Biology, Volume 12, Issue 6

In vitro systems have been mainly promoted by authorities to sustain research by following the 3Rs principle, but continuously increasing amounts of evidence point out that in vivo experimentation is also of extreme relevance. Xenopus laevis, an anur...

The extracellular stress signal transmits along the cell membrane–cytoskeleton–focal adhesions (FAs) complex, regulating the cell function through membrane tension. However, the mechanism of the complex regulating membrane tension is stil...

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can differentiate into various tissues and are an essential source of various disease models and therapeutics. Various growth factors are required in order to culture pluri...

This research provides a detailed analysis of the COVID-19 spread across 14 Latin American countries. Using time-series analysis and epidemic models, we identify diverse outbreak patterns, which seem not to be influenced by geographical location or c...

The reduction in habitat quality (as shown, in part, by the increase in habitat rarity) is an important challenge when protecting the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. We used the InVEST model to quantitatively analyze the dynamic changes in the habitat of t...

Tritiated thymidine autoradiography, 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) 5-chloro-2′-deoxyuridine (CldU), 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (IdU), and 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyiridine (EdU) labeling have been used for identifying the fraction of cel...

Background: Sarcopenia and diabetes contribute to the development of frailty. Therefore, accessible methods, such as muscle ultrasounds (MUSs), to screen for sarcopenia should be implemented in clinical practice. Methods: We conducted a cross-section...

The boldness and exploration of animals are closely related to their territoriality, with relevant studies having important applications in wildlife conservation. The present study establishes a behavior observation system measuring the boldness and...

Neutrophils might play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1D), by contributing to immune dysregulation via a highly inflammatory program called neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation or NE...

S100 proteins are a group of calcium-binding proteins which received this name because of their solubility in a 100% saturated solution of ammonium sulphate. They have a similar molecular mass of 10–12 KDa and share 25–65% similarity in t...

(1) Background: Lawsonia intracellularis (LI) is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium that causes porcine ileitis. Pigs infected with LI have severe ileal lesions and show symptoms of diarrhea, indigestion, and growth retardation. Previo...

Among the numerous described cases of hybridization in mammals, the most intriguing are (a) cases of introgressive hybridization deeply affecting the evolutionary history of species, and (b) models involving not a pair of species but a multi-species...

Rhabdoviridae is a large viral family, with members infecting a diverse range of hosts including, vertebrate species, arthropods, and plants. The predominant human pathogen within the family is Rabies lyssavirus, the main cause of human rabies. While...

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the second most common cancer of the urinary system. The current therapeutic strategies are based on partial or total nephrectomy and/or targeted therapies based on immune checkpoint inhibitors to which patients are ofte...

Coastal areas are subject to greater pH fluctuation and more rapid pH decline as a result of both natural and anthropogenic influences in contrast to open ocean environments. Such variations in pH have the potential to pose a threat to the survival a...

Redox balance is important for the homeostasis of normal cells, but also for the proliferation, progression, and survival of cancer cells. Both oxidative and reductive stress can be harmful to cells. In contrast to oxidative stress, reductive stress...

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium caused by infectious or non-infectious agents. It can lead to serious short-term and long-term sequalae, such as sudden cardiac death or dilated cardiomyopathy. Due to its heterogenous clinical...

Differentiation-inducing factors 1 and 2 (DIF-1 and DIF-2) are small lipophilic signal molecules that induce stalk cell differentiation but differentially modulate chemotaxis toward cAMP in the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum; DIF-1 supp...

Increasing walking speed is accompanied by an increase of the mechanical power and work performed at the ankle joint despite the decrease of the intrinsic muscle force potential of the soleus (Sol) and gastrocnemius medialis (GM) muscles. In the pres...

Transfer RNA (tRNA) genes in the mitochondrial DNA genome play an important role in protein synthesis. The 22 tRNA genes carry the amino acid that corresponds to that codon but changes in the genetic code often occur such as gene mutations that impac...

Skeletal muscle trauma is a common injury with a range of severity. Adenosine, lidocaine and Mg²⁺ (ALM) is a protective solution and improves tissue perfusion and coagulopathy. Male Wistar rats were anesthetized and subjected to standardized skeletal...

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality. The most common form of SMA is caused by mutations in the SMN1 gene, located on 5q (SMA). On the other hand, mutations in IGHMBP2 lead to a large disease spectrum with no...

The regular cardiac response to immersion of the face in cold water is reduction in heart rate (HR). The highly individualized and unpredictable course of the cardiodepressive response prompted us to investigate the relationship between the cardiac r...

In the present Special Issue on “Metals and Metal Complexes in Diseases with a Focus on COVID-19: Facts and Opinions”, an attempt has been made to include reports updating our knowledge of elements considered to be potential candidates fo...

Dusky-like (Dyl) is a transmembrane protein containing a zona pellucida domain. Its physiological roles during metamorphosis have been well explored in Drosophila melanogaster and have also been documented in Tribolium castaneum. However, Dyl has und...

Obesity with advancing age leads to increased health complications that are involved in various complex physiological processes. For example, inflammation is a critical cardiovascular disease risk factor that plays a role in the stages of atheroscler...

In the original publication [...]

Lipid metabolism, cell death, and autophagy are interconnected processes in cells. Dysregulation of lipid metabolism can lead to cell death, such as via ferroptosis and apoptosis, while lipids also play a crucial role in the regulation of autophagoso...

Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a lymphoid neoplasm composed of rare neoplastic Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg (HRS) cells surrounded by a reactive tumor microenvironment (TME) with suppressive properties against anti-tumor immunity. TME is mainl...

A dynamic interplay between prostate cancer (PCa) cells and reactive bone stroma modulates the growth of metastases within the bone microenvironment. Of the stromal cells, metastasis-associated fibroblasts (MAFs) are known to contribute but are the l...

In pregnant bitches, the response to oxytocin and denaverine hydrochloride in dystocia management is usually poor. To better understand the effect of both drugs on myometrial contractility, the circular and longitudinal muscle layers were examined in...

Hermaphrodites are characterized by plastic sex allocation, by which they adjust their allocation of reproductive resources according to mating opportunities. However, since the plasticity of sex allocation is influenced by environmental conditions,...

Our understanding of the gene regulatory network that constitutes the circadian clock has greatly increased in recent decades, notably due to the use of Drosophila as a model system. In contrast, the analysis of natural genetic variation that enables...

Alzheimer’s’ disease (AD) is characterized by the formation of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein in the brain. Aβ plaques are formed by the cleavage of the β-amyloid precursor protein (A...

Timely mitosis is critically important for early embryo development. It is regulated by the activity of the conserved protein kinase CDK1. The dynamics of CDK1 activation must be precisely controlled to assure physiologic and timely entry into mitosi...

Bacillus velezensis HN-Q-8, isolated in our previous study, has an antagonistic effect on Alternaria solani. After being pretreated with a fermentation liquid with HN-Q-8 bacterial cell suspensions, the potato leaves inoculated with A. solani display...

Biological sequence analysis is an essential step toward building a deeper understanding of the underlying functions, structures, and behaviors of the sequences. It can help in identifying the characteristics of the associated organisms, such as viru...

Gradual dehydration is one of the frequent lethal yet poorly understood stresses that bacterial cells constantly face in the environment when their micro ecotopes dry out, as well as in industrial processes. Bacteria successfully survive extreme desi...

This study analyzed data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database to investigate whether high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and its major protein component, apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1), are associated with severe COVID-19 sequelae, speci...

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Americas is a chronic systemic disease caused by infection with Leishmania infantum parasites. The toxicity of antileishmanial drugs, long treatment course and limited efficacy are significant concerns that hamper a...

Monitoring the presence and distribution of alien species is pivotal to assessing the risk of biological invasion. In our study, we carried out a worldwide review of roadkill data to investigate geographical patterns of biological invasions. We hypot...

As the genome carries the historical information of a species’ biotic and environmental interactions, analyzing changes in genome structure over time by using powerful statistical physics methods (such as entropic segmentation algorithms, fluct...

The contraception-based approach to wildlife management is a humane and effective alternative to population control methods. Wildlife management only has a few conventional ways to control overpopulation, such as culling, translocation, poisoning, an...

Premature birth disrupts the continuity of maternal–newborn bodily contact, which underpins the development of physiological and behavioral support systems. Utilizing a unique cohort of mother–preterm dyads who received skin-to-skin conta...

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a highly diverse family of transmembrane proteins involved in osmotic regulation that played an important role in the conquest of land by tetrapods. However, little is known about their possible implication in the acquisition of...

Love is a powerful emotional experience that is rooted in ancient neurobiological processes shared with other species that pair bond. Considerable insights have been gained into the neural mechanisms driving the evolutionary antecedents of love by st...

Clinical and animal model studies have implicated inflammation and glial and peripheral immune cell responses in the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury (SCI). A key player in the inflammatory response after SCI is the pleiotropic cytokine tumor ne...

MMPs are enzymes involved in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Notably, the proteolytic activation of MMPs can occur through angiotensin II, immune cells, cytokines, and pro-oxidant agents. However, comprehensive information regarding the impact of MMPs in th...

Different demands on the muscles of mastication may influence their functional profile (size and distribution of muscle fibre types), which may change during growth and maturation, potentially influencing craniofacial growth. The aim of this study wa...

Large-scale protein regulatory networks, such as signal transduction systems, contain small-scale modules (‘motifs’) that carry out specific dynamical functions. Systematic characterization of the properties of small network motifs is the...