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The prospects of the SC research are truthfully infinite and hitherto challenging to forecast. Once researchers resolve the issues regarding SC expansion and maintenance, the implementation of the SC-based platform could help to treat tissues and organs impaired or damaged in many devastating human diseases. Over the past 10 years, the number of studies on SCs has increased exponentially, and we have already become witnesses of crucial discoveries in SC biology. Comprehension of the mechanisms of neurogenesis regulation is essential for the development of new therapeutic approaches for currently incurable neurodegenerative diseases and neuroblastomas. In this review, we present the latest achievements in this fast-moving field and discuss essential aspects of NSC biology, including SC regulation by hormones, neurotransmitters, and transcription factors, along with the achievements of genetic and chemical reprogramming for the safe use of SCs in vitro and in vivo.The review summarizes the data on the role of metabolic and repair systems in the mechanisms of therapy-related carcinogenesis and the effect of their polymorphism on the cancer development risk. The carcinogenic activity of different types of drugs, from the anticancer agents to analgesics, antipyretics, immunomodulators, hormones, natural remedies, and non-cancer drugs, is described. Possible approaches for the prevention of drug-related cancer induction at the initiation and promotion stages are discussed.Oxidative stress resulting from accumulation of reactive oxygen, nitrogen, and halogen species (ROS, RNS, and RHS, respectively) causes the damage of cells and biomolecules. However, over the long evolutionary time, living organisms have developed the mechanisms for adaptation to oxidative stress conditions including the activity of the antioxidant system (AOS), which maintains low intracellular levels of RONS (ROS and RNS) and RHS. Moreover, living organisms have adapted to use low concentrations of these electrophiles for the regulation of cell functions through the reversible post-translational chemical modifications of redox-sensitive amino acid residues in intracellular effectors of signal transduction pathways (protein kinases and protein phosphatases), transcription factors, etc. An important fine-tuning mechanism that ensures involvement of RONS and RHS in the regulation of physiological processes is interconversion between different reactive species. This review focuses on the complex networks of interacting RONS and RHS types and their endogenous sources, such as NOX family of NADPH oxidases, complexes I and III of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, NO synthases, cytochrome P450-containing monooxygenase system, xanthine oxidoreductase, and myeloperoxidases. selleck compound We highlight that kinetic parameters of reactions involving RONS and RHS determine the effects of these reactive species on cell functions. We also describe the functioning of enzymatic and non-enzymatic AOS components and the mechanisms of RONS and RHS scavenging under physiological conditions. We believe that analysis of interactions between RONS and relationships between different endogenous sources of these compounds will contribute to better understanding of their role in the maintenance of cell redox homeostasis as well as initiation and progression of diseases.This review discusses formation of reactive halogen species (RHS) catalyzed by myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme mostly present in leukocytes. An imbalance between the RHS production and body’s ability to remove or neutralize them leads to the development of halogenative stress. RHS reactions with proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and antioxidants in the content of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) of the human blood are described. MPO binds site-specifically to the LDL surface and modifies LDL properties and structural organization, which leads to the LDL conversion into proatherogenic forms captured by monocytes/macrophages, which causes accumulation of cholesterol and its esters in these cells and their transformation into foam cells, the basis of atherosclerotic plaques. The review describes the biomarkers of MPO enzymatic activity and halogenative stress, as well as the involvement of the latter in the development of atherosclerosis.The review is devoted to tropomyosin (Tpm) – actin-binding protein, which plays a crucial role in the regulation of contraction of skeletal and cardiac muscles. Special attention is paid to myopathies and cardiomyopathies – severe hereditary diseases of skeletal and cardiac muscles associated with point mutations in Tpm genes. The current views on the molecular mechanisms of these diseases and the effects of such mutations on the Tpm structure and functions are considered in detail. Besides, some part of the review is devoted to analysis of the properties of Tpm homodimers and heterodimers with myopathic substitutions of amino acid residues in only one of the two chains of the Tpm dimeric molecule.This review summarizes the features of cold shock domain (CSD) proteins in the context of their interactions with nucleic acids and describes similarities and differences in the structure of cold shock proteins of prokaryotes and CSD proteins of eukaryotes with special emphasis on the functions related to the RNA/DNA-binding ability of these proteins. The mechanisms and specificity of their interaction with nucleic acids in relation to the growing complexity of protein domain structure are described, as well as various complexes of the mammalian Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1) with nucleic acids (filaments, globules, toroids). The role of particular amino acid residues in the binding of nitrogenous bases and the sugar-phosphate backbone of nucleic acids is emphasized. The data on the nucleic acid sequences recognized by the Y-box binding proteins are systematized. Post-translational modifications of YB-1, especially its phosphorylation, affect the recognition of specific sequences in the promoter regions of various groups of genes by YB-1 protein. The data on the interaction of Lin28 protein with let-7 miRNAs are summarized. The features of the domain structure of plant CSD proteins and their effect on the interaction with nucleic acids are discussed.