The Dinaric Karst extends along the Adriatic coast of the Western Balkan Peninsula and is home to a group of "karst minnows" of the genera , , and , which have adapted to the highly variable water conditions in the karst by spending up to several months underground, but require surface habitats for spawning, defining them as substygophiles. The three species of the genus , , , and , are defined by restricted ranges, making them vulnerable to pollution and extended draughts caused by the climate change. In this study, the phylogeny of Leusciscinae was reconstructed using 15 and one , one , and one complete mitochondrial genomes and the position of the genus within the subfamily as sister species to the clade was confirmed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to explore the health impacts, mechanisms of toxicity, and key gene biomarkers of a mixture of the most prominent perfluoroalkyl/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through in silico ADMET and toxicogenomic analysis. The following databases and tools were used: AdmetSAR (2.0), ADMETlab (2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViral mimicry refers to the activation of innate anti-viral immune responses due to the induction of endogenous retroelement (RE) expression. Viral mimicry has been previously described to augment anti-tumor immune responses and sensitize solid tumors to immunotherapy including colorectal cancer, melanoma, and clear renal cell carcinoma. Here, we found that targeting a novel, master epigenetic regulator, Zinc Finger Protein 638 (ZNF638), induces viral mimicry in glioblastoma (GBM) preclinical models and potentiates immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe shortfall in new analgesic agents is a major impediment to reducing reliance on opioid medications for control of severe pain. In both animals and man, attenuating nociceptive transmission from primary afferent neurons with a μ-opioid receptor agonist yields highly effective analgesia. Consequently, deeper molecular characterization of human nociceptive afferents expressing OPRM1, the μ-opioid receptor gene, is a key component for advancing analgesic drug discovery and understanding clinical pain control.
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