The PDGF/PDGFR pathway as a drug target
Publication date: Available online 15 November 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Natalia Papadopoulos, Johan Lennartsson Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGF) promotes cell proliferation, survival and migration, primarily of cells of mesenchymal origin. Dysfunction of PDGF signaling has been observed in a wide array of pathological conditions, such as cancer, fibrosis, neurological conditions and atherosclerosis. Reported abnormalities of the PDGF pathway include overexpression or amplification of PDGF receptors (PDGFRs), gain of function point mutations or activating chromosomal translocations. Cur...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - November 17, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Laser microdissection: A powerful tool for genomics at cell level
Publication date: Available online 14 November 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Claudia Bevilacqua, Bertrand Ducos Laser microdissection (LM) has become widely democratized over the last fifteen years. Instruments have evolved to offer more powerful and efficient lasers as well as new options for sample collection and preparation. Technological evolutions have also focused on the post-microdissection analysis capabilities, opening up investigations in all disciplines of experimental and clinical biology, thanks to the advent of new high-throughput methods of genome analysis, including RNAseq and pro...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - November 15, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Extracellular vesicles: Novel mediator for cell to cell communications in liver pathogenesis
Publication date: Available online 11 November 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Pradip B. Devhare, Ratna B. Ray Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane derived nanometer-sized vesicles. EVs are released by normal, diseased, and transformed cells in vitro and in vivo, and carry lipids, proteins, mRNAs, non-coding RNAs, and even DNA out of cells. Transferring biological information via EVs to neighboring cells and inter-cellular communication not only maintain physiological functions, but also involve in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this review is to discuss t...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - November 11, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion of ( −)-epicatechin: A review of recent findings
Publication date: Available online 9 November 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Gina Borges, Javier I. Ottaviani, Justin J.J. van der Hooft, Hagen Schroeter, Alan Crozier This paper reviews pioneering human studies, their limitations and recent investigations on the absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion (aka bioavailability) of (–)-epicatechin. Progress has been made possible by improvements in mass spectrometric detection when coupled to high performance liquid chromatography and through the increasing availability of authentic reference compounds of in vivo metabolites of (–)-e...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - November 10, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Mechanisms of dietary flavonoid action in neuronal function and neuroinflammation
Publication date: Available online 9 November 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Baptiste N. Jaeger, Sarah L. Parylak, Fred H. Gage Flavonoids are a class of plant-derived dietary polyphenols that have attracted attention for their pro-cognitive and anti-inflammatory effects. The diversity of flavonoids and their extensive in vivo metabolism suggest that a variety of cellular targets in the brain are likely to be impacted by flavonoid consumption. Initially characterized as antioxidants, flavonoids are now believed to act directly on neurons and glia via the interaction with major signal transductio...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - November 10, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
PDGF-C and PDGF-D in ocular diseases
Publication date: Available online 27 October 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Anil Kumar, Xuri Li PDGFs and their receptors are critical regulators of numerous tissues and organs, including the eye. Extensive studies have shown that PDGFs and their receptors play critical roles in many ocular neovascular diseases, such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, and proliferative vitreoretinopathy. In addition, PDGFs and PDGFRs are also important players in ocular diseases involving the degeneration of retinal neuronal and vascular cells, such as glaucoma and retini...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - October 28, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Platelet-derived growth factor-C and -D in the cardiovascular system and diseases
Publication date: Available online 13 October 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Chunsik Lee, Xuri Li The cardiovascular system is among the first organs formed during development and is pivotal for the formation and function of the rest of the organs and tissues. Therefore, the function and homeostasis of the cardiovascular system are finely regulated by many important molecules. Extensive studies have shown that platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors are critical regulators of the cardiovascular system. Even though PDGF-C and PDGF-D are relatively new members of the PDGF family,...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - October 13, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
FFA4 (GPR120) as a fatty acid sensor involved in appetite control, insulin sensitivity and inflammation regulation
Publication date: Available online 12 October 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Dong-Soon Im Unsaturated long-chain fatty acids have been suggested to be beneficial in the context of cardiovascular disorders based in epidemiologic studies conducted in Greenland and Mediterranean. DHA and EPA are omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that are plentiful in fish oil, and oleic acid is an omega-9 monounsaturated fatty acid, rich in olive oil. Dietary intake of these unsaturated long-chain fatty acids have been associated with insulin sensitivity and weight loss, which contrasts with the impairment of insuli...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - October 12, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
PDGFs and their receptors in vascular stem/progenitor cells: Functions and therapeutic potential in retinal vasculopathy
Publication date: Available online 12 October 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Weisi Lu, Xuri Li Vascular stem/progenitor cells (VSCs) include endothelial progenitor cells, smooth muscle progenitor cells, pericytes, and mesenchymal stem cells. VSCs can produce functional and mature vascular cells required to build blood vessels. VSCs therefore play critical roles in vascular repair and regeneration, particularly, in various retinal vasculopathies, in which vascular defects are a devastating pathology. The platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors (PDGFRs) are important regulators o...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - October 12, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Emerging role of extracellular vesicles in musculoskeletal diseases
Publication date: Available online 10 October 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Cameron Murphy, Joseph Withrow, Monte Hunter, Yutao Liu, Yao Liang Tang, Sadanand Fulzele, Mark W. Hamrick Research into the biology of extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles, has expanded significantly with advances in EV isolation techniques, a better understanding of the surface markers that characterize exosomes and microvesicles, and greater information derived from –omics approaches on the proteins, lipids, mRNAs, and microRNAs (miRNAs) transported by EVs. We have recently discover...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - October 11, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Microfluidic single-cell technology in immunology and antibody screening
We describe current limitations and provide an outlook on important future applications. (Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine)
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - September 24, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Single cell epigenome sequencing technologies
Publication date: Available online 21 September 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Lu Wen, Fuchou Tang Epigenetic regulation plays crucial roles in the development and disease processes. Since different cell types with distinct epigenetic characteristics are always intermingled together in the tissues or organs, the single cell analysis provides a universal resolution for dissecting their intrinsic complexities. In this review, we discuss recent advances of developing single cell epigenome sequencing techniques for profiling DNA modifications (5mC, 5hmC, 5fC and 5caC), chromatin accessibility, histone...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - September 22, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Single cell analysis of normal and leukemic hematopoiesis
Publication date: Available online 8 September 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Benjamin J. Povinelli, Alba Rodriguez-Meira, Adam J. Mead The hematopoietic system is well established as a paradigm for the study of cellular hierarchies, their disruption in disease and therapeutic use in regenerative medicine. Traditional approaches to study hematopoiesis involve purification of cell populations based on a small number of surface markers. However, such population-based analysis obscures underlying heterogeneity contained within any phenotypically defined cell population. This heterogeneity can only b...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - September 8, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Vegetable-derived bioactive nitrate and cardiovascular health
Publication date: Available online 7 September 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Catherine P. Bondonno, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Alex H. Liu, Nicola P. Bondonno, Natalie C. Ward, Kevin D. Croft, Jonathan M. Hodgson Vegetable derived nitrate is now recognised as an important bioactive phytochemical with cardioprotective properties. Nitrate, through the recently described enterosalivary nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway, increases NO, a molecule pivotal for cardiovascular health. Clinical trials have observed that dietary nitrate has similar effects to NO when supplied exogenously. These ef...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - September 7, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
New pro-resolving n-3 mediators bridge resolution of infectious inflammation to tissue regeneration
Publication date: Available online 1 September 2017 Source:Molecular Aspects of Medicine Author(s): Charles N. Serhan, Nan Chiang, Jesmond Dalli While protective, the acute inflammatory response when uncontrolled can lead to further tissue damage and chronic inflammation that is now widely recognized to play important roles in many commonly occurring diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic syndrome, and many other diseases of significant public health concern. The ideal response to initial challenges of the host is complete resolution of the acute inflammatory response, which is...
Source: Molecular Aspects of Medicine - September 2, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
