Molecular and Cellular Probes

Human Toll-like receptor (TLR) family plays a crucial role in immunity and cancer progression. However, the specific role of human Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) remains obscure. Thus, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and bulk RNA-seq data combined with in vitro studies to evaluate the expression and prognostic value of TLR4 in KIRC. In our study, we observed that TLR4 was over expressed in KIRC tissues compared to normal renal tissues. And the expression of TLR4 was higher in macrophages/monocytes than other cell types...

Fragment Length Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (VFLASP) and Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) are reliable methods for detecting allelic variations resulting from single base changes within the genome. Due to their widespread application, allele variations caused by Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) can be readily detected using allele-specific primers. In the context of the current study, VFLASP was combined with ARMS method as a novel strategy to enhance the efficacy of both techniques...

As one of the earliest discovered lncRNA molecules, lncRNA H19 is usually expressed in large quantities during embryonic development and is involved in cell differentiation and tissue formation. In recent years, the role of lncRNA H19 in tumors has been gradually recognized. Increasing evidence suggests that its aberrant expression is closely related to cancer development. LncRNA H19 as an oncogene not only promotes the growth, proliferation, invasion and metastasis of many tumors, but also develops resistance to treatment, affecting patients' prognosis and survival...

OBJECTIVE: The effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-exos) on serum metabolites and intestinal microbiota in rats after liver trauma were discussed. METHODS: Adult Wistar Albino rats were assigned into control, model (liver trauma), MSCs, and MSC-exos groups (n = 6). The study examined changes in the inflammatory environment in liver tissues were analyzed by histological examination and analysis of macrophage phenotypes...

With rising society stress, depression-induced osteoporosis is increasing. However, the mechanism involved is unclear. In this study, we explored the effect of plasma exosomal miRNAs on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) osteogenic differentiation in a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression rat model. After 12 weeks of CUMS-induced depression, the pathological changes in the bone tissue and markers of osteogenic differentiation were tested by micro-computed tomography, hematoxylin-eosin staining, and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR)...

Utilization of fluorescent proteins is widespread for the study of microbial pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions. Here, we discovered that linkage of the 36 N-terminal amino acids of FTL_0580 (a hypothetical protein of Francisella tularensis) to fluorescent proteins increases the fluorescence emission of bacteria that express these recombinant fusions. This N-terminal peptide will be referred to as 580N. Western blotting revealed that the linkage of 580N to Emerald Green Fluorescent Protein (EmGFP) in F...

Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is a condition with a multifactorial basis. Recent research has focused on the role of genetic factors in the pathophysiology of RIF. Of particular note, miRNAs have been found to contribute to the pathogenesis of RIF. Several miRNA polymorphisms have been investigated in this context. Moreover, dysregulation of expression of a number of miRNAs, including miR-374a-5p, miR-145-5p, miR-30b-5p, miR-196b-5p, miR-22, miR-181 and miR-145 has been found in RIF. This review concentrates on the role of miRNAs in RIF to help in identification of the molecular basis for this condition and design of more effective methods for management of RIF, especially in a personalized manner that relies on the expression profiles of miRNAs in the peripheral blood or endometrium...

Sepsis as a severe systemic inflammation leads oftentimes to organ dysfunction and subsequently to death. In polytrauma patients, septic complications represent with 45% the predominant cause of late death and are responsible for extremely high costs in the healthcare system. Therefore, clinicians have to detect as early as possible the begin of sepsis to improve the patient's outcome. One new promising diagnostic tool to diagnose septic complications in polytraumatized patients are exosomes. Plasma samples from polytraumatized patients (Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16) which developed sepsis (n = 10) and without sepsis (n = 10), were collected at emergency room (ER), 24h and 5 days after trauma...

INTRODUCTION: Estrogen hormones and their metabolites are implicated in the maintenance of healthy pregnancy and adequate fetal development. Abnormal levels were related to increased risk of pregnancy complications, particularly preeclampsia. Our aims were (1) to develop a methodological platform for the comprehensive assessment of estrogen metabolome in pregnancy; (2) to collect healthy reference data for relevant elements of estrogen metabolome in each trimester; (3) to assess unconjugated fractions of the estrogen metabolome, (4) to assess the dominant metabolic pathways of estrogen compounds...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare malignancy originating from the biliary tree and is anatomically categorized as intrahepatic (iCCA), perihilar, and extrahepatic or distal. iCCA, the second most prevalent hepatobiliary cancer following hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), constitutes 5-20 % of all liver malignancies, with an increasing incidence. The challenging nature of iCCA, combined with nonspecific symptoms, often leads to late diagnoses, resulting in unfavorable outcomes. The advanced phase of this neoplasm is difficult to treat with dismal results...

BACKGROUND: Rickets occurs in infants and children (aged 2 months to 3 years), compromising their skeletal development and damaging nervous, hematopoietic, immune, and other system functions. This study aimed to explore the significance of CD38 in rickets. METHODS: The microarray dataset GSE22523 was analyzed to obtain differentially expressed genes in rickets patients. A total of 36 rickets patients and healthy controls were recruited for the study, and their blood samples were collected, followed by detecting mRNA levels of CD38 using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)...

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) may be involved in the mechanisms of inflammatory storm and organ damage in sepsis. However, there are no available studies on PEVs and renal injury in patients with urosepsis. METHODS: We analyzed the concentration and ratio of PEVs in plasma by flow cytometry and measured plasma IL-1β/IL-6/TNF-α/NGAL levels by ELISA. Correlation analysis was also used to examine the concentration of PEVs in relation to levels of inflammatory factors and indicators of kidney damage, as well as the severity of the disease...

INTRODUCTION: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most malignant gastrointestinal tumors worldwide with a dismal prognosis and high relapse rate. PDAC is considered a "cold cancer" for which immunotherapy is not effective. Therefore, to improve the prognosis for PDAC patients, it is urgent to explore the mechanism driving its insensitivity to immunotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted pancancer analyses to test IGF2BP family expression and survival in patients with different cancers via TCGA and GETx databases...

Airway fibrosis is among the pathological manifestations of benign central airway obstruction noted in the absence of effective treatments and requires new drug targets to be developed. Slit guidance ligand 2-roundabout guidance receptor 1 (Slit2-Robo1) is involved in fibrosis and organ development. However, its significance in airway fibrosis has not yet been reported. The study explored how the recombinant protein Slit2 functions in transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-mediated airway fibrosis in vivo and in vitro...

Haemonchus contortus is a parasitic haematophagous nematode that primarily affects small ruminants and causes significant economic loss to the global livestock industry. Treatment of haemonchosis typically relies on broad-spectrum anthelmintics, resistance to which is an important cause of treatment failure. Resistance to levamisole remains less widespread than to other major anthelmintic classes, prompting the need for more effective and accurate surveillance to maintain its efficacy. Loop-primer endonuclease cleavage loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LEC-LAMP) is a recently developed diagnostic method that facilitates multiplex target detection with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) specificity and portable onsite testing...

Ubiquitin specific protease 5 (USP5) is a vital deubiquitinating enzyme that regulates various physiological functions by removing ubiquitin chains from target proteins. This review provides an overview of the structural and functional characteristics of USP5. Additionally, we discuss the role of USP5 in regulating diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, DNA double-strand damage, methylation, heat stress, and protein quality control, by targeting different substrates. Furthermore, we describe the involvement of USP5 in several pathological conditions such as tumors, pathological pain, developmental abnormalities, inflammatory diseases, and virus infection...

We established efficient first trimester prediction models for small-for-gestational age (SGA) and fetal growth restriction (FGR) without the presence of preeclampsia (PE) regardless of the gestational age of the onset of the disease [early FGR occurring before 32 gestational week or late FGR occurring after 32 gestational week]. The retrospective study was performed on singleton Caucasian pregnancies (n = 6440) during the period 11/2012-3/2020. Finally, 4469 out of 6440 pregnancies had complete medical records since they delivered in the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child, Prague, Czech Republic...

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This article investigates how non-invasive prenatal testing and the incorporation of genomic sequencing into newborn screening postnatally are transforming perinatal care. They improve the accuracy of prenatal and neonatal screening, allowing for early interventions and personalized therapies. Non-invasive prenatal testing before birth and saliva-sample-based newborn genomic sequencing after birth can be collectively referred to as non-invasive perinatal testing. Non-invasive prenatal testing is particularly useful for aneuploidy, whereas performance markers worsen as DNA abnormalities shrink in size...

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) consistently ranks as one of the most challenging variants of squamous cell carcinomas, primarily due to the lack of effective early detection strategies. We herein aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and biological role associated with A-kinase anchoring protein 12 (AKAP12) in the context of ESCC. Bioinformatic analysis had revealed significantly lower expression level of AKAP12 in ESCC tissue samples than in their non-cancerous counterparts. To gain deeper insights into the potential role of AKAP12 in the progression of ESCC, we conducted a single-gene set enrichment analysis of AKAP12 on ESCC datasets...