Introduction Bacteria are subject to numerous and occasionally drastic intracellular challenges and extracellular perturbations to which they respond by triggering their defence mechanisms through the expression of stress-responsive genes (1, 2). These …
RopB is a quorum-sensing regulator that binds to the SpeB-inducing peptide (SIP) under acidic conditions. SIP is known to be degraded by the endopeptidase PepO, whose transcription is repressed by the CovR/CovS two-component regulatory system. Both SIP- …
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved regulatory mechanism of post-transcriptional gene expression in eukaryotic cells. NMD plays essential roles in mRNA quality and quantity control and thus safeguards multiple biological processes …
Introduction Population aging in humans is an international concern (Sanderson & Scherbov, 2010). Aging is the driving factor of various disorders such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and metabolic diseases (Booth & Brunet …
Introduction Mitochondria are dynamic organelles whose morphology responds to physiological signals and metabolic stresses by altering the balance between organelle fission and fusion. ATP production by oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is a core …
Introduction Cellular homeostasis requires the correct traffic of lipids from their main source of synthesis, the endoplasmic reticulum, to their final destination in the membrane of the different organelles. In recent years, the importance of lipid …
Staphylococcus aureus causes severe infections such as pneumonia and sepsis depending on the pore-forming toxin Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL). PVL kills and induces inflammation in macrophages and other myeloid cells by interacting with the human cell …
Introduction Postnatal skeletal muscle development is a period of dynamic change as the tissue undergoes extensive remodeling to meet new functional demands. A significant aspect of this process is the regulated alternative splicing of hundreds of genes, …
The IFN system constitutes a powerful antiviral defense machinery. Consequently, effective IFN responses protect against severe COVID-19 and exogenous IFNs inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. However, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) may have …
Results CPC architecture changes over the course of SAN morphogenesis Previously, we have reported that SAN morphogenesis is a dynamic process that involves the recruitment of non-muscle mesenchymal cells which invade and surround the pacemaker myocardium …
Introduction Heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60), also known as chaperonin, is a widely conserved gene found in all living kingdoms (Zeilstra-Ryalls et al, 1991; Gupta, 1995; Bukau & Horwich, 1998; Zhao & Liu, 2017). Chaperonins play a crucial role in …
Introduction Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes from genome instability. Telomeric DNA is bound to the six-protein shelterin complex that protects these ends from being misrecognized as DNA damage …
Introduction Ubiquitination is a highly conserved post-translational modification found across archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes and plays important roles in nearly every cellular process. Protein modification with ubiquitin takes on a multitude of …
Introduction During oogenesis, mammalian oocytes undergo a process of differentiation that determines their quality and thus their developmental potential as early embryos after fertilization. Oocyte differentiation begins with the entry into a growth …
Abstract Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) inactivates a broad range of pathogens. Despite its widespread use over decades, the safety of PVP-I remains controversial. Its extended use in the current SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic urges the need to clarify safety features …
Introduction Mutations in the PRKN (Kitada et al, 1998) and PINK1 (Valente et al, 2004) genes account for most of the recessive early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) cases (Martin et al, 2011). The PRKN gene encodes Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase that …
Introduction The eukaryotic proteome consists of thousands of different proteins. Changes in the developmental, environmental or metabolic conditions can induce a considerable remodeling of the proteome. Even seemingly small changes can have pronounced …
Introduction Since its discovery in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been the cause of the greatest pandemic outbreak in the 21st century. …
Extracellular circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been discussed as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis. As the retina is a part of the CNS, we hypothesize that miRNAs expression levels in the brain, particularly neocortex– …
Introduction Cell division and ciliogenesis alternately use centrioles A proper ciliary function is important for cellular signaling and development in most mammalian cells (Reiter & Leroux, 2017). Dysregulation of these antenna-like microtubule …
