Articles

When human guanylate-binding proteins meet viral infections

Innate immunity is the first line of host defense against viral infection. After invading into the cells, pathogen-associated-molecular-patterns derived from viruses are recognized by pattern recognition recep...

Authors: Rongzhao Zhang, Zhixin Li, Yan-Dong Tang, Chenhe Su and Chunfu Zheng

Intracellular galectins sense cytosolically exposed glycans as danger and mediate cellular responses

Galectins are animal lectins that recognize carbohydrates and play important roles in maintaining cellular homeostasis. Recent studies have indicated that under a variety of challenges, intracellular galectins...

Authors: Ming-Hsiang Hong, I-Chun Weng, Fang-Yen Li, Wei-Han Lin and Fu-Tong Liu

Rheumatoid cachexia: the underappreciated role of myoblast, macrophage and fibroblast interplay in the skeletal muscle niche

Although rheumatoid arthritis affects 1% of the global population, the role of rheumatoid cachexia, which occurs in up to a third of patients, is relatively neglected as research focus, despite its significant...

Authors: T. Ollewagen, K. H. Myburgh, M. van de Vyver and C. Smith

Glutaminase isoforms expression switches microRNA levels and oxidative status in glioblastoma cells

Glutaminase isoenzymes GLS and GLS2 play apparently opposing roles in cancer: GLS acts as an oncoprotein, while GLS2 (GAB isoform) has context specific tumour suppressive activity. Some microRNAs (miRNAs) have...

Authors: Juan de los Santos-Jiménez, José A. Campos-Sandoval, Clara Márquez-Torres, Nieves Urbano-Polo, David Brøndegaard, Mercedes Martín-Rufián, Carolina Lobo, Ana Peñalver, María C. Gómez-García, Janet Martín-Campos, Carolina Cardona, Laura Castilla, Felipe da Costa Souza, Tzuling Cheng, Juan A. Segura, Francisco J. Alonso…

FKBP10 promotes proliferation of glioma cells via activating AKT-CREB-PCNA axis

Although the availability of therapeutic options including temozolomide, radiotherapy and some target agents following neurosurgery, the prognosis of glioma patients remains poor. Thus, there is an urgent nee...

Authors: Hong-Qing Cai, Min-Jie Zhang, Zhi-Jian Cheng, Jing Yu, Qing Yuan, Jin Zhang, Yan Cai, Li-Yan Yang, Yu Zhang, Jia-Jie Hao, Ming-Rong Wang and Jing-Hai Wan

Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric cancer is orchestrated by MRCKβ-mediated Siah2 phosphorylation

Helicobacter pylori-mediated gastric carcinogenesis is initiated by a plethora of signaling events in the infected gastric epithelial cells (GECs). The E3 ubiquitin ligase seven in absentia homolog 2 (Siah2) is i...

Authors: Pragyesh Dixit, Shrikant B. Kokate, Indrajit Poirah, Debashish Chakraborty, Duane T. Smoot, Hassan Ashktorab, Niranjan Rout, Shivaram P. Singh and Asima Bhattacharyya

pH-responsive antibodies for therapeutic applications

Therapeutic antibodies are instrumental in improving the treatment outcome for certain disease conditions. However, to enhance their efficacy and specificity, many efforts are continuously made. One of the app...

Authors: Tomasz Klaus and Sameer Deshmukh

Antivirals blocking entry of enteroviruses and therapeutic potential

Viruses from the genus Enterovirus (EV) of the Picornaviridae family are known to cause diseases such as hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD), respiratory diseases, encephalitis and myocarditis. The capsid of EV is...

Authors: Mohd Ishtiaq Anasir, Faisal Zarif and Chit Laa Poh

Insights to SARS-CoV-2 life cycle, pathophysiology, and rationalized treatments that target COVID-19 clinical complications

Gaining further insights into SARS-CoV-2 routes of infection and the underlying pathobiology of COVID-19 will support the design of rational treatments targeting the life cycle of the virus and/or the adverse ...

Authors: Ioannis P. Trougakos, Kimon Stamatelopoulos, Evangelos Terpos, Ourania E. Tsitsilonis, Evmorfia Aivalioti, Dimitrios Paraskevis, Efstathios Kastritis, George N. Pavlakis and Meletios A. Dimopoulos

l-Carnitine ameliorates congenital myopathy in a tropomyosin 3 de novo mutation transgenic zebrafish

Congenital myopathy (CM) is a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous muscle disorders, characterized by muscle weakness and hypotonia from birth. Currently, no definite treatment exists for CM. A de...

Authors: Po-Jui Hsu, Horng-Dar Wang, Yung-Che Tseng, Shao-Wei Pan, Bonifasius Putera Sampurna, Yuh-Jyh Jong and Chiou-Hwa Yuh

Yulink, predicted from evolutionary analysis, is involved in cardiac function

The comparative evolutionary genomics analysis was used to study the functions of novel Ka/Ks-predicted human exons in a zebrafish model. The Yulink (MIOS, Entrez Gene: 54,468), a conserved gene from zebrafish...

Authors: Ming-Wei Kuo, Hsiu-Hui Tsai, Sheng-Hung Wang, Yi-Yin Chen, Alice L. Yu and John Yu

Advances in sepsis diagnosis and management: a paradigm shift towards nanotechnology

Sepsis, a dysregulated immune response due to life-threatening organ dysfunction, caused by drug-resistant pathogens, is a major global health threat contributing to high disease burden. Clinical outcomes in s...

Authors: Amit Pant, Irene Mackraj and Thirumala Govender

Siglec-E retards atherosclerosis by inhibiting CD36-mediated foam cell formation

The accumulation of lipid-laden macrophages, foam cells, within sub-endothelial intima is a key feature of early atherosclerosis. Siglec-E, a mouse orthologue of human Siglec-9, is a sialic acid binding lectin...

Authors: Yaw-Wen Hsu, Fu-Fei Hsu, Ming-Tsai Chiang, Dong-Lin Tsai, Fu-An Li, Takashi Angata, Paul R. Crocker and Lee-Young Chau

CircNOL10 suppresses breast cancer progression by sponging miR-767-5p to regulate SOCS2/JAK/STAT signaling

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have caught increasing attentions and interests for their important involvement in cancer initiation and progression. This study aims to investigate the biological functions of circNOL...

Authors: Fang Wang, Xiaochun Wang, Jingruo Li, Pengwei Lv, Mingli Han, Lin Li, Zhuo Chen, Lingling Dong, Nan Wang and Yuanting Gu

Premature senescence of placental decidua cells as a possible cause of miscarriage produced by mycophenolic acid

Successful pregnancy is supported by a healthy maternal–fetal interface (i.e., the decidual tissues) which holds the conceptus and safeguards it against stressors from the beginning of pregnancy. Any disturban...

Authors: Paz de la Torre, Miguel Fernández-de la Torre and Ana I. Flores

O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase modulates cisplatin-induced DNA double-strand breaks by targeting the homologous recombination pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The homologous recombination (HR) pathway is involved in DNA damage response (DDR), which is crucial to cancer cell survival after treatment with DNA damage agents. O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT...

Authors: Shang-Hung Chen, Wen-Tsung Huang, Wan-Chen Kao, Sheng-Yen Hsiao, Hsin-Yi Pan, Chin-Wen Fang, Yow-Ling Shiue, Chia-Lin Chou and Chien-Feng Li

Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling revealed reprogramming of carbon metabolism in acetate-grown human pathogen Candida glabrata

Emergence of Candida glabrata, which causes potential life-threatening invasive candidiasis, has been widely associated with high morbidity and mortality. In order to cause disease in vivo, a robust and highly ef...

Authors: Shu Yih Chew, Alistair J. P. Brown, Benjamin Yii Chung Lau, Yoke Kqueen Cheah, Kok Lian Ho, Doblin Sandai, Hassan Yahaya and Leslie Thian Lung Than

Coronavirus vaccine development: from SARS and MERS to COVID-19

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new type of coronavirus that causes the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has been the most challenging pandemic in this century. Cons...

Authors: Yen-Der Li, Wei-Yu Chi, Jun-Han Su, Louise Ferrall, Chien-Fu Hung and T.-C. Wu

KLHL17/Actinfilin, a brain-specific gene associated with infantile spasms and autism, regulates dendritic spine enlargement

Dendritic spines, the actin-rich protrusions emerging from dendrites, are the subcellular locations of excitatory synapses in the mammalian brain. Many actin-regulating molecules modulate dendritic spine morph...

Authors: Hsiao-Tang Hu, Tzyy-Nan Huang and Yi-Ping Hsueh

Association study of rs1801282 PPARG gene polymorphism and immune cells and cytokine levels in a Spanish pregnant women cohort and their offspring

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG) belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily functioning as transcription factors to regulate cellular differentiation, development and metabolism. Moreover...

Authors: Maria García-Ricobaraza, Mercedes García-Bermúdez, Francisco J. Torres-Espinola, M. Teresa Segura Moreno, Mathieu N. Bleyere, Ligia E. Díaz-Prieto, Esther Nova, Ascensión Marcos and Cristina Campoy

MicroRNA-146a suppresses tumor malignancy via targeting vimentin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells with lower fibronectin membrane assembly

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is widely prevalent in Taiwan, and high metastatic spread of ESCC leads to poor survival rate. Fibronectin (FN) assembly on the cell membrane may induce ESCC mobility....

Authors: Hong-Yi Chang, Chi-Hua Lee, Yi-Syuan Li, Jing-Tong Huang, Sheng-Hui Lan, Yi-Fang Wang, Wu-Wei Lai, Yi-Ching Wang, Yan-Ju Lin, Hsiao-Sheng Liu and Hung-Chi Cheng

Correction to: EpCAM aptamer mediated cancer cell specific delivery of EpCAM siRNA using polymeric nanocomplex

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Nithya Subramanian, Jagat R. Kanwar, Prasanna kumar Athalya, Narayanan Janakiraman, Vikas Khetan, Rupinder K. Kanwar, Sailaja Eluchuri and Subramanian Krishnakumar

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor gene therapy as a novel therapeutics for stroke in a mouse model

Global ischemia is the resulting effect of a cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA). Presently there is no effective treatment to address neurological deficits in patients who survived a CPA. Granulocyte-colony stimulat...

Authors: Janet M. Menzie-Suderam, Jigar Modi, Hongyaun Xu, Andrew Bent, Paula Trujillo, Kristen Medley, Eugenia Jimenez, Jessica Shen, Michael Marshall, Rui Tao, Howard Prentice and Jang-Yen Wu

SUMO proteins in the cardiovascular system: friend or foe?

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are crucial for the adaptation of various signalling pathways to ensure cellular homeostasis and proper adaptation to stress. PTM is a covalent addition of a small chemi...

Authors: Prithviraj Manohar Vijaya Shetty, Ashraf Yusuf Rangrez and Norbert Frey

Autophagosome formation in relation to the endoplasmic reticulum

Autophagy is a process in which a myriad membrane structures called autophagosomes are formed de novo in a single cell, which deliver the engulfed substrates into lysosomes for degradation. The size of the aut...

Authors: Yo-hei Yamamoto and Takeshi Noda

Endothelin receptor antagonist improves donor lung function in an ex vivo perfusion system

A lung transplant is the last resort treatment for many patients with advanced lung disease. The majority of donated lungs come from donors following brain death (BD). The endothelin axis is upregulated in the...

Authors: K. Walweel, K. Skeggs, A. C. Boon, L. E. See Hoe, M. Bouquet, N. G. Obonyo, S. E. Pedersen, S. D. Diab, M. R. Passmore, K. Hyslop, E. S. Wood, J. Reid, S. M. Colombo, N. J. Bartnikowski, M. A. Wells, D. Black…

The trace aminergic system: a gender-sensitive therapeutic target for IBS?

Due to a lack of specific or sensitive biomarkers, drug discovery advances have been limited for individuals suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While current therapies provide symptomatic relief, i...

Authors: Lesha Pretorius and Carine Smith

Correction to: Molecular networking in the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses: insights from mammalian models and the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Robert J. Huber

Dissecting the conformation of glycans and their interactions with proteins

The use of in silico strategies to develop the structural basis for a rational optimization of glycan-protein interactions remains a great challenge. This problem derives, in part, from the lack of technologie...

Authors: Sheng-Hung Wang, Tsai-Jung Wu, Chien-Wei Lee and John Yu

Copy number variant hotspots in Han Taiwanese population induced pluripotent stem cell lines - lessons from establishing the Taiwan human disease iPSC Consortium Bank

The Taiwan Human Disease iPSC Service Consortium was established to accelerate Taiwan’s growing stem cell research initiatives and provide a platform for researchers interested in utilizing induced pluripotent...

Authors: Ching-Ying Huang, Ling-Hui Li, Wan-Tseng Hsu, Yu-Che Cheng, Martin W. Nicholson, Chun-Lin Liu, Chien-Yu Ting, Hui-Wen Ko, Shih-Han Syu, Cheng-Hao Wen, Zhuge Yan, Hsiang-Po Huang, Hong-Lin Su, Po-Min Chiang, Chia-Ning Shen, Hsin-Fu Chen…

PEDF promotes the repair of bone marrow endothelial cell injury and accelerates hematopoietic reconstruction after bone marrow transplantation

Preconditioning before bone marrow transplantation such as irradiation causes vascular endothelial cells damage and promoting the repair of damaged endothelial cells is beneficial for hematopoietic reconstitut...

Authors: Wen Ju, Wenyi Lu, Lan Ding, Yurong Bao, Fei Hong, Yuting Chen, Hui Gao, Xiaoqi Xu, Guozhang Wang, Weiwei Wang, Xi Zhang, Chunling Fu, Kunming Qi, Zhenyu Li, Kailin Xu, Jianlin Qiao…

Clinically relevant radioresistant rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines: functional, molecular and immune-related characterization

The probability of local tumor control after radiotherapy (RT) remains still miserably poor in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). Thus, understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible of tumor relapse is ess...

Authors: Francesco Petragnano, Ilaria Pietrantoni, Simona Camero, Silvia Codenotti, Luisa Milazzo, Francesca Vulcano, Giampiero Macioce, Ilenia Giordani, Paolo Tini, Sara Cheleschi, Giovanni Luca Gravina, Claudio Festuccia, Alessandra Rossetti, Simona Delle Monache, Alessandra Ordinelli, Carmela Ciccarelli…

Constructing conjugate vaccine against Salmonella Typhimurium using lipid-A free lipopolysaccharide

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium is a nontyphoidal and common foodborne pathogen that causes serious threat to humans. There is no licensed vaccine to prevent the nontyphoid bacterial infection caused by

Authors: Tzu-Wei Chiu, Chi-Jiun Peng, Ming-Cheng Chen, Mei-Hua Hsu, Yi-Hua Liang, Cheng-Hsun Chiu, Jim-Min Fang and Yuan Chuan Lee

The potential role of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in reducing acute respiratory inflammation in community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) reduces both invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and other pneumococcal infections worldwide. We investigated the impact of stepwise implementation of childhood PCV program...

Authors: Ching-Fen Shen, Shih-Min Wang, Hsin Chi, Yi-Chuan Huang, Li-Min Huang, Yhu-Chering Huang, Hsiao-Chuan Lin, Yu-Huai Ho, Chao A. Hsiung and Ching-Chuan Liu

Amino acid-dependent control of mTORC1 signaling: a variety of regulatory modes

The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is an essential regulator of cell growth and metabolism through the modulation of protein and lipid synthesis, lysosome biogenesis, and autophagy. The act...

Authors: Terunao Takahara, Yuna Amemiya, Risa Sugiyama, Masatoshi Maki and Hideki Shibata

cjrABC-senB hinders survival of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli in the bloodstream through triggering complement-mediated killing

Extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) is a common gram-negative organism causing various infections, including urinary tract infections (UTIs), bacteremia, and neonatal meningitis. The cjrABC-senB gene clust...

Authors: Wen-Chun Huang, Yi-Jyun Liao, Masayuki Hashimoto, Kuan-Fu Chen, Chishih Chu, Po-Chuen Hsu, Shuying Wang and Ching-Hao Teng

A synthetic peptide sensitizes multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa to antibiotics for more than two hours and permeabilizes its envelope for twenty hours

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative pathogen that frequently causes life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients. We previously showed that subinhibitory concentrations of short synthetic pepti...

Authors: Iosu Rázquin-Olazarán, Hawraa Shahrour and Guillermo Martínez-de-Tejada

Rat models of human diseases and related phenotypes: a systematic inventory of the causative genes

The laboratory rat has been used for a long time as the model of choice in several biomedical disciplines. Numerous inbred strains have been isolated, displaying a wide range of phenotypes and providing many m...

Authors: Claude Szpirer

An obituary of Dr. Ding-Shinn Chen

Authors:

Precision radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer

Precision medicine is becoming the standard of care in anti-cancer treatment. The personalized precision management of cancer patients highly relies on the improvement of new technology in next generation sequ...

Authors: Wen-Chi Yang, Feng-Ming Hsu and Pan-Chyr Yang

Genomic landscape in acute myeloid leukemia and its implications in risk classification and targeted therapies

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous hematologic malignancy in terms of clinical features, underlying pathogenesis and treatment outcomes. Recent advances in genomic techniques have unraveled the mo...

Authors: Hsin-An Hou and Hwei-Fang Tien

Machine learning-based segmentation of ischemic penumbra by using diffusion tensor metrics in a rat model

Recent trials have shown promise in intra-arterial thrombectomy after the first 6–24 h of stroke onset. Quick and precise identification of the salvageable tissue is essential for successful stroke management....

Authors: Duen-Pang Kuo, Po-Chih Kuo, Yung-Chieh Chen, Yu-Chieh Jill Kao, Ching-Yen Lee, Hsiao-Wen Chung and Cheng-Yu Chen

5-methoxytryptophan: an arsenal against vascular injury and inflammation

5-methoxytryptophan (5-MTP) is an endothelial factor with anti-inflammatory properties. It is synthesized from L-tryptophan via two enzymatic steps: tryptophan hydroxylase-1 (TPH-1) and hydroxyindole O-methylt...

Authors: Kenneth K. Wu, Cheng-Chin Kuo, Shaw-Fang Yet, Chii-Ming Lee and Jun-Yang Liou

Hepatitis C virus vaccine design: focus on the humoral immune response

Despite the recent development of safe and highly effective direct-acting antivirals, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a significant health problem. In 2016, the World Health Organization set out to r...

Authors: Daniel Sepulveda-Crespo, Salvador Resino and Isidoro Martinez

The impact of PD-L1 N-linked glycosylation on cancer therapy and clinical diagnosis

N-linked glycosylation is one of the most abundant posttranslational modifications of membrane-bound proteins in eukaryotes and affects a number of biological activities, including protein biosynthesis, protein.....

Authors: Ying-Nai Wang, Heng-Huan Lee, Jennifer L. Hsu, Dihua Yu and Mien-Chie Hung

Ab locks for improving the selectivity and safety of antibody drugs

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a major targeted therapy for malignancies, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, transplant rejection and chronic inflammatory diseases due to their antigen specificity and...

Authors: Wen-Wei Lin, Yun-Chi Lu, Chih-Hung Chuang and Tian-Lu Cheng

ZNF322A-mediated protein phosphorylation induces autophagosome formation through modulation of IRS1-AKT glucose uptake and HSP-elicited UPR in lung cancer

ZNF322A is an oncogenic transcription factor that belongs to the Cys2His2-type zinc-finger protein family. Accumulating evidence suggests that ZNF322A may contribute to the tumorigenesis of lung cancer, howeve...

Authors: Chantal Hoi Yin Cheung, Chia-Lang Hsu, Tsai-Yu Lin, Wei-Ting Chen, Yi-Ching Wang, Hsuan-Cheng Huang and Hsueh-Fen Juan

Of tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections – a comparative analysis of epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment

Pulmonary diseases due to mycobacteria cause significant morbidity and mortality to human health. In addition to tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), recent epidemiological studies have ...

Authors: Radha Gopalaswamy, Sivakumar Shanmugam, Rajesh Mondal and Selvakumar Subbian

The origin and underlying driving forces of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak

SARS-CoV-2 began spreading in December 2019 and has since become a pandemic that has impacted many aspects of human society. Several issues concerning the origin, time of introduction to humans, evolutionary p...

Authors: Shu-Miaw Chaw, Jui-Hung Tai, Shi-Lun Chen, Chia-Hung Hsieh, Sui-Yuan Chang, Shiou-Hwei Yeh, Wei-Shiung Yang, Pei-Jer Chen and Hurng-Yi Wang

Immunologic aspects of characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the worldwide spread of the infectious disease COVID-19, caused by a new strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as a pandemic. Like in all other infectious...

Authors: Feng-Yee Chang, Hsiang-Cheng Chen, Pei-Jer Chen, Mei-Shang Ho, Shie-Liang Hsieh, Jung-Chung Lin, Fu-Tong Liu and Huey-Kang Sytwu