Journal Name: Current Medical Imaging
Formerly: Current Medical Imaging Reviews
Podcast by Author(s): Euishin Edmund Kim.
Volume 15 , Issue 9 , 2019
Web: https://www.eurekaselect.com/174515/a…
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Author(s): Manish Dwivedi*.
Journal Name: Current Chemical Biology
Scientific interest in mycobacteria has been sparked by the medical importance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that is known to cause severe diseases in mammals, i.e. tuberculosis and by properties that distinguish them from other microorganisms which are notoriously difficult to treat. The treatment of their infections is difficult because mycobacteria fortify themselves with a thick impermeable cell envelope. Channel and transporter proteins are among the crucial adaptations of Mycobacterium that facilitate their strength to combat against host immune system and anti-tuberculosis drugs. In previous studies, it was investigated that some of the channel proteins contribute to the overall antibiotic resistance in Mtb. Moreover, in some of the cases, membrane proteins were found responsible for virulence of these pathogens. Given the ability of M. tuberculosis to survive as an intracellular pathogen and its inclination to develop resistance to the prevailing anti-tuberculosis drugs, its treatment requires new approaches and optimization of anti-TB drugs and investigation of new targets are needed for their potential in clinical usage. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the survival of Mtb. in stressed conditions with different behavior of particular channel/ transporter proteins. Comprehensive understanding of channel proteins and their mechanism will provide us direction to find out preventive measures against the emergence of resistance and reduce the duration of the treatment, eventually leading to plausible eradication of tuberculosis. To read out more, please visit: http://www.eurekaselect.com/180061/article
The article by Dr. Tiziana Bonaldi et al. is published in Current Protein & Peptide Science, 2020
Methylation (namely addition of a methyl group) of arginine amino acid residues of proteins is a post-translational modification (PTM) catalyzed by a family of nine enzymes called Protein Arginine Methyl-Transferases (PRMTs).
PRMTs have been gaining increasing attention in the scientific landscape due their role in several essential physiological processes and implication in various diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders; loss of PRMT1 is lethal at the early developmental stages, while overexpression is frequently observed in different tumor types and correlates with poor patient prognosis, suggesting that inhibition of PRMTs may represent an effective therapeutic approach in oncology. Moreover, PTM levels are deregulated in different tumor types, and both local and global changes in PTM of the DNA-associated proteins – the histones – are linked to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Due to the large body of scientific evidence indicating their role in cell pathophysiology, several PRMT inhibitors have been designed and developed as a potential new class of drugs. For instance, a potent, reversible type I PRMT inhibitor has been shown to have anti-tumor effects in human cancer models and some of the molecular candidates have entered clinical trials for solid tumors and lymphomas.
“Although it was first described in 1968,” says Dr Tiziana Bonaldi, Group Leader at the European Institute of Oncology, “for almost 30 years, very little was known about the extent of protein arginine methylation, its effect on protein activity, and its biological role. The first PRMT, capable of catalyzing arginine methylation, was discovered in 1996 and, since then, nine proteins exerting the same functions have been discovered. However, inefficient analytical approaches have largely limited a comprehensive understanding of their biological function. Quantitative Mass spectrometry has emerged as the ideal analytical strategy to study the extent of protein arginine-methylation in model systems and identify PRMT targets, thus contributing substantial knowledge in this field.”
In their article published in Current Protein & Peptide Science, Dr. Bonaldi and co-workers offer an overview on state-of-the-art arginine methyl-proteomics, describing the innovations that led – from the description by Mathias Mann’s group of the first high-quality methyl-proteome in 2004 – to the latest studies that profile protein-methylation events occurring on hundreds of cellular proteins. Throughout this review, the authors describe the implementations both in the biochemical methods and in the computational methods for Mass spectrometry data analysis or the identification of sites of arginine methylation, discussing the pros and cons of the most common strategies employed.
Furthermore, relevant issues related to protein-arginine methylation analysis that are still under development are also discussed, such as the discrimination of symmetric and asymmetric arginine-di-methylation from Mass spectrometry fragmentation spectra. “These two modifications have identical mass, yet they are catalyzed by different PRMTs and have substantially different biological outcomes,” explains Bonaldi; “Indeed, even though, for instance, both have a role in regulation of transcription, while asymmetric di-methylation is activating, symmetric di-methylation is repressive. Therefore, being able to distinguish between the two processes is crucial.”
Finally, major emphasis is devoted to the heavy methyl SILAC strategy, a variation of the more conventional SILAC (Stable Isotope Labelling with Amino acids in Cell culture). “The heavy methyl SILAC strategy was designed to increase the confidence of in vivo arginine methyl-peptides identification by Mass spectrometry,” – continues Bonaldi – “and the use will be facilitated by the recent development of ad hoc algorithms tailored for processing of heavy methyl SILAC datasets, such as MethylQuant and hmSEEKER.”
Importantly, the authors conclude that optimization of the currently available analytical approaches and their systematic application will play a key role in the future research on the involvement of protein methylation in biological processes, providing critical insights in the related cellular biology processes and likely offering potential novel targets to be exploited in a clinical context. Read the full Press Release to find out more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/bsp-lao052220.php
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To get the full-text article, please visit the following link: http://www.eurekaselect.com/181344/article
This article by Dr. Shervin Assari et al. is published in The Open Cardiovascular Medicine Journal, Volume 14, 2020
In a fair society, education is expected to be the great equalizer. This is based on the belief that education enabled people to escape poverty and join the middle class. In the United States, education is listed as a key strategy to achieve the American dream, even for people born to poor families. Education also protects individuals against heart disease. People’s risk of heart disease is lowest in the most and highest in the least educated people.
In the most recent issue of The Open Cardiovascular Medicine Journal, Assari and colleagues explored the racial and ethnic variation in the link between education and heart disease in a nationally representative sample of American adults. The authors analyzed data of 25,659 American adults who participated in the first wave of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH- 2013). They categorize individuals based on education to less than a high school diploma, high school graduate, and college graduate. Then they compared race/ethnicity by education groups for the prevalence of heart disease.
Individuals with highest education had the lowest prevalence of heart disease. However, this protective effect was weaker for Hispanic and Black than for non-Hispanic and White individuals. That means, highly educated Black and Hispanic people remained at high risk of heart disease.
This finding is an extension of the Marginalization related Diminished Returns (MDRs) which refer to the weaker health benefits of education for racial and ethnic minority groups compared to Whites. While we knew that highly educated Black and Hispanic Americans remain at risk of obesity, poor diet, depression, tobacco use, and sedentary lifestyle, this was the first study to document the same pattern for heart disease.
Possibly due to the racism and social stratification, in the US, education is not the great equalizer but a source of health inequalities. Read full Press Release to find out more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/bsp-dro050620.php
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This article is open access and its full-text can be obtained from the following link: https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOCMJ-14-5
This editorial by Prof. Michele Roccella is published in The Open Pediatric Medicine Journal, Volume 10, 2020
COVID-19 is a pandemic that has forced many states to declare restrictive measures in order to prevent their wider spread. These measures are necessary to protect the health of adults, children and people with disabilities. Long quarantine periods could cause an increase in anxiety crisis, fear of contagion and post-traumatic stress disorder (frustration, boredom, isolation, fear, insomnia, difficulty concentrating).
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops as a consequence of one or more physical or psychological traumatic events, such as exposure to natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis; wars, torture, death threats; road accidents, robbery, air accidents; diseases with unfavorable prognosis; complicated or traumatic mourning; physical and sexual abuse and abuse during childhood; victimization and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity. It can also develop following changes in lifestyle habits caused by the COCOVID-19 epidemic. The arrival of the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the world is bringing families, teachers, educators and all the people who care for children every day. Long quarantine periods could cause an increase in anxiety crisis, fear of contagion and post-traumatic stress disorder (frustration, boredom, isolation, fear, insomnia, difficulty concentrating). It is important to speak calmly and directly to children.
The child may also be told that isolation is needed to avoid contact with the virus until we have effective drugs or a vaccine. For children, staying at home is not a problem, they are used to holidays; they spend their time playing, watching television, talking with family members, in some cases where the restrictive measures are not too strict, I can play outdoors. In these cases it is essential to reassure the children, to structure their day, to divide the times and spaces according to patterns and rhythms. We can say that based on previous quarantine experiences that long periods of isolation can lead to psychological symptoms such as emotional disturbances, depression, stress, mood disturbances, irritability, insomnia and signs of traumatic post-stress disorders. Therefore it is important to be able to explain to children what is happening and how to manage this traumatic event following the COVID-19 pandemic. Read full Press Release to find out more: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/bsp-cc050620.php
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This editorial can be obtained from the following link: https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOPEDJ-10-1
The recent COVID-19 outbreak has been the main reason behind several temporary school closures around the world. This has made the idea of continuing to pursue educational activities during this time a challenging proposition. The current lockdowns implemented in different countries has forced schoolteachers who wish to complete their current teaching periods to transition immediately to the online classroom. Many schools have already started online classes in the wake of the crisis caused by the global COVID-19 crises. Accessing and managing online teaching resources can be a bit difficult for educators or pupils accustomed to a conventional classroom.
A couple of our authors reached out to us and asked if Bentham Science had a solution for their book, Computer Based Projects for a Chemistry Curriculum – which is a great resource for school and college students and teachers interesting in using computers to illustrate fundamental concepts in chemistry. And we have responded. Starting today up to June 30, Bentham Science Publishers is making the eBook free to download. This means high school teachers and students anywhere in the world can access the content benefit from the projects presented in the book.
Computer Based Projects for a Chemistry Curriculum, authored by Thomas Manning and Aurora Grumatges, presents 24 chapters each giving information about activities employing applications such as MS excel (spreadsheets) and Spartan (computational modeling). Each project is explained in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. The content within this book is suitable as a guide for both teachers and students and each chapter is supplemented with practice guidelines and exercises. The book contents can be accessed here.
We hope that students around the world can benefit from the interesting and informative variety of projects presented in the book, while also allowing educators working in schools to continue their teaching activities throughout the academic year amidst the current pandemic crisis. Stay safe, and happy chemistry learning. Please visit the book page here: http://bit.ly/39uzhTW
The Executive Guest Editors will be entitled to the following benefits:
Bentham Science is interested in appointing active Executive Guest Editors for the journal; Current Chinese Science. If you are working in the related field of the journal and interested in becoming an Executive Guest Editor, please send us your CV and a list of publications. You can also recommend suitable colleagues for the same, and, if possible, send their CV along with their list of publications. To know more about the journal, please visit: http://currentchinesescience.com/
Mention in the subject line the field of interest, and send your CV at: hermain@benthamscience.net and beena@benthamscience.net
The Section Editors will be entitled to the following benefits:
Bentham Science is interested in appointing active Section Editors for the journal; Current Chinese Science. If you are working in the related field of the journal and interested in becoming a Section Editor, please send us your CV and a list of publications. You can also recommend suitable colleagues for the same, and, if possible, send their CV along with their list of publications. To know more about the journal, please visit: http://currentchinesescience.com/
Mention in the subject line the field of interest, and send your CV at: hermain@benthamscience.net and beena@benthamscience.net
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