Focus on MicroRNAs as Biomarker in Pediatric Diseases.

Background: MiRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. MiRNAs are considered a class of epigenetic biomarkers. These biomarkers can investigate disease at different stages: diagnosis, therapy or clinical follow-up.

Bioinformatics Resources for RNA Editing.

RNA editing is a widespread co/posttranscriptional mechanism affecting primary RNAs by specific nucleotide modifications, which plays relevant roles in molecular processes including regulation of gene expression and/or processing of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). In recent years, the detection of editing sites has been greatly improved through the availability of high-throughput RNA sequencing technologies. Several pipelines, employing various read mappers and variant callers with a wide range of adjustable parameters, are currently available for the detection of RNA editing events.

How Physical Activity across the Lifespan Can Reduce the Impact of Bone Ageing: A Literature Review.

Bone remodeling is a lifelong process, due to the balanced activity of the osteoblasts (OBs), the bone-forming cells, and osteoclasts (OCs), the bone-resorbing cells. This equilibrium is mainly regulated by the WNT-ß-cathenin pathway and the RANK-RANKL/OPG system, respectively. Bone ageing is a process which normally occurs during life due to the imbalance between bone formation and bone resorption, potentially leading to osteoporosis.

Precision Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Some Promising Tips Coming from the microRNAs' World.

Novel insights in the development of a precision medicine approach for treating the neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are provided by emerging advances in the field of pharmacoepigenomics. In this context, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been extensively studied because of their implication in several disorders related to the central nervous system, as well as for their potential role as biomarkers of diagnosis, prognosis, and response to treatment. Recent studies in the field of neurodegeneration reported evidence that drug response and efficacy can be modulated by miRNA-mediated mechanisms.

Phosphorylation of NHERF1 S279 and S301 differentially regulates breast cancer cell phenotype and metastatic organotropism.

Metastatic cancer cells are highly plastic for the expression of different tumor phenotype hallmarks and organotropism. This plasticity is highly regulated but the dynamics of the signaling processes orchestrating the shift from one cell phenotype and metastatic organ pattern to another are still largely unknown. The scaffolding protein NHERF1 has been shown to regulate the expression of different neoplastic phenotypes through its PDZ domains, which forms the mechanistic basis for metastatic organotropism.

Elucidating the editome: bioinformatics approaches for RNA editing detection.

RNA editing is a widespread co/posttranscriptional mechanism affecting primary RNAs by specific nucleotide modifications, which plays relevant roles in molecular processes including regulation of gene expression and/or the processing of noncoding RNAs. In recent years, the detection of editing sites has been improved through the availability of high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technologies. Accurate bioinformatics pipelines are essential for the analysis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data to ensure the correct identification of edited sites.

Massive transcriptome sequencing of human spinal cord tissues provides new insights into motor neuron degeneration in ALS.

ALS is a devastating and debilitating human disease characterized by the progressive death of upper and lower motor neurons. Although much effort has been made to elucidate molecular determinants underlying the onset and progression of the disorder, the causes of ALS remain largely unknown. In the present work, we have deeply sequenced whole transcriptome from spinal cord ventral horns of post-mortem ALS human donors affected by the sporadic form of the disease (which comprises ~90% of the cases but which is less investigated than the inherited form of the disease).