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Ana Catarina Ferreira Psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression, are highly prevalent conditions and its incidence is expected to increase as individuals attempt to meet the crescent demands of the current society. Such disorders are quite often long lasting and considered to occur, among other factors, as the result of the chronic exposure to psychological stress, thus severely affecting the quality of life and work productivity. Hippocampus and Adaptive Responses In the regulation of emotional behaviours and cellular and endocrine responses to stressful events, the limbic system, and particul …

Mechanical forces are common in biological systems and dominate numerous perturbations that are relevant to human physiology and disease. Mechanobiology is a new field that evaluates the effects of physical forces on cell behavior, cell/tissue morphogenesis and diseases such as cancer. Most recently this field has matured in a way that it appears feasible to apply this approach for the identification of both disease-related signaling defects and of key determinants of chemoresistance.As a member of a group of investigators led by Elisa Giovannetti at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and at Cancer Pharmacology lab, AIRC Start-Up Unit, University of Pis …

Myrna Hurtado, PhD Student, University of North Texas Health Science Center Advancements in modern medicine have resulted in significantly prolonging and also improving our quality of life. Diseases that were once major afflictions and wiping out vast populations have been almost eradicated. However, these advancements have also led us to realize how much we do not know. It is not improbable to call cancer as the plague of the 21st century. Cancer is a multifactorial disease and arises due to several characteristics acquired from DNA mutations, such as continuous proliferative signaling, resistance to cell death, and invasion and metastasis[1]. 1 …

By Diana-Madalina Stan, PhD student, University of Salford Disease Description Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disorder that mainly affects the elderly. AD International reported 46.8 million people suffering from AD in 2015 and the number is presumed to be 50 million at present. AD pathology includes abnormal protein deposits including neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques. Aggregated tau protein undergoes abnormal hyperphosphorylation which changes the microtubule stability, the primary function of this protein (Lace, 2009). As a consequence, the cellular integrity and the cy …

By John Bannon PhD Early Cytokinesis Early cytokinesis; from anaphase to midbody formation cytokinesis is the physical separation of a dividing cell into two identical daughter cells [Eggert et al., 2006]. Cytokinesis begins following the separation of DNA during anaphase, and the consequent APC-mediated destruction of the Cdk1-cyclin B complex, which negatively regulates many proteins essential for cytokinesis [Hummer and Mayer, 2009; Jiang et al., 1998; Mishima et al., 2004]. Microtubule Alignment During early anaphase microtubules are rearranged to form the central spi …

By Pietro Maria Bertelli, PhD Candidate, Queens University Belfast Introduction Eye complications are very frequent in patients with diabetes, and this can lead to vision impairment and blindness 1,2. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of diabetic vascular complications is needed to facilitate the development of novel treatments. Diabetes has been previously associated with ageing and cellular senescence 3, 4. Retinal blood vessels, composed of endothelial cells and pericytes, are significantly affected by diabetic conditions 5–7. We are evaluating the impact of diabetes on endothelial cell function at the cellular and molecul …

By Ana Catarina Ferreira, PhD Candidate, Univeristy of Minho, Portugal Psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression, are highly prevalent conditions and their incidence is expected to increase as individuals attempt to meet the crescent demands of the current society. Such disorders are quite often long lasting and considered to occur, among other factors, as the result of the chronic exposure to psychological stress, thus severely affecting the quality of life and work productivity. Regulation of Emotional Behaviours In the regulation of emotional behaviours and cellular and endocrine respon …

By Eleni Chrysostomou, PhD Candidate, NUIG Why do we need to know how the Nervous System develops and regenerates? The structure and function of the nervous system remains one of the most fascinating and yet challenging aspects in biology. The way in which neural progenitors (NPs) are specified and spatially arranged, and how they proliferate, differentiate and migrate to form a functional nervous system is controlled by patterning mechanisms which are not fully understood. When it comes to neuronal regeneration, the picture is even more blurry. Unravelling how these patterning mechanisms are controlled and regulated to form a neuronal …

It’s not uncommon now for Masters or Undergraduate students to present some data or data that they produced during their research for a PhD interview process. Sometimes this can be in front of the potential lab, the Professor or the department interview panel that is assessing candidates. The aim of this is to understand what basic skills and understanding the potential PhD candidate already has about the field or a scientific topic in general. For many this is a great opportunity to impress and may allow applicants to rise above competing applicants that may have been grades on paper but do not have the drive, experience or skills to carry out a PhD in a specific lab. To help you get …

Polo-like kinase (Plk1) Polo-like kinase (Plk1), is a serine/threonine kinase that is active during mitosis (Hamanaka et al., 1995). Its name is derived from its original characterisation as a homolog of a Drosophila mitotic kinase encoded by the Polo gene (Fenton et al., 1993; Martin et al., 2006). There are five Plk kinases identified in humans, although only Plk1 has been extensively characterised as a mitotic kinase (Martin et al., 2006; Lens et al., 2010). Polo-like Kinase family members Other members of the family have largely non-mitotic functions: Plk2 and Plk4 are involved in centriole duplication (Warnke et al., 2004; …

SARS-CoV-2 Background COVID-19 is characterised by a series of biological markers. In some instances, these biomarkers can be used as potential indicators of disease severity. COVID-19 is the novel coronavirus disease caused by the viral agent SARS-CoV-2. With millions of confirmed cases across the world, the disease represents an unprecedented threat to public health. Additionally, the significant ramifications of an impacted healthcare system further broaden the danger that the virus presents. As the international community rushes to mitigate the economic and social damage the virus continues to cause, researchers seek to elucida …

Alex Lloyd PhD Candidate, Dublin Institute of Technology Did you know that roughly 17.5 million people worldwide die annually from Cardiovascular diseases (CVD)? According to the World Health Organisation in 2013, one third of global death was attributed to CVDs. In Ireland, it is estimated that 10,000 people die annually from these diseases. However, what if there was a cheap available food-based preparation that could decrease disease progression, improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs. The direct economic cost of these diseases is about two billion euros each year not to mention indirect costs and the effects on quality of life. …

Tocilizumab (Actemra®) in COVID-19 Treatment What is Tocilizumab? Tocilizumab, also called atlizumab, is an immunosuppressive humanised monoclonal antibody which targets the IL-6 receptor. IL-6 is a cytokine which is involved in many important immune responses—discussed below— but which can also contribute to the pathogenesis of certain diseases, specifically autoimmune diseases and certain types of cancers. Most notably, IL-6 is implicated in cytokine release syndrome and thus targeting it or its receptor is thought to be a promising therapeutic intervention. window. …

By Francisco Algaba Chueco In this post we discuss a topic that everyone will have heard of. Let’s talk about migraines, a disorder that hides a huge physiological and molecular background, and having an impact alarmingly high around the globe. We are going to enter the etiology of the disease, in all molecular and supramolecular processes that trigger it and we are going to finally talk about the traditional therapies, the most novel therapies and, of course, prophylaxis or prevention of migraines.This post is not intended to be a review, but a somewhat more scientific than is generally known about migraines, explained so that everyone can und …

Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma is on the rise globally affecting more than 450,000 people worldwide (Pennathur, Gibson et al. 2013). Once diagnosed overall 5-year survival ranges from 15 % to 25 %, with the best outcomes being associated diagnosis in the early stages of cancer development (Pennathur, Gibson et al. 2013). Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma (OAC) arises from a pre malignant condition known as Barrett’s Oesophagus (BO). BO is associated with an increased risk of developing OAC compared to normal age matched controls. Barrett’s Oesophagus Barrett’s oesophagus (BO) occurs when the normal squamous epithelium of the oesophagus is replaced by …

By Sophie Arthur How many diseases and conditions do you think exist in this world? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Maybe even millions? Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer. But what I do know is there could be one solution to all of them! Yes, one perfect medicine of the future! The answer? Stem cells! Stem cells, promises & superheroes Our bodies are made up of an extraordinary amount of cells – all with their own unique shape, function and gene expression, and one of the reasons there are so many diseases we need to know how to treat! But where did all these trillions of cells in our body come from? Well, we all had the same humble beginnings when we were all just a teen …

Sarah Brun Bar-Yaacov PhD Candidate, University of Liverpool Orthohantaviruses are a group of segmented negative-sense RNA viruses maintained as asymptomatic infections in rodent, insectivore and bat populations (Vaheri, Strandin, et al. 2013). They are Bunyaviruses and to date 41 orthohantavirus species have been officially recognized (ICTV 2014). Among orthohantaviruses, the rodent-borne are the most studied, as these are the only ones associated with human disease. Orthohantaviruses are found in endemic regions across the globe. Each viral species is closely associated with a specific carrier host and the presence of a specific virus in a …

By Sinead Kinsella PhD The Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS) The Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS) is a regulatory machinery for protein turnover in the cell (Pickart, 2001), and strict regulation of the balance between protein synthesis and degradation is essential for cellular homeostasis (Gaczynska et al., 2001). The UPS is composed of the ubiquitination system, which governs the labelling of proteins for degradation, and the proteasome, which carries out protein degradation (Jansen et al., 2014). Ubiquitin degradation is a highly regulated process with specific targeting of the protein with ubiquitin molecules prior to degradation by the …

The Enteric Nervous system (ENS) is one of the largest subdivisions of the Peripheral Nervous System. This remarkable system is embedded between sheets of smooth muscle cells of the intestinal tissue. It is also called as the “second brain” as it consists of millions of neurons that coalesce to form its vast network. The ENS originates from neural crest-derived progenitors that traverse through different spatio-temporal environments, expanding in number, colonizing the gut tissue and eventually generating a diverse array of neuronal and glial subtypes. The ENS is indispensable for key functions of gut physiology such as peristalsis, secretion of enzymes and absorption of food. It is …

Protein kinase B or AKT (PKB) is a serine/threonine kinase. In mammals it is comprised of 3 highly homologous isoforms PKBα (Akt1), PKBβ (Akt2), and PKBγ (Akt3) (Manning and Cantley 2007). AKT signalling is activated in response to a variety of hormones, growth factors and extracellular matrix (ECM) components. The serine/threonine kinase AKT is involved in the regulation of a number of cellular processes including cell growth, proliferation, metabolism and cell survival. AKT Signalling Activation AKTs are activated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). RTKs activate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) through tyrosine phosphorylation of adaptor proteins …

HMGB1 Functional Overview High mobility group box 1 ( HMGB1), a member of the high-mobility group (HMG) family, was first identified in the thymus in 1973 and is classified as a non-histone DNA-binding protein (Goodwin et al., 1973). HMGB1, a 215 amino-acid protein, is structurally composed of two HMG-box domains, which are DNA-binding, and C-terminal tail which facilitates protein-protein interactions (Park et al., 2004; Stros et al., 2010). Nuclear HMGB1 acts as a DNA chaperone and contributes to several regulatory processes in the nucleus such as transcriptional stability, nucleosome assembly and DNA replication (Agresti et al., 2003; Reeves et a …

Thanks to the great intuitions of brilliant scientists like Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner, Robert Koch, Emil von Behring, Gaston Leon Ramon, Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk in the past century, the world has gotten to know the super power inside every individual: THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. “Find a pathogen, isolate it, kill it and inject it in the host…… the rest is left to our immune system”. Thanks to that concept, microorganisms like Yersinia pestis, Spanish flu and many others responsible of devastating society provoking millions of deaths were finally facing the end of their days thanks to a very simple, yet new concept developed by the greatest minds of the past century“ Vaccination”. Thi …

Pancreatic cancer survival rates Despite recent advances in our understanding of this disease, pancreatic cancer is one of the world’s most lethal malignancies. Although the disease accounts for only about 3% of all cancers, it is regarded as the 7th leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide (Siegel, R et al., 2019). Worryingly, the overall 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is less than 6%; where most patients die within 3 to 8 months after diagnosis and can be regarded as the ultimate death penalty. Chemoresistance and radioresistance are leading to tumour recurrence and metastatic lesions with enhanced aggressiveness, and …

The Complement System Function Gone are the days when the complement system was considered solely a companion of its impressive adaptive immune system counterpart. Research in recent decades has demonstrated that complement cascade components play intricate roles in processes spanning from traditional innate defence to angiogenesis, bone metabolism and neural development. These ultimately homeostatic activities demonstrate that the complement system as a whole adopts a key role in immune surveillance (Ricklin et al., 2010; Reis et al., 2018). What was once thought to be a single protein responsible for enhancing antibody-mediated lysis of target ce …