrophin (PTN) and vascular endothelial growth factor A 165 (VEGFA) to regulate endothelial cell migration. In the present work, we identify a PTN peptide fragment (PTN) that inhibits the interaction of PTN and VEGFA with PTPRZ1 but not VEGF receptor 2. This peptide abolishes the stimulatory effect of PTN and VEGFA on endothelial cell migration, tube formation on Matrigel, and Akt activation in vitro.

The science behind soft skills: Do's and Don'ts for early career researchers and beyond. A review paper from the EU-CardioRNA COST Action CA17129.

Soft skills are the elementary management, personal, and interpersonal abilities that are vital for an individual to be efficient at workplace or in their personal life. Each work place requires different set of soft skills. Thus, in addition to scientific/technical skills that are easier to access within a short time frame, several key soft skills are essential for the success of a researcher in today's international work environment.

Small leucine-rich proteoglycans inhibit CNS regeneration by modifying the structural and mechanical properties of the lesion environment.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition after central nervous system (CNS) injury leads to inhibitory scarring in humans and other mammals, whereas it facilitates axon regeneration in the zebrafish. However, the molecular basis of these different fates is not understood. Here, we identify small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) as a contributing factor to regeneration failure in mammals.