Disparities in Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Rights Among Adolescents and Young People During COVID-19 Pandemic: Culture, Economic, and Gender Perspectives.

Purpose Of Review: As the world grapples with the health systems' challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the needs of the already vulnerable adolescents and young people is vital. This narrative synthesis is aimed to highlight the current gender, cultural, and socioeconomic dynamics fueling inequalities to accessing sexual, reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services among adolescents and young people in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Recent Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic has in most countries exacerbated already existing inequalities due to economic, gender, cultural, and legal aspects.

Rapid and temporary improvement of depression and anxiety observed following niraparib administration: a case report.

Background: Cancer patients are disproportionately affected by generalized anxiety and major depression. For many, current treatments for these conditions are ineffective. In this case report, we present a serendipitous case of anxiety and depression improvement following administration of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor niraparib.

SatS is a chaperone for the SecA2 protein export pathway.

The SecA2 protein export system is critical for the virulence of . However, the mechanism of this export pathway remains unclear. Through a screen for suppressors of a mutant, we identified a new player in the mycobacterial SecA2 pathway that we named SatS for ec2 (wo) uppressor.

Stiffened Extracellular Matrix and Signaling from Stromal Fibroblasts via Osteoprotegerin Regulate Tumor Cell Invasion in a 3-D Tumor in Situ Model.

Several changes have been described in the stroma surrounding a tumor, including changes in cellular composition, altered extracellular matrix composition and organization, and increases in stiffness. Tumor cells are influenced by the composition, organization, and mechanical properties of the microenvironment, and by signals from stromal cells. Here we sought to test whether signaling from stromal fibroblasts and/or the small change in stiffness observed in vivo surrounding epithelial tumors regulates tumor cell invasion from a model of a tumor in situ.

Determination of Statistical Properties of Microtubule Populations.

Microtubules are structures within the cell that form a transportation network along which motor proteins tow cargo to destinations. To establish and maintain a structure capable of serving the cell's tasks, microtubules undergo deconstruction and reconstruction regularly. This change in structure is critical to tasks like wound repair and cell motility.

Formulation of benzoxaborole drugs in PLLA: from materials preparation to in vitro release kinetics and cellular assays.

Benzoxaboroles are a family of organoboron molecules, which have been finding over the past few years an increasing number of biological applications, notably for the design of new drugs. Given that these molecules are still relatively new in the biomedical context, very few investigations regarding their formulation have been reported to date. Here, a complete study on the formulation of benzoxaboroles in a biopolymer, poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA), is reported.

Palladin mediates stiffness-induced fibroblast activation in the tumor microenvironment.

Mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment have emerged as key factors in tumor progression. It has been proposed that increased tissue stiffness can transform stromal fibroblasts into carcinoma-associated fibroblasts. However, it is unclear whether the three to five times increase in stiffness seen in tumor-adjacent stroma is sufficient for fibroblast activation.

A biomaterial model of tumor stromal microenvironment promotes mesenchymal morphology but not epithelial to mesenchymal transition in epithelial cells.

The stromal tissue surrounding most carcinomas is comprised of an extracellular matrix densely packed with collagen-I fibers, which are often highly aligned in metastatic disease. Here we developed an in vitro model to test the effect of an aligned fibrous environment on cancer cell morphology and behavior, independent of collagen ligand presentation. We grew cells on a biomimetic surface of aligned electrospun poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) fibers and then examined the effect of this environment on growth rate, morphology, cytoskeletal organization, biochemical and genetic markers of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell surface adhesion, and cell migration.

An injectable, calcium responsive composite hydrogel for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury.

Immediately following spinal cord injury, further injury can occur through several secondary injury cascades. As a consequence of cell lysis, an increase in extracellular Ca(2+) results in additional neuronal loss by inducing apoptosis. Thus, hydrogels that reduce extracellular Ca(2+) concentration may reduce secondary injury severity.

Suppressor analysis reveals a role for SecY in the SecA2-dependent protein export pathway of Mycobacteria.

All bacteria use the conserved Sec pathway to transport proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane, with the SecA ATPase playing a central role in the process. Mycobacteria are part of a small group of bacteria that have two SecA proteins: the canonical SecA (SecA1) and a second, specialized SecA (SecA2). The SecA2-dependent pathway exports a small subset of proteins and is required for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence.

Electrospun nanofiber scaffolds for investigating cell-matrix adhesion.

It has become increasingly clear that the cellular microenvironment, in particular the extracellular matrix, plays an important role in regulating cell function. However, the extracellular matrix is extraordinarily complex in both its makeup and its physical properties. Therefore, there is a need to develop model systems to independently evaluate the effect of specific extracellular matrix features upon cells.

Protein export by the mycobacterial SecA2 system is determined by the preprotein mature domain.

At the core of the bacterial general secretion (Sec) pathway is the SecA ATPase, which powers translocation of unfolded preproteins containing Sec signal sequences through the SecYEG membrane channel. Mycobacteria have two nonredundant SecA homologs: SecA1 and SecA2. While the essential SecA1 handles "housekeeping" export, the nonessential SecA2 exports a subset of proteins and is required for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence.

Cadherin-23 mediates heterotypic cell-cell adhesion between breast cancer epithelial cells and fibroblasts.

In the early stages of breast cancer metastasis, epithelial cells penetrate the basement membrane and invade the surrounding stroma, where they encounter fibroblasts. Paracrine signaling between fibroblasts and epithelial tumor cells contributes to the metastatic cascade, but little is known about the role of adhesive contacts between these two cell types in metastasis. Here we show that MCF-7 breast cancer epithelial cells and normal breast fibroblasts form heterotypic adhesions when grown together in co-culture, as evidenced by adhesion assays.

The ins and outs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein export.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important pathogen that infects approximately one-third of the world's population and kills almost two million people annually. An important aspect of M. tuberculosis physiology and pathogenesis is its ability to export proteins into and across the thick mycobacterial cell envelope, where they are ideally positioned to interact with the host.

The posttranslational modification of tubulin undergoes a switch from detyrosination to acetylation as epithelial cells become polarized.

Tubulin posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have been suggested to provide navigational cues for molecular motors to deliver cargo to spatially segregated subcellular domains, but the molecular details of this process remain unclear. Here we show that in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells, microtubules express several tubulin PTMs. These modifications, however, are not coordinated, and cells have multiple subpopulations of microtubules that are marked by different combinations of PTMs.

Association of insulin-like growth factor 2 with the insulin-linked polymorphic region in cultured fetal thymus cells.

The insulin-linked polymorphic region (ILPR) is a regulatory sequence in the promoter region upstream of the human insulin gene and is widely recognized as a locus of type 1 diabetes susceptibility. Polymorphism of the ILPR sequence can affect expression of both insulin and the adjacent insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) gene. Several ILPR variants form G-quadruplex DNA structures in vitro that exhibit affinity binding to insulin and IGF-2.

Genome sequence of Azotobacter vinelandii, an obligate aerobe specialized to support diverse anaerobic metabolic processes.

Azotobacter vinelandii is a soil bacterium related to the Pseudomonas genus that fixes nitrogen under aerobic conditions while simultaneously protecting nitrogenase from oxygen damage. In response to carbon availability, this organism undergoes a simple differentiation process to form cysts that are resistant to drought and other physical and chemical agents. Here we report the complete genome sequence of A.

Regulation of dynactin through the differential expression of p150Glued isoforms.

Cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin interact to drive microtubule-based transport in the cell. The p150Glued subunit of dynactin binds to dynein, and directly to microtubules. We have identified alternatively spliced isoforms of p150Glued that are expressed in a tissue-specific manner and which differ significantly in their affinity for microtubules.

Microtubules tethered at epithelial cell junctions by dynein facilitate efficient junction assembly.

Efficient remodeling of cell-cell adhesions is critical during development and morphogenesis. Junctional components must be specifically and rapidly transported to sites of junction assembly. In this study, we show a mechanism by which this targeted trafficking may occur.

Recruitment of dynein to the Jurkat immunological synapse.

Binding of T cells to antigen-presenting cells leads to the formation of the immunological synapse, translocation of the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) to the synapse, and focused secretion of effector molecules. Here, we show that upon activation of Jurkat cells microtubules project from the MTOC to a ring of the scaffolding protein ADAP, localized at the synapse. Loss of ADAP, but not lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1, leads to a severe defect in MTOC polarization at the immunological synapse.

A motor neuron disease-associated mutation in p150Glued perturbs dynactin function and induces protein aggregation.

The microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein and its activator dynactin drive vesicular transport and mitotic spindle organization. Dynactin is ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotes, but a G59S mutation in the p150Glued subunit of dynactin results in the specific degeneration of motor neurons. This mutation in the conserved cytoskeleton-associated protein, glycine-rich (CAP-Gly) domain lowers the affinity of p150Glued for microtubules and EB1.

Microtubule binding proteins CLIP-170, EB1, and p150Glued form distinct plus-end complexes.

Microtubule plus-end proteins CLIP-170 and EB1 dynamically track the tips of growing microtubules in vivo. Here we examine the association of these proteins with microtubules in vitro. CLIP-170 binds tubulin dimers and co-assembles into growing microtubules.

Mutant superoxide dismutase disrupts cytoplasmic dynein in motor neurons.

Cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin drive retrograde axonal transport in neurons, and mutations in dynein/dynactin cause motor neuron degeneration. To test whether defects in dynein/dynactin function are involved in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we examined neurotracer transport from muscle to motor neuron in a transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Significant inhibition was observed, which was temporally correlated with declines in muscle strength.

A direct interaction between cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin I may coordinate motor activity.

Cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin I are both unidirectional intracellular motors. Dynein moves cargo toward the cell center, and kinesin moves cargo toward the cell periphery. There is growing evidence that bi-directional motility is regulated in the cell, potentially through direct interactions between oppositely oriented motors.