Restoring cellular copper homeostasis in Alzheimer disease: a novel peptide shuttle is internalized by an ATP-dependent endocytosis pathway involving Rab5- and Rab14-endosomes.

CPPs, or Cell-Penetrating Peptides, offer invaluable utility in disease treatment due to their ability to transport various therapeutic molecules across cellular membranes. Their unique characteristics, such as biocompatibility and low immunogenicity, make them ideal candidates for delivering drugs, genes, or imaging agents directly into cells. This targeted delivery enhances treatment efficacy while minimizing systemic side effects.

Characterization of the Zebrafish () Mutant: A New Model of Elastinopathy Leading to Heart Valve Defects.

Elastic fibers are extracellular macromolecules that provide resilience and elastic recoil to elastic tissues and organs in vertebrates. They are composed of an elastin core surrounded by a mantle of fibrillin-rich microfibrils and are essentially produced during a relatively short period around birth in mammals. Thus, elastic fibers have to resist many physical, chemical, and enzymatic constraints occurring throughout their lives, and their high stability can be attributed to the elastin protein.

Physiological Impact of a Synthetic Elastic Protein in Arterial Diseases Related to Alterations of Elastic Fibers: Effect on the Aorta of Elastin-Haploinsufficient Male and Female Mice.

Elastic fibers, made of elastin (90%) and fibrillin-rich microfibrils (10%), are the key extracellular components, which endow the arteries with elasticity. The alteration of elastic fibers leads to cardiovascular dysfunctions, as observed in elastin haploinsufficiency in mice () or humans (supravalvular aortic stenosis or Williams-Beuren syndrome). In and mice, we evaluated (arteriography, histology, qPCR, Western blots and cell cultures) the beneficial impact of treatment with a synthetic elastic protein (SEP), mimicking several domains of tropoelastin, the precursor of elastin, including hydrophobic elasticity-related domains and binding sites for elastin receptors.

Quantification of cell contractile behavior based on non-destructive macroscopic measurement of tension forces on bioprinted hydrogel.

Contraction assay based on surface measurement have been widely used to evaluate cell contractility in 3D models. This method is straightforward and requires no specific equipment, but it does not provide quantitative data about contraction forces generated by cells. We expanded this method with a new biomechanical model, based on the work-energy theorem, to provide non-destructive longitudinal monitoring of contraction forces generated by cells in 3D.

MiR-30a-5p Alters Epidermal Terminal Differentiation during Aging by Regulating BNIP3L/NIX-Dependent Mitophagy.

Chronological aging is characterized by an alteration in the genes' regulatory network. In human skin, epidermal keratinocytes fail to differentiate properly with aging, leading to the weakening of the epidermal function. MiR-30a is particularly overexpressed with epidermal aging, but the downstream molecular mechanisms are still uncovered.

Zebrafish as a Model to Study Vascular Elastic Fibers and Associated Pathologies.

Many extensible tissues such as skin, lungs, and blood vessels require elasticity to function properly. The recoil of elastic energy stored during a stretching phase is provided by elastic fibers, which are mostly composed of elastin and fibrillin-rich microfibrils. In arteries, the lack of elastic fibers leads to a weakening of the vessel wall with an increased risk to develop cardiovascular defects such as stenosis, aneurysms, and dissections.

Development of thymic tumor in [LSL:Kras; Pdx1-CRE] mice, an adverse effect associated with accelerated pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Pancreatic Ductal AdenoCarcinoma (PDAC) represents about 90% of pancreatic cancers. It is one of the most aggressive cancer, with a 5-year survival rate below 10% due to late diagnosis and poor therapeutic efficiency. This bad prognosis thus encourages intense research in order to better understand PDAC pathogenesis and molecular basis leading to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies.

Loss of Tenascin-X expression during tumor progression: A new pan-cancer marker.

Cancer is a systemic disease involving multiple components produced from both tumor cells themselves and surrounding stromal cells. The pro- or anti-tumoral role of the stroma is still under debate. Indeed, it has long been considered the main physical barrier to the diffusion of chemotherapy by its dense and fibrous nature and its poor vascularization.

Advanced Characterization of Imiquimod-Induced Psoriasis-Like Mouse Model.

Many autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis lead to the alteration of skin components which generally manifests as unwanted topical symptoms. One of the most widely approved psoriasis-like animal models is the imiquimod (IMQ)-induced mouse model. This representation mimics various aspects of the complex cutaneous pathology and could be appropriate for testing topical treatment options.

BMP-1 disrupts cell adhesion and enhances TGF-β activation through cleavage of the matricellular protein thrombospondin-1.

Bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP-1) is an important metalloproteinase that synchronizes growth factor activation with extracellular matrix assembly during morphogenesis and tissue repair. The mechanisms by which BMP-1 exerts these effects are highly context dependent. Because BMP-1 overexpression induces marked phenotypic changes in two human cell lines (HT1080 and 293-EBNA cells), we investigated how BMP-1 simultaneously affects cell-matrix interactions and growth factor activity in these cells.

Complex regulation of two target genes encoding SPX-MFS proteins by rice miR827 in response to phosphate starvation.

Here we report on the characterization of rice osa-miR827 and its two target genes, OsSPX-MFS1 and OsSPX-MFS2, which encode SPX-MFS proteins predicted to be implicated in phosphate (Pi) sensing or transport. We first show by Northern blot analysis that osa-miR827 is strongly induced by Pi starvation in both shoots and roots. Hybridization of osa-miR827 in situ confirms its strong induction by Pi starvation, with signals concentrated in mesophyll, epidermis and ground tissues of roots.