Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality as a versatile tool in food consumer behavior evaluation: Recent advances in aroma, taste, and texture incorporation.

The perceptual behavior of consumers on a product displayed in the market has a vital role in analyzing the importance given to that product. Therefore, various strategies have been developed to understand this consumer behavior in the selection of products. Immersive technologies like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality are among them.

The Molecular Basis of Wnt/-Catenin Signaling Pathways in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Defective Wnt signaling is found to be associated with various neurodegenerative diseases. In the canonical pathway, the Frizzled receptor (Fzd) and the lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5/6 (LRP5/LRP6) create a seven-pass transmembrane receptor complex to which the Wnt ligands bind. This interaction causes the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli gene product (APC), casein kinase 1 (CK1), and GSK-3 (glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta) to be recruited by the scaffold protein Dishevelled (Dvl), which in turn deactivates the -catenin destruction complex.

The Multiple Faces of the MRN Complex: Roles in Medulloblastoma and Beyond.

Hypomorphic mutations in MRN complex genes are frequently found in cancer, supporting their role as oncosuppressors. However, unlike canonical oncosuppressors, MRN proteins are often overexpressed in tumor tissues, where they actively work to counteract DSBs induced by both oncogene-dependent RS and radio-chemotherapy. Moreover, at the same time, genes are also essential genes, since the constitutive KO of each component leads to embryonic lethality.

Consensus clustering methodology to improve molecular stratification of non-small cell lung cancer.

Recent advances in machine learning research, combined with the reduced sequencing costs enabled by modern next-generation sequencing, paved the way to the implementation of precision medicine through routine multi-omics molecular profiling of tumours. Thus, there is an emerging need of reliable models exploiting such data to retrieve clinically useful information. Here, we introduce an original consensus clustering approach, overcoming the intrinsic instability of common clustering methods based on molecular data.

Immunohistochemistry with 3 different clones in anaplastic lymphoma kinase fluorescence in situ hybridization positive non-small-cell lung cancer with thymidylate synthase expression analysis: a multicentre, retrospective, Italian study.

Introduction: rearrangement is the only druggable oncogenic driver detectable by immunohistochemistry (IHC) not requiring further confirmation of positivity in accessing first-line specific inhibitors. ALK-positive patients experience clinical benefit from pemetrexed-based chemotherapy possibly due to lower thymidylate synthase (TS) levels. This study assesses agreement with three different ALK IHC clones in 37 FISH-positive NSCLC.

Mean nocturnal baseline impedance and endoscopic mucosal impedance measurements in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis: a new tool for follow up and management?

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is the second most common cause of chronic esophageal inflammation after GERD, with increasing incidence and prevalence across all age groups. Since current diagnosis and follow up of EoE require endoscopy with biopsies, there is an increased interest in non or less invasive tests for its diagnosis and follow up. Baseline mucosal impedance measurement allows evaluation of mucosal barrier properties and is widely accepted as an adjunct method in GERD diagnosis.

Iron metabolism in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum: A role for ferric chelate reductases.

Iron is the most abundant transition metal in all living organisms and is essential for several cellular activities, including respiration, oxygen transport, energy production and regulation of gene expression. Iron starvation is used by professional phagocytes, from Dictyostelium to macrophages, as a form of defense mechanism against intracellular pathogens. Previously, we showed that Dictyostelium cells express the proton-driven iron transporter Nramp1 (Natural Resistance-Associated Macrophage Protein 1) and the homolog NrampB (Nramp2) in membranes of macropinosomes and phagosomes or of the contractile vacuole network, respectively.

International Tailored Chemotherapy Adjuvant (ITACA) trial, a phase III multicenter randomized trial comparing adjuvant pharmacogenomic-driven chemotherapy versus standard adjuvant chemotherapy in completely resected stage II-IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Several strategies have been investigated to improve the 4% survival advantage of adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this investigator-initiated study we aimed to evaluate the predictive utility of the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of excision repair cross complementation group 1 (ERCC1) and thymidylate synthase (TS) as assessed in resected tumor.

Patients And Methods: Seven hundred and seventy-three completely resected stage II-III NSCLC patients were enrolled and randomly assigned in each of the four genomic subgroups to investigator's choice of platinum-based chemotherapy (C, n = 389) or tailored chemotherapy (T, n = 384).

Calcitriol Inhibits Viability and Proliferation in Human Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Cells.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive tumor, often associated with exposure to asbestos and characterized by poor prognosis and limited treatment options. The biologically active form of vitamin D, calcitriol, exerts anticancer effects in many cell types, both alone and in combination with chemotherapy drugs, through binding to vitamin D receptor (VDR); however, the role of calcitriol in MPM is still unknown. This study aimed to determine the potential antitumor role of calcitriol in MPM.

A pilot study of next generation sequencing-liquid biopsy on cell-free DNA as a novel non-invasive diagnostic tool for Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome.

Objectives: Somatic mosaicism of gene is currently recognized as the molecular driver of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome. However, given the limitation of the current technologies, somatic mutations are detected only in a limited proportion of Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome cases and tissue biopsy remains an invasive high risky, sometimes life-threatening, diagnostic procedure. Next generation sequencing liquid biopsy using cell-free DNA has emerged as an innovative non-invasive approach for early detection and monitoring of cancer.

Activation of RSK by phosphomimetic substitution in the activation loop is prevented by structural constraints.

The activation of the majority of AGC kinases is regulated by two phosphorylation events on two conserved serine/threonine residues located on the activation loop and on the hydrophobic motif, respectively. In AGC kinase family, phosphomimetic substitutions with aspartate or glutamate, leading to constitutive activation, have frequently occurred at the hydrophobic motif site. On the contrary, phosphomimetic substitutions in the activation loop are absent across the evolution of AGC kinases.

Dynamic Interplay between Pericytes and Endothelial Cells during Sprouting Angiogenesis.

Vascular physiology relies on the concerted dynamics of several cell types, including pericytes, endothelial, and vascular smooth muscle cells. The interactions between such cell types are inherently dynamic and are not easily described with static, fixed, experimental approaches. Pericytes are mural cells that support vascular development, remodeling, and homeostasis, and are involved in a number of pathological situations including cancer.

Dasatinib modulates sensitivity to pemetrexed in malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines.

Background: Thymidylate synthase (TS), one of the key enzymes for thymidine synthesis, is a target of pemetrexed (PEM), a key agent for the systemic therapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and its overexpression has been correlated to PEM-resistance. In MPM, experimental data report activation of the c-SRC tyrosine kinase suggesting it as a potential target to be further investigated.

Results: MPM cell lines showed different sensitivity, being MSTO the most and REN the least sensitive to PEM.

Precision medicine in age-specific non-small-cell-lung-cancer patients: Integrating biomolecular results into clinical practice-A new approach to improve personalized translational research.

Objectives: Non-small-cell-lung-cancer (NSCLC) in young adults (≤45 years-old) accounts for a very small proportion, as this disease usually occurs in people at older age. The youthful NSCLC may constitute an entity with different clinical-pathologic characteristics, having predominance of adenocarcinoma histology and affecting mostly non-smoker subjects. However, without specific guidelines, it is currently considered, both clinically and biologically, as the same disease of the older counterpart, although differences have been documented.

Retrospective study testing next generation sequencing of selected cancer-associated genes in resected prostate cancer.

Purpose: Prostate cancer (PCa) has a highly heterogeneous outcome. Beyond Gleason Score, Prostate Serum Antigen and tumor stage, nowadays there are no biological prognostic factors to discriminate between indolent and aggressive tumors.The most common known genomic alterations are the TMPRSS-ETS translocation and mutations in the PI3K, MAPK pathways and in p53, RB and c-MYC genes.

Targeted next-generation sequencing of cancer genes in advanced stage malignant pleural mesothelioma: a retrospective study.

Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare malignant disease, and the understanding of molecular pathogenesis has lagged behind other malignancies.

Methods: A series of 123 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples with clinical annotations were retrospectively tested with a commercial library kit (Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v.2, Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY) to investigate 50 genes plus other two, BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP-1) and neurofibromatosis-2 (NF2), frequently altered in MPM.

ATF2 contributes to cisplatin resistance in non-small cell lung cancer and celastrol induces cisplatin resensitization through inhibition of JNK/ATF2 pathway.

ATF2 is a transcription factor involved in stress and DNA damage. A correlation between ATF2 JNK-mediated activation and resistance to damaging agents has already been reported. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether ATF2 may have a role in acquired resistance to cisplatin in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).