The multifaceted role of XCL1 in health and disease.

The chemokine XC motif chemokine ligand 1 (XCL1) is an unusually specialized member of a conserved family of around 50 small, secreted proteins that are best known for their ability to stimulate the directional migration of cells. All chemokines adopt a very similar folded structure that binds a specific G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), and most chemokines bind extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycans, often in a dimeric or oligomeric form. Owing in part to the lack of a disulfide bond that is conserved in all other chemokines, XCL1 interconverts between two distinct structures with distinct functions.

Multi-Targeting Macrocyclic Peptides as Nanomolar Inhibitors of Self- and Cross-Seeded Amyloid Self-Assembly of α-Synuclein.

Amyloid self-assembly of α-synuclein (αSyn) is linked to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has recently emerged as a risk factor for PD. Cross-interactions between their amyloidogenic proteins may act as molecular links.

The structure and correlates of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire among U.S. racial/ethnic groups.

Research on externalizing psychopathology has relied heavily on White samples to generate core knowledge, with few studies examining variability in its components, including grandiose narcissism, across racial/ethnic groups. This preregistered (https://osf.io/n4s3f/) study addressed the following research questions: (1) Is there evidence for measurement invariance of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) across racial/ethnic groups?; (2) Are there racial/ethnic group differences in (a) mean levels of the two NARQ subscales: admiration and rivalry, and (b) correlations between NARQ subscales and self-esteem?; (3) Do variations in ethnic identity commitment account for any observed group differences in the mean levels and correlations? The sample consisted of 1,248 U.

Risk Factors and Pharmacological Interventions Impacting Cerebrovascular Ischemic Events in Giant Cell Arteritis: A Narrative Review.

Introduction: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a common vasculitis predominantly affecting larger vessels, especially in individuals aged 70-79. Cerebrovascular ischemic events (CIE), such as stroke and transient ischemic attacks, are serious but rare complications of GCA, with a pooled prevalence of 4%. Some studies found that within 2 weeks of GCA diagnosis, 74% and 34% of patients experience transient or severe ischemic events, respectively.

Genomic determinants of biological age estimated by deep learning applied to retinal images.

With the development of deep learning (DL) techniques, there has been a successful application of this approach to determine biological age from latent information contained in retinal images. Retinal age gap (RAG) defined as the difference between chronological age and predicted retinal age has been established previously to predict the age-related disease. In this study, we performed discovery genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) on the RAG using the 31,271 UK Biobank participants and replicated our findings in 8034 GoDARTS participants.