Association of Vitamin D, Zinc and Selenium Related Genetic Variants With COVID-19 Disease Severity.

COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be an unrelenting health threat for more than a year now. The emerging amount of data indicates that vitamin D, zinc and selenium could be important for clinical presentation of COVID-19. Here, we investigated association of genetic variants related to the altered level and bioavailability of vitamin D, zinc and selenium with clinical severity of COVID-19.

Fast and reliable pre-approach for scanning probe microscopes based on tip-sample capacitance.

Within the last three decades Scanning Probe Microscopy has been developed to a powerful tool for measuring surfaces and their properties on an atomic scale such that users can be found nowadays not only in academia but also in industry. This development is still pushed further by researchers, who continuously exploit new possibilities of this technique, as well as companies that focus mainly on the usability. However, although imaging has become significantly easier, the time required for a safe approach (without unwanted tip-sample contact) can be very time consuming, especially if the microscope is not equipped or suited for the observation of the tip-sample distance with an additional optical microscope.

Expression of mitochondrial fission and fusion regulatory proteins in skeletal muscle during chronic use and disuse.

Introduction: The mitochondrial network within cells is mediated by fission and fusion processes.

Methods: We investigated the expression of the proteins responsible for these events during conditions of altered oxidative capacity.

Results: With chronic contractile activity, the mitochondrial reticulum increased in size, along with concomitant increases in the fusion proteins Opa1 and Mfn2 (by 36% and 53%; P < 0.

The effects of chronic muscle use and disuse on cardiolipin metabolism.

Cardiolipin (CL) is a phospholipid that maintains the integrity of mitochondrial membranes. We previously demonstrated that CL content increases with chronic muscle use, and decreases with denervation-induced disuse. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, we measured the mRNA expression of 1) CL synthesis enzymes cardiolipin synthase (CLS) and CTP:PA-cytidylyltransferase-1 (CDS-1); 2) remodeling enzymes tafazzin and acyl-CoA:lysocardiolipin acyltransferase-1 (ALCAT1); and 3) outer membrane CL enzymes, mitochondrial phospholipase D and phospholipid scramblase 3 (Plscr3), during chronic contractile activity (CCA)-induced mitochondrial biogenesis and denervation.

Adaptive plasticity of autophagic proteins to denervation in aging skeletal muscle.

Aging muscle exhibits a progressive decline in mass and strength, known as sarcopenia, and a decrease in the adaptive response to contractile activity. The molecular mechanisms mediating this reduced plasticity have yet to be elucidated. The purposes of this study were 1) to determine whether denervation-induced muscle disuse would increase the expression of autophagy genes and 2) to examine whether selective autophagy pathways (mitophagy) are altered in aged animals.