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The Scientific Basis of Medicine
Published in John S. Axford, Chris A. O'Callaghan, Medicine for Finals and Beyond, 2023
Chris O'Callaghan, Rachel Allen
Cells are the basic structural unit of all living organisms. Each cell has the means to maintain itself within the organism and interact with other cells and body systems. Subcellular organelles compartmentalize processes such as respiration or digestion (Figure 2.5).
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Chronic Disease
Published in Peter M. Tiidus, Rebecca E. K. MacPherson, Paul J. LeBlanc, Andrea R. Josse, The Routledge Handbook on Biochemistry of Exercise, 2020
Christopher Newell, Heather Leduc-Pessah, Aneal Khan, Jane Shearer
Present in almost all eukaryotic cells, the mitochondrion is the organelle responsible for aerobic energy production via cellular respiration. Proper mitochondrial function is vital for metabolic homeostasis of the human body, whereas dysfunctional mitochondria, characterized by loss in the efficiency of the electron transport system and therefore a reduction in energy synthesis, has been linked to the ageing process (12) and a multitude of chronic disease states. These include neurodegenerative diseases (62), cardiovascular diseases (113), diabetes (112), cancers (109), musculoskeletal diseases (96), and gastrointestinal disorders (40), among others. Exercise is a well-known intervention proven to maintain mitochondrial function and density. This chapter highlights our current understanding of how mitochondria are affected by both exercise and chronic disease. There are also primary mitochondrial diseases that are a group of rare diseases which can be caused by mutations to either mitochondrial or nuclear DNA (mtDNA or nDNA) (106); however, these are beyond the scope of this chapter.
Finding a Target
Published in Nathan Keighley, Miraculous Medicines and the Chemistry of Drug Design, 2020
Organelles perform different roles in the cell. The mitochondria are responsible for energy generation. Through the process of respiration, they manufacture adenosine triphosphate (ATP); a source of chemical energy. Modification of selected molecules is undertaken at the Golgi apparatus and/or the endoplasmic reticulum. Molecules manufactured by the cell, or assimilated from outside, may need to be changed to make them suitable for a given biochemical process. The Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum are the organelles with the capacity to perform this role. The nucleus, as previously mentioned, is where DNA is contained and is the control centre for the cell. Having a porous membrane enables passage of selected molecules to facilitate communication between the nucleus and the rest of the cell to ensure that instructions are received for the essential biochemical process of the cell to continue functioning without error.
Role of PFKFB3-driven glycolysis in sepsis
Published in Annals of Medicine, 2023
Min Xiao, Dadong Liu, Yao Xu, Wenjian Mao, Weiqin Li
Under physiological conditions, PFKFB3 is expressed at low levels in a wide variety of cells and is responsible for stimulating glycolysis through the allosteric activation of PFK-1. It is essential for cell growth, differentiation and function. In sepsis, PFKFB3 is rapidly (approximately 6 h after LPS stimulation) increased and phosphorylated, which contributes to the rapidly increased glycolytic flux and subsequent inflammatory injury. On the one hand, PFKFB3-derived glycolysis promotes inflammatory activation of immune cells (macrophages and neutrophils), which induces inflammatory injury by releasing proinflammatory factors. On the other hand, it can induce inflammatory injury in ECs and promote lung fibroblast proliferation. Inhibition of PFKFB3 has additionally shown great potential in reducing inflammatory damage and improving the prognosis of sepsis. Therefore, efforts to understand PFKFB3 may provide a novel combinatorial therapeutic target for the effective treatment of sepsis.
Evaluation of the antimicrobial mechanism of biogenic selenium nanoparticles against Pseudomonas fluorescens
Published in Biofouling, 2023
Ying Xu, Ting Zhang, Jiarui Che, Jiajia Yi, Lina Wei, Hongliang Li
The integrity of the cell membrane is a key factor in bacterial growth. In normal cells, proteins are the main macromolecules present in the cell membrane. The cell membrane not only keeps the cell environment stable for energy and substance metabolism it also regulates and selects substances that enter and leave the cells. The integrity of the membrane can be assayed by the leakage of the cell contents. This study showed that that as the SeNPs concentration increased, the OD gradually increased, and the leakage of proteins and nucleic acids in P. fluorescens ATCC 13525 increased in a time-dependent manner. It was speculated that SeNPs reacted with thiols or sulfhydryl groups in phospholipid bilayer membrane proteins to denature and inactivate them, leading to the loss of the integrity of cell membrane and an increase in membrane permeability. Tareq et al. (2017) found that SeNPs promoted protein leakage from the bacterial cytoplasm, which was 6.10 μg mg−1 in the control group, while after treatment with SeNPs, it was increased to be 7.12 μg mg−1. The live/dead state of bacteria was observed by CLSM. It was found that the live cells gradually decreased and the dead cells increased when treated with SeNPs, indicating that the cell membrane was damaged. Similarly, Ning et al. (2021) found that phenyllactic acid significantly compromised the cell membrane integrity of P. fluorescens.
Overview of gene expression techniques with an emphasis on vitamin D related studies
Published in Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2023
Jeffrey Justin Margret, Sushil K. Jain
Individual cells are the basic building blocks of organisms, and each cell is unique. Every cell in the human body has a different set of active genes whose individual gene expression maintains cellular homeostasis39. It is important to know the composition of each cell type, such as whole blood (WB), peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and tissues, before considering them for expression analysis, since their genotype considerably affects the phenotype pertaining to the study cohort3. Further, the identification of genes through cell-type-specific gene expression allows genes to serve as biomarkers for estimating the abundance of specific cell types and provide a clear understanding of cellular function40. High-throughput techniques have made it possible to measure the expression of different cell types, which yields information about heterogeneity and gene expression patterns. By providing a high-resolution view of cell-to-cell divergence, these techniques have increased knowledge of cellular networks and the development of human organs39.