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Effects of Air Pollution on Allergy and Asthma
Published in Pudupakkam K Vedanthan, Harold S Nelson, Shripad N Agashe, PA Mahesh, Rohit Katial, Textbook of Allergy for the Clinician, 2021
Pollutants can affect the lung by altering its immune response and airway inflammation. Susceptibility to air pollutants differs among individuals, as exemplified by several diseases and conditions (e.g., asthma) in which both genetic and non-genetic factors seem to play a role in the individual response to ambient air pollution. In general, DNA methyltransferases are responsible for maintaining the methylation pattern from parental to daughter DNA strands upon cell division, and most cells have their epigenetic marks fixed when they differentiate or exit the cell cycle. However, in certain situations such as disease, or in normal development, these epigenetic marks are removed and re-established in a process called ‘reprogramming’. Of all the epigenetic modifications mentioned above, DNA methylation holds a higher potential of being transmitted through generations, despite the reprogramming events mentioned.
Gene Therapy in Oral Tissue Regeneration
Published in Vincenzo Guarino, Marco Antonio Alvarez-Pérez, Current Advances in Oral and Craniofacial Tissue Engineering, 2020
Fernando Suaste, Patricia González-Alva, Alejandro Luis, Osmar Alejandro
Currently, methodologies such as PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and genetic cloning have made it possible to manipulate DNA sequences in vitro both coding regions (genes) and regulating elements of gene expression (promoters, enhancers, insulators, etc.). Through this method it has been possible to determine the role of specific genes on the cell homeostasis. Genetic manipulation is also associated with the reprogramming the functioning of a cell.
Natural history: Basics of endometriosis
Published in Seema Chopra, Endometriosis, 2020
The Barker hypothesis [4] proposes that early exposures, including those arising from unhealthy lifestyles of parents, during sensitive windows of human development, such as pregnancy, may permanently reprogram the developing embryo or fetus for extra-uterine life. Thus, this theory generated considerable interest in the potential early origins of health and disease. This reprogramming is speculated to occur largely through epigenetic mechanisms [5].
Epigenetic regulation of radioresistance: insights from preclinical and clinical studies
Published in Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 2022
Katherine Shishido, Alexis Reinders, Swapna Asuthkar
As highlighted in this review, RR is a significant cause of treatment failure for many cancers. Efforts to combat radioresistant tumors through hypofractionated radiotherapy, particle radiation, and moderate hyperthermia have shown noteworthy success in clinical trials. In addition, epigenetic reprogramming plays a central role in the development of RR by stimulating DNA damage repair, influencing cell cycle regulation, and altering cell signaling pathways. There is ample preclinical evidence highlighting the therapeutic benefit of integrating epigenetic therapy with chemoradiation. Likewise, clinical trials have supported the use of epigenetic inhibitors with conventional therapies, as evidenced by prolonged PFS and OS. Because epigenetically driven MAPK-ERK and PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling promotes RR, dual targeting of such players may one day offer a novel and viable approach to promote radiosensitivity.
Developing a Reflexive, Anticipatory, and Deliberative Approach to Unanticipated Discoveries: Ethical Lessons from iBlastoids
Published in The American Journal of Bioethics, 2022
Rachel A. Ankeny, Megan J. Munsie, Joan Leach
The approach to generating 3 D structures that we focus on here took adult human skin cells (fibroblasts), and cultured these in the laboratory over several weeks in conditions designed to induce them to change or be reprogrammed into more primitive cell states (Liu et al. 2021; see Figure 1). The concept of reprogramming involves converting somatic cells, such as those found in adults which have a fixed and specialized function, into cells similar to those found in early embryos and capable of developing into a range of cell types. While the usual outcome of reprogramming is the derivation of iPSC which can be used for various therapeutic purposes, the aim of this research was to understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning this reprogramming and thus to better control and replicate these processes associated with cell fate, rather than simply to generate these cells.
3-Hydroxyhexanoate-based polycationic nanoparticle system for delivering reprogramming factors
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2020
Hanife Sevgi Varlı, Funda Alkan, Fatma Ceren Kırmızıtaş, Murat Demirbilek, Nelisa Türkoğlu Laçin
In 2006, the first time, Yamanaka et al. reprogrammed somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell-like state by introducing Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc genes via retroviral transduction (Takahashi and Yamanaka 2006). iPSCs have characteristics similar to ES cells, like forming colonies and expressing the same pluripotency markers. Despite the similarity between embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), there are essential differences between these cells. Besides, to model a genetic disorder, the use of ESCs is limited due to the ethical issues. Additionally, the clinical applications of embryonic stem cells are limited due to immunological rejections and teratoma formation. Also, in many countries, the use of human ESCs is facing ethical problems and religious concerns. Reprogramming of adult cells is a relatively easy and more moderate procedure that does not involve the usage of embryos (Halevy and Urbach 2014, Avcılar et al. 2018).