Front Med (Lausanne)
January 2025
Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare neurological inflammatory disease of paraneoplastic, parainfectious or idiopathic origin. It is manifested by the occurrence of opsoclonus, myoclonus, ataxia, as well as behavioral and sleep disorders. The incidence is estimated at 1/5,000,000 people.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aldehyde dehydrogenase class 1 (ALDH1) is an enzyme that is ubiquitously distributed in adult tissues and may serve as a prognostic marker in various cancer types. In blood, 99% of ALDH1 is found in erythrocytes; although, it was also demonstrated that leukocytes and platelets exhibit ALDH activity. No ALDH activity was detected in plasma, even when employing the highly sensitive fluorometric method with 7-methoxy-1-naphthaldehyde as a substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo donor-acceptor dyes with an -phenylene-linked carbazole electron donor and a benzothiazole-fused boron heterocyclic acceptor were designed, synthesized, and spectroscopically investigated. Due to the steric effects of boron heterocyclic units, the dyes demonstrate different conformations in the crystalline state. The presence of numerous hydrogen-bonding intermolecular interactions and the very weak π-π stacking in the molecular packing results in intense solid-state emission with photoluminescence quantum yields of 40 and 18% for crystals and 50 and 42% for host-based light-emitting layers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtherosclerosis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western countries. Mounting evidence points to the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Recently, it has been shown that mitochondrial hydrogen sulfide (HS) can complement the bioenergetic role of Krebs cycle leading to improved mitochondrial function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays were widely deployed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for population-scale testing. High-throughput molecular diagnostic laboratories required a high degree of process automation to cope with huge testing demands, fast turnaround times, and quality requirements. However, process developers and optimizers often neglected the critical step of preparing a PCR Master Mix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolic diseases that include obesity and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) are a rapidly growing worldwide public health problem. The pathogenesis of MAFLD includes abnormally increased lipogenesis, chronic inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mounting evidence suggests that hydrogen sulfide (HS) is an important player in the liver, regulating lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Chronic obstructive lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD, appear to have a more extensive impact on overall functioning than previously believed. The latest data from clinical trials suggests a potential link between cognitive deterioration and chronic obstructive inflammatory lung disease. This raises the question of whether these diseases affect cognitive functions and whether any relevant biomarker may be identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Flow cytometry immunophenotyping is a common laboratory technique for evaluating lymphocyte subpopulations. Its result remains an important diagnostic tool in various medical fields. Cytometric tests are performed in many laboratories, making the comparability between different devices using the same method an important aspect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: A coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak led to a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 not only caused acute symptoms during the severe phase of the disease, but also induced long-term side effects on the functioning of many organs and systems. Symptoms that were associated with the disease and present at least 3 months after recovery were named long COVID.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbon nanodots (CNDs) produced in pure water by the ablation of graphite with a nanosecond laser pulse exhibit weak photoluminescence. A small addition of polyethyleneimine (PEI) to the aqueous suspension of CNDs causes a significant increase in emissions. This paper presents experimental and theoretical studies of the emission properties of CND/PEI systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFour donor-acceptor boron difluoride complexes based on the carbazole electron donor and the [1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinino[3,4-a][1,8]naphthyridine acceptor were designed, synthesized, and systematically spectroscopically investigated in solutions, in dye-doped polymer films, and in the solid states. The dyes exhibit an intense blue to red solid-state emission with photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 59 % in pure dye samples and 86 % in poly(methyl methacrylate) films. All boron complexes show aggregation-induced emission and reversible mechanofluorochromism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFeT is a complex of Fe, ferricyanide and tartrate, similar in structure to Prussian Blue. Its synthesis was planned to produce a potential antiproliferative drug. Dynamic light scattering was applied to study nanostructures formed by FeT complexes, while their biological activity was tested following changes in cell proliferation using cultured T24 human bladder cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBladder cancer is a common malignancy associated with high recurrence rates and potential progression to invasive forms. Sorafenib, a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown promise in anti-cancer therapy, but its cytotoxicity to normal cells and aggregation in solution limits its clinical application. To address these challenges, we investigated the formation of supramolecular aggregates of sorafenib with Congo red (CR), a bis-azo dye known for its supramolecular interaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlatelets are strongly associated with cardiovascular events due to their role in thrombotic processes. Reticulated platelets have higher prothrombotic potential. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of immature platelet fraction (IPF) in predicting long-term clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial gene regulatory networks orchestrate responses to environmental challenges. Horizontal gene transfer can bring in genes with regulatory potential, such as new transcription factors (TFs), and this can disrupt existing networks. Serious regulatory perturbations may even result in cell death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Antiplatelet therapy is the cornerstone of treatment for patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Some patients may not respond to such therapy adequately, which is associated with a greater risk of ischemic events. Reticulated platelets are the youngest, largest, and most active platelet subtype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis relies on sputum examination, a challenge in sputum-scarce patients. Alternative non-invasive sampling methods such as face mask sampling (FMS) have been proposed.
Objective: To evaluate the value of FMS for PTB diagnosis by assessing its agreement with sputum samples processed by GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Ultra)(Xpert) testing, and describe FMS sensitivity and specificity.
Recent advances in immuno-oncology have opened up new and impressive treatment options for cancer. Notwithstanding, overcoming the limitations of the current FDA-approved therapies with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that block the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway continues to lead to the testing of multiple approaches and optimizations. Recently, a series of macrocyclic peptides have been developed that exhibit binding strengths to PD-L1 ranging from sub-micromolar to micromolar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work, we present an innovative, high-throughput rotary wet-spinning biofabrication method for manufacturing cellularized constructs composed of highly-aligned hydrogel fibers. The platform is supported by an innovative microfluidic printing head (MPH) bearing a crosslinking bath microtank with a co-axial nozzle placed at the bottom of it for the immediate gelation of extruded core/shell fibers. After a thorough characterization and optimization of the new MPH and the fiber deposition parameters, we demonstrate the suitability of the proposed system for theengineering of functional myo-substitutes.
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