RESUMO
The cell wall (CW) of fungi exhibits a complex structure and a characteristic chemical composition consisting almost entirely of interacting crystalline and amorphous polysaccharides. These are synthesized by a number of sugar polymerases and depolymerases encoded by a high proportion of the fungal genome (for instance, 20% in Saccharomyces cerevisiae). These enzymes act in an exquisitely coordinated process to assemble the tridimensional and the functional structure of the wall. Apart from playing a critical role in morphogenesis, cell protection, viability and pathogenesis, the CW represents a potential target for antifungals as most of its constituents do not exist in humans. Chitin, ß-glucans and cellulose are the most frequent crystalline polymers found in the fungal CW. The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) is critical for CW elaboration. Also known as the Leloir pathway, this pathway ends with the formation of UDP-N-GlcNAc after four enzymatic steps that start with fructose-6-phosphate and L-glutamine in a short deviation of glycolysis. This activated aminosugar is used for the synthesis of a large variety of biomacromolecules in a vast number of organisms including bacteria, fungi, insects, crustaceans and mammalian cells. The first reaction of the HBP is catalyzed by GlcN-6-P synthase (L-glutamine:D-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase; EC 2.6.1.16), a critical enzyme that has been considered as a potential target for antifungals. The enzyme regulates the amount of cell UDP-N-GlcNAc and in eukaryotes is feedback inhibited by the activated aminosugar and other factors. The native and recombinant forms of GlcN-6-P synthase has been purified and characterized from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and demonstrated its critical role in CW remodeling and morphogenesis after exposure of some fungi to agents that stress the cell surface by interacting with wall polymers. This review deals with some of the cell compensatory responses of fungi to wall damage induced by Congo Red and Calcofluor White.
Assuntos
Sporothrix , beta-Glucanas , Animais , Antifúngicos , Benzenossulfonatos , Parede Celular/metabolismo , Celulose , Quitina , Vermelho Congo , Glutamina , Glutamina-Frutose-6-Fosfato Transaminase (Isomerizante)/genética , Glutamina-Frutose-6-Fosfato Transaminase (Isomerizante)/metabolismo , Hexosaminas/análise , Hexosaminas/metabolismo , Humanos , Mamíferos/metabolismo , Polímeros/análise , Sporothrix/metabolismo , Açúcares , Difosfato de Uridina , beta-Glucanas/análiseRESUMO
Non-coding RNAs are involved with maintenance and regulation of physiological mechanisms and are involved in pathological processes, such as cancer. Among the small ncRNAs, miRNAs are the most explored in tumorigenesis, metastasis development, and resistance to chemotherapy. These small molecules of ~ 22 nucleotides are modulated during early renal development, involved in the regulation of gene expression and Wilms' tumor progression. Wilms' tumors are embryonic tumors with few mutations and complex epigenetic dysregulation. In recent years, the small ncRNAs have been explored as potentially related both in physiological development and in the tumorigenesis of several types of cancer. Besides, genes regulated by miRNAs are related to biological pathways as PI3K, Wnt, TGF-ß, and Hippo signaling pathways, among others, which may be involved with the underlying mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy, and in this way, it has emerged as potential targets for cancer therapies, including for Wilms' tumors.
Assuntos
Biomarcadores Tumorais , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , RNA não Traduzido/genética , Tumor de Wilms/etiologia , Suscetibilidade a Doenças , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Humanos , MicroRNAs/genética , Interferência de RNA , RNA Mensageiro/genética , Transdução de Sinais , Tumor de Wilms/diagnóstico , Tumor de Wilms/metabolismo , Tumor de Wilms/terapiaRESUMO
Myeloproliferative neoplasms polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythaemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis constitute a group of haematological diseases. The comprehensive assessment of signaling pathway activation in blood cells may aid the understanding of MPN pathophysiology. Thus, levels of post-translational protein modifications and total protein expression were determined in MPN patients and control leukocytes by using reverse-phase protein arrays (RPPA). Compared to control samples, p-SRC, p-CTNNB1, c-MYC, MCL-1, p-MDM2, BAX and CCNB1 showed higher expression in PV samples than controls. P-JAK2/JAK2 and pro-apoptotic BIM showed differential expression between JAK2V617F-positive and -negative ET patients. Apoptosis, cancer and PI3K/AKT pathways proteins showed differential expression among the studied groups. For most of the proteins analyzed using Western-Blot and RPPA, RPPA showed higher sensitivity to detect subtle differences. Taken together, our data indicate deregulated protein expression in MPN patients compared to controls. Thus, RPPA may be a useful method for broad proteome analysis in MPN patients´ leukocytes.
Assuntos
Transtornos Mieloproliferativos , Neoplasias , Humanos , Janus Quinase 2/genética , Mutação , Transtornos Mieloproliferativos/diagnóstico , Transtornos Mieloproliferativos/genética , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinases , Análise Serial de Proteínas , ProteômicaRESUMO
Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes temporary disabilities or permanent effects including neuropathic pain and spastiscity. The damage often results from mechanical trauma, which in turn triggers the neuroinflammatory process. Neuroinflammation plays essential roles in the structural, biochemical, and cellular changes that take place in the spinal cord after the injury. Indeed, SCI activates many different signaling pathways that coordinate the resulting cellular responses. While neuroinflammation serves as a physiological reaction to harmful stimuli, it is clear that long-lasting inflammatory response leads to aggravation of the neurodegenerative processes, becoming detrimental to recovery post-injury. In this context, we present some possible therapeutic targets in these activated signaling pathways and provide new perspectives for SCI treatment based on recently developed technologies, including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based methods (including prime editing), optogenetics, and designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs). We critically analyze the recent advances in the deployment of these methods focusing on the control of the initial neuroinflammatory response. We then propose alternatives and provide new avenues for SCI treatment based on these emerging technologies.
Assuntos
Sistemas CRISPR-Cas/genética , Drogas Desenhadas/uso terapêutico , Edição de Genes , Optogenética , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/terapia , Animais , Humanos , Pesquisa Translacional BiomédicaRESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The liver is an organ susceptible to a multitude of injuries that causes liver damage, like steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), presents several protective effects on the liver, reducing hepatic steatosis, hepatocyte ballooning, fibrogenesis, preventing lipid peroxidation, among other effects. Due to its high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid and phenolic compounds, such as hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein, EVOO is able to participate in the activation of different signaling pathways in the hepatocytes involved in the prevention of inflammation, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and insulin resistance, allowing the prevention or resolution of liver damage. The aim of this work is to offer an update of the molecular effects of EVOO in the liver and its protective properties to prevent the establishment of liver damage through the regulation of different cell-signaling pathways. METHODS: Searches that considered the effects of EVOO in in vivo and in vitro models, whith emphasis in the molecular mechanism of liver tissue damage and prevention and/or treatment of steatosis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. CONCLUSION: The most relevant molecular effects of EVOO involved in the prevention or resolution of liver damage are: (i) Activation of the nuclear transcription factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (Nfr2), inducing the cellular antioxidant response; (ii) Inactivation of the nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF- κB), preventing the cellular inflammatory response; and (iii) Inhibition of the PERK pathway, preventing endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy, and lipogenic response.
Assuntos
Gorduras Insaturadas na Dieta/uso terapêutico , Qualidade dos Alimentos , Alimento Funcional , Fígado/metabolismo , Hepatopatia Gordurosa não Alcoólica/prevenção & controle , Azeite de Oliva/uso terapêutico , Animais , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/análise , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/uso terapêutico , Antioxidantes/análise , Antioxidantes/uso terapêutico , Autofagia , Gorduras Insaturadas na Dieta/análise , Gorduras Insaturadas na Dieta/normas , Suplementos Nutricionais , Estresse do Retículo Endoplasmático , Alimento Funcional/análise , Humanos , Lipogênese , Fígado/enzimologia , Fígado/imunologia , Hepatopatia Gordurosa não Alcoólica/dietoterapia , Hepatopatia Gordurosa não Alcoólica/imunologia , Hepatopatia Gordurosa não Alcoólica/metabolismo , Azeite de Oliva/química , Azeite de Oliva/normas , Álcool Feniletílico/análogos & derivados , Álcool Feniletílico/análise , Álcool Feniletílico/uso terapêutico , Transdução de SinaisRESUMO
We present in this article a methodology for designing kinetic models of molecular signaling networks, which was exemplarily applied for modeling one of the Ras/MAPK signaling pathways in the mouse Y1 adrenocortical cell line. The methodology is interdisciplinary, that is, it was developed in a way that both dry and wet lab teams worked together along the whole modeling process.
Assuntos
Proteínas Quinases Ativadas por Mitógeno/metabolismo , Modelos Biológicos , Transdução de Sinais , Proteínas ras/metabolismo , Algoritmos , Animais , Biomarcadores , Linhagem Celular , Biologia Computacional/métodos , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática , Cinética , Camundongos , Fosforilação , Reprodutibilidade dos TestesRESUMO
Tumor cells have developed advantages to acquire hallmarks of cancer like apoptosis resistance, increased proliferation, migration, and invasion through cell signaling pathway misregulation. The sequential activation of genes in a pathway is regulated by miRNAs. Loss or gain of miRNA expression could activate or repress a particular cell axis. It is well known that aberrant miRNA expression is well recognized as an important step in the development of cancer. Individual miRNA expression is reported without considering that miRNAs are grouped in clusters and may have similar functions, such as the case of clusters with anti-oncomiRs (23b~27b~24-1, miR-29a~29b-1, miR-29b-2~29c, miR-99a~125b-2, miR-99b~125a, miR-100~125b-1, miR-199a-2~214, and miR-302s) or oncomiRs activity (miR-1-1~133a-2, miR-1-2~133a-1, miR-133b~206, miR-17~92, miR-106a~363, miR183~96~182, miR-181a-1~181b-1, and miR-181a-2~181b-2), which regulated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K), NOTCH, proteasome-culling rings, and apoptosis cell signaling. In this work we point out the pathways regulated by families of miRNAs grouped in 20 clusters involved in cervical cancer. Reviewing how miRNA families expressed in cluster-regulated cell path signaling will increase the knowledge of cervical cancer progression, providing important information for therapeutic, diagnostic, and prognostic methodology design.