Pro-biomics: Omics Technologies To Unravel the Role of Probiotics in Health and Disease.

The comprehensive characterization of probiotic action has flourished during the past few decades, alongside the evolution of high-throughput, multiomics platforms. The integration of these platforms into probiotic animal and human studies has provided valuable insights into the holistic effects of probiotic supplementation on intestinal and extraintestinal diseases. Indeed, these methodologies have informed about global molecular changes induced in the host and residing commensals at multiple levels, providing a bulk of metagenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data.

Assessment of the Immunomodulatory Properties of the Probiotic Strain K5 in vitro and In Vivo.

K5 is a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strain that has been isolated from dairy products. Previous studies have established its probiotic potential in a series of in vitro tests, including molecular characterization, safety profiling, and tolerability of the gastrointestinal tract conditions. To characterize its beneficial actions on the host, we have shown previously that K5 adheres to Caco-2 cells and exerts anti-proliferative effects through the induction of apoptosis.

Increased FLYWCH1 Expression is Negatively Correlated with Wnt/β-catenin Target Gene Expression in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a heterogeneous clonal malignancy of hematopoietic progenitor cells. The Wnt pathway and its downstream targets are tightly regulated by β-catenin. We recently discovered a new protein, FLYWCH1, which can directly bind nuclear β-catenin.

Application of A Novel Potential Probiotic Strain Isolated from Kefir Grains in the Production of Feta-Type Cheese.

In the present study 38 lactic acid bacteria strains were isolated from kefir grains and were monitored regarding probiotic properties in a series of established in vitro tests, including resistance to low pH, resistance to pepsin and pancreatin, and tolerance to bile salts, as well as susceptibility against common antibiotics. Among them, the strain SP3 displayed potential probiotic properties. Multiplex PCR analysis indicated that the novel strain belongs to the paracasei species.

Calpain system protein expression and activity in ovarian cancer.

Purpose: Expression of members of the calpain system are associated with clinical outcome of patients with, amongst others, breast and ovarian cancers, with calpain-2 expression in ovarian cancer being implicated in chemo-resistance and survival. This study aimed, using a large patient cohort and in vitro models, to verify its importance and further investigate the role in ovarian cancer chemoresponse.

Methods: Calpain-1, calpain-2, calpain-4 and calpastatin expression were evaluated in primary ovarian carcinomas (n = 575) by immunohistochemistry.