VIL

The Schlafen (Slfn) family proteins are critical regulators of cell proliferation, induction of immune responses, differentiation, self-restoration, and cell cycle progression. Rodent Slfn3 and human ortholog SLFN12 are critical in the regulation of intestinal epithelial differentiation. Following previous work utilizing Vil-Cre epithelial-specific Slfn3 knockout (VC-Slfn3KO) mice to evaluate Slfn3's role in small intestinal epithelial differentiation, we sought to characterize and distinguish the effects of Slfn3 loss on Slfn family member mRNA expression and differentiation markers for other epithelial cells in the lung, stomach, cecum, and proximal colon...

The plant homeodomain (PHD) finger with a conserved Cys4-His-Cys3 motif is a common zinc-binding domain, which is widely present in all eukaryotic genomes. The PHD finger is the "reader" domain of methylation marks in histone H3 and plays a role in the regulation of gene expression patterns. Numerous proteins containing the PHD finger have been found in plants. In this review, we summarize the functional studies on PHD finger proteins in plant growth and development and responses to abiotic stresses in recent years...

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are key nutrients that play a diverse set of roles in physiological function, including regulating metabolic homeostasis. Generated through the fermentation of dietary fibers in the distal colon by the gut microbiome, SCFAs and their effects are partially mediated by their cognate receptors, including free fatty acid receptor 2 (FFA2). FFA2 is highly expressed in the intestinal epithelial, where its putative functions are controversial, with numerous in vivo studies relying on global knockout mouse models to characterize intestine-specific roles of the receptor...

BACKGROUND: Berberine (BER) and mangiferin are known natural dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-IV) inhibitors. Hence, the study was designed to elucidate the mechanism of action of natural DPP-IV inhibitors (BER and MNG) in experimentally induced diabetes with metabolic syndrome. AIM: The aim of this study was to observe mechanism through which natural DPP-IV inhibitor works in diabetes with metabolic syndrome rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar rats were fed high-fat diet for 10 weeks and challenged with streptozotocin (STZ) (40 mg/kg) at the 3rd week (high-fat diabetic control [HF-DC] group)...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:  The therapeutic use of vildagliptin and insulin (VIL-INS) or vildagliptin and metformin in combination with insulin (VIL-MET-INS) in the Indian scenario has yet to be explored by generating real-world evidence. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the demographic, clinical characteristics, and treatment patterns of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Indian settings in the above context. METHODOLOGY:  This observational study conducted at 600 healthcare centers in India retrospectively analyzed data of adult patients with T2DM who had been treated with either vildagliptin with insulin or a combination of vildagliptin and metformin with insulin...

The procedures used routinely for collagen and lipofuscin evaluation are, in many cases, qualitative, observer dependent, and disregard spatial distribution. Here, we present a protocol for automatic quantification and spatial characterization of collagen and lipofuscin from label-free microscopy images of human ventricular tissues. We describe the steps for sample collection, tissue processing, image acquisition, and quantification of collagen and lipofuscin. This protocol avoids discrepancies between observers and can be adapted to other tissues and species...

Despite good results in the treatment of hematological malignancies, Natural killer (NK) cells have shown limited effectiveness in solid tumors, such as ovarian cancer (OvCa). Here, we assessed the potential of an oncolytic adenovirus expressing a variant interleukin-2 (vIL-2) cytokine, Ad5/3-E2F-d24-vIL2 (vIL-2 virus), also known as TILT-452, to enhance NK cell therapy efficacy in human OvCa ex vivo. Human OvCa surgical specimens were processed into single-cell suspensions and NK cells were expanded from healthy blood donors...

Young adults presenting with non-traumatic hip pain may suffer from acetabular retroversion (AR). The previous studies have suggested that patient positioning during the radiographic procedure, that is, pelvic tilt and/or rotation may alter the appearance of the acetabulum. The purpose of this systematic review was to explore and collate existing literature on the correlation between pelvic positioning in weight-bearing anterior-posterior radiographs and the radiographic signs of AR, namely, the ischial spine sign (ISS) the cross-over sign (COS) and posterior wall sign (PWS)...

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS) is a newly described chronic inflammatory disease condition caused by KSHV infection and is characterized by high KSHV viral load and sustained elevations of serum KSHV-encoded IL-6 (vIL-6) and human IL-6 (hIL-6). KICS has significant immortality and greater risks of other complications, including malignancies. Although prolonged inflammatory vIL-6 exposure by persistent KSHV infection is expected to have key roles in subsequent disease development, the biological effects of prolonged vIL-6 exposure remain elusive...

(1) Background: This study aims to comprehensively understand the motivations driving radiographers in five Arab countries to engage in research. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study employing an anonymous online survey was conducted for 12 weeks from May to July 2023. The study sample consisted of 250 radiographers, with equal representation from Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. (3) Results: Overall, the participants showed limited involvement in research-related activities in all five countries, particularly in presenting at conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed journals...

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an oncogenic double-stranded DNA virus and the etiologic agent of Kaposi's sarcoma and hyperinflammatory lymphoproliferative disorders. Understanding the mechanism by which KSHV increases the infected cell population is crucial for curing KSHV-associated diseases. Using scRNA-seq, we demonstrate that KSHV preferentially infects CD14+ monocytes, sustains viral lytic replication through the viral interleukin-6 (vIL-6), which activates STAT1 and 3, and induces an inflammatory gene expression program...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of COVID-19 mRNA revaccination (two doses) on the antibody response in patients with rheumatic diseases (RD) who were initial vaccine non-responders. Further, to examine if B-cell levels or T-cell responses before revaccination predicted seroconversion. METHODS: From a RD cohort vaccinated with the standard two-dose COVID-19 vaccinations, we enrolled cases without detectable antibody responses (n=17) and controls with detectable antibody response (n=29)...

BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography measurement of the testicles and subsequent calculation of the testicular volume is recommended as a part of a standard scrotal ultrasound examination. The interobserver variability of testicular volume measurement has implications for surgical recommendations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the interobserver variability in the measurement of testicular volume. METHODS: Interobserver variability was established by comparing testicular measurements performed by two observers on the same patient during the same clinical appointment...

Systems-level barriers to self-reporting of race and ethnicity reduce the integrity of data entered into the medical record and trauma registry among patients with injuries, limiting research assessing the burden of racial disparities. We sought to characterize misclassification of self-identified versus hospital-recorded racial and ethnic identity data among 10,513 patients with traumatic injuries. American Indian/Alaska Native patients (59.9%) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander patients (52.4%) were most likely to be misclassified...

While the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) associates with improved survival prognosis in ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients, TIL therapy benefit is limited. Here, we evaluated an oncolytic adenovirus coding for a human variant IL-2 (vIL-2) cytokine, Ad5/3-E2F-d24-vIL2 (vIL-2 virus), also known as TILT-452, as an immunotherapeutic strategy to enhance TIL responsiveness towards advanced stage OvCa tumors. Fragments of resected human OvCa tumors were processed into single-cell suspensions, and autologous TILs were expanded from said samples...

Meq, pp38 and vIL-8 genes were 100% identical between Nigerian MDV strains.Proline content in Nigerian meq gene was 20.88% with two PPPP motifs interruptions. Meq, pp38 and vIL-8 genes of Nigerian MDV were similar to Egyptian and Indian strains.

With the increasing number of lipidomic studies, there is a need for an efficient and automated analysis of lipidomic data. One of the challenges faced by most existing approaches to lipidomic data analysis is lipid nomenclature. The systematic nomenclature of lipids contains all available information about the molecule, including its hierarchical representation, which can be used for statistical evaluation. The Lipid Over-Representation Analysis (LORA) web application (https://lora.metabolomics.fgu.cas.cz) analyzes this information using the Java-based Goslin framework, which translates lipid names into a standardized nomenclature...

UNLABELLED: Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS) is a newly described chronic inflammatory disease condition caused by KSHV infection and is characterized by high KSHV viral load and sustained elevations of serum KSHV-encoded IL-6 (vIL-6) and human IL-6 (hIL-6). KICS has significant immortality and possesses greater risks of having other complications, which include malignancies. Although prolonged inflammatory vIL-6 exposure by persistent KSHV infection is expected to have key roles in subsequent disease development, the biological effects of prolonged vIL-6 exposure remain elusive...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly treatment-resistant cancer. Currently, the only curative treatment for PDAC is surgery, but most patients are diagnosed with metastatic disease and thus outside the scope of surgery. The majority of metastatic patients receive chemotherapy, but responses are limited. New therapeutics are thus urgently needed for PDAC. One major limitation in treating PDAC has been the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) which inhibits anti-cancer immune responses...

Concentration of particulate matter directly affects air quality and human health. Three sources of information were used in this work to generate datasets on this matter at the Fontibón county in Bogota D.C., Colombia. The first source was a Davis AirLinkⓇ low-cost sensor air quality readings for PM2.5 , PM10 and meteorological variables. The sensor was installed in the referred area, collecting air quality readings for PM2.5 , PM10 , as well as temperature, relative humidity, dew point, wet bulb, and heat index as meteorological variables during the months of May to August 2022...