Routing of Kv7.1 to endoplasmic reticulum plasma membrane junctions.

Aim: The voltage-gated Kv7.1 channel, in association with the regulatory subunit KCNE1, contributes to the I current in the heart. However, both proteins travel to the plasma membrane using different routes.

In vitro radiosensitization by eribulin in human cancer cell lines.

Background: The objective was to to determine the radiosensitizing properties of eribulin and the potential mechanisms of radiosensitization in cervical (HeLa) and pharyngeal (FaDu) cancer cell lines.

Materials And Methods: Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the crystal violet method. The 10% and 50% inhibitory concentration (IC10, IC50) for 24-hour drug exposure were determined.

Hyperoxaluria Induces Endothelial Dysfunction in Preglomerular Arteries: Involvement of Oxidative Stress.

Unlabelled: Urolithiasis is a worldwide problem and a risk factor for kidney injury. Oxidative stress-associated renal endothelial dysfunction secondary to urolithiasis could be a key pathogenic factor, similar to obesity and diabetes-related nephropathy. The aim of the present study was to characterize urolithiasis-related endothelial dysfunction in a hyperoxaluria rat model of renal lithiasis.

ALK-Fusion Transcripts Can Be Detected in Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) from Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines and Patient Plasma: Toward EV-Based Noninvasive Testing.

Background: ALK rearrangements are present in 5% of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors and identify patients who can benefit from ALK inhibitors. ALK fusions testing using liquid biopsies, although challenging, can expand the therapeutic options for ALK-positive NSCLC patients considerably. RNA inside extracellular vesicles (EVs) is protected from RNases and other environmental factors, constituting a promising source for noninvasive fusion transcript detection.

Prognostic Implications of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Coronary Thrombi of Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Aims:  The mechanisms of coronary thrombosis can influence prognosis after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and allow for different treatment groups to be identified; an association between neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and unfavorable clinical outcomes has been suggested. Our aim was to determine the role played by NETs in coronary thrombosis and their influence on prognosis. The role of other histological features in prognosis and the association between NETs and bacteria in the coronary thrombi were also explored.

Assessment of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Coronary Thrombus of a Case Series of Patients With COVID-19 and Myocardial Infarction.

Importance: Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by the intense formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), leading to the occlusion of microvessels, as shown in pulmonary samples. The occurrence of ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a serious cardiac manifestation of COVID-19; the intrinsic mechanism of coronary thrombosis appears to still be unknown.

Objective: To determine the role of NETs in coronary thrombosis in patients with COVID-19.

Effects of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy on tumor regression: insights from a patient-derived xenograft model.

Immunotherapies, such as checkpoint blockade of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1), have resulted in unprecedented improvements in survival for patients with lung cancer. Nonetheless, not all patients benefit equally and many issues remain unresolved, including the mechanisms of action and the possible effector function of immune cells from non-lymphoid lineages. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether anti-PD-1 immunotherapy acts on malignant tumor cells through mechanisms beyond those related to T lymphocyte involvement.

Cisplatin resistance involves a metabolic reprogramming through ROS and PGC-1α in NSCLC which can be overcome by OXPHOS inhibition.

Background: Platinum-based chemotherapy remains the standard of care for most lung cancer cases. However chemoresistance is often developed during the treatment, limiting clinical utility of this drug. Recently, the ability of tumor cells to adapt their metabolism has been associated to resistance to therapies.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts modify lung cancer metabolism involving ROS and TGF-β signaling.

Lung cancer is a major public health problem due to its high incidence and mortality rate. The altered metabolism in lung cancer is key for the diagnosis and has implications on both, the prognosis and the response to treatments. Although Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the major components of the tumor microenvironment, little is known about their role in lung cancer metabolism.

Concordance between circulating tumor cells and clinical status during follow-up in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

Background: The identification of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements is found in approximately 5% of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). However, the development of liquid biopsies as a diagnostic tool is less developed in these cases. This study investigates the use of CTCs during treatment, together with an extended follow-up to correlate with clinical evolution.

Mechanisms of action of cannabidiol in adoptively transferred experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most important compounds in Cannabis sativa, lacks psychotropic effects, and possesses a high number of therapeutic properties including the amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The aim of this study was to analyse the relative efficacy of CBD in adoptively transferred EAE (at-EAE), a model that allows better delineation of the effector phase of EAE. Splenocytes and lymph nodes from mice with actively induced EAE were cultured in the presence of MOG and IL-12 and inoculated intraperitoneally in recipient female C57BL/6J mice.

Spontaneous Cannabinoid Receptor 2 (CB2) Expression in the Cochlea of Adult Albino Rat and Its Up-Regulation after Cisplatin Treatment.

We provide evidence for the presence of cannabinoid CB2 receptors in some cellular types of the cochlea of the adult albino rat. Cannabinoids and their receptors are increasingly being studied because of their high potential for clinical use. As a hyperspecialized portion of the peripheral nervous system, study of the expression and function of cannabinoid receptors in the hearing organ is of high interest.

Association of DDX58 177 C > T polymorphism with decreased risk of Epstein-Barr virus-related nodular sclerosis classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is frequently related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Its malignant capacity is attributed to disruption of an EBV-host balance influenced by environmental and genetic drivers. EBV structures activate Type I interferon (IFN) pathway of the innate immunity, therefore, genetic polymorphisms could influence this response.

Mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in the pathogenesis of post-surgical peritoneal adhesions.

Peritoneal adhesions (PAs) are fibrotic bands formed between bowel loops, solid organs, and the parietal peritoneum, which may appear following surgery, infection or endometriosis. They represent an important health problem with no effective treatment. Mesothelial cells (MCs) line the peritoneal cavity and undergo a mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (MMT) under pathological conditions, transforming into myofibroblasts, which are abundant in peritoneal fibrotic tissue.

NO, ROS, and cell death associated with caspase-like activity increase in stress-induced microspore embryogenesis of barley.

Under specific stress treatments (cold, starvation), in vitro microspores can be induced to deviate from their gametophytic development and switch to embryogenesis, forming haploid embryos and homozygous breeding lines in a short period of time. The inductive stress produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), signalling molecules mediating cellular responses, and cell death, modifying the embryogenic microspore response and therefore, the efficiency of the process. This work analysed cell death, caspase 3-like activity, and ROS and NO production (using fluorescence probes and confocal analysis) after inductive stress in barley microspore cultures and embryogenic suspension cultures, as an in vitro system which permitted easy handling for comparison.

An adult myometrial pluripotential precursor that promotes healing of damaged muscular tissues.

The use of adult stem cells for tissue and organ regeneration constitutes a promising alternative therapy in many human diseases that are currently not treatable. We have isolated a new cell type from mouse adult uterine biopsies (murine adult myometrial precursors or mAMPs) by means of using a simple and non-invasive approach. These cells have been characterized by surface markers, being positive for CD31, CD34, CD44, CD117, Stro-1 and Sca-1.

Nanoparticle penetration and transport in living pumpkin plants: in situ subcellular identification.

Background: In recent years, the application of nanotechnology in several fields of bioscience and biomedicine has been studied. The use of nanoparticles for the targeted delivery of substances has been given special attention and is of particular interest in the treatment of plant diseases. In this work both the penetration and the movement of iron-carbon nanoparticles in plant cells have been analyzed in living plants of Cucurbita pepo.

The mitochondrial cycle of Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem and leaf primordium meristematic cells is defined by a perinuclear tentaculate/cage-like mitochondrion.

Plant cells exhibit a high rate of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) recombination. This implies that before cytokinesis, the different mitochondrial compartments must fuse to allow for mtDNA intermixing. When and how the conditions for mtDNA intermixing are established are largely unknown.

In situ molecular identification of the Ntf4 MAPK expression sites in maturing and germinating pollen.

Background Information: MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) are involved in the transduction of different signals in eukaryotes. They regulate different processes, such as differentiation, proliferation and stress response. MAPKs act through the phosphorylation cascade, being the last element that phosphorylates the final effector of the cell response.

Multicellular structures developing during maize microspore culture express endosperm and embryo-specific genes and show different embryogenic potentialities.

During maize pollen embryogenesis, a range of multicellular structures are formed. Using different approaches, the "nature" of these structures has been determined in terms of their embryogenic potential. In situ molecular identification techniques for gene transcripts and products, and a novel cell tracking system indicated the presence of embryogenic (embryo-like structures, ELS) and non-embryogenic (callus-like structures, CLS) structures that occurred for short periods within the cultures.

The MAP kinase kinase NtMEK2 is involved in tobacco pollen germination.

The tobacco ntf4 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase gene (and its encoded protein p45(Ntf4)) is expressed at later stages of pollen maturation. We have found that the highly related MAP kinase SIPK is also expressed in pollen and, like p45(Ntf4), is activated upon pollen hydration. The MAP kinase kinase NtMEK2 activates SIPK, and here we show that it can also activate p45(Ntf4).