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Morphological variation among corticothalamic terminals implies diverse function of layer 5 projections

Kevin P Koster and Briana J Carroll

forebrain circuitry, cortical laminae, neuronal properties, structure and function

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Postdocs are doing it for themselves: peer mentorship and why it matters

Peter S Myers, PhD, Catherine R Hoyt, PhD, OTD, OTR/L2

Postdoctoral training offers an opportunity to further develop as a researcher, leader, and educator and is often required to be considered competitive in one’s career path. This means that quality mentorship plays an enormous role in one’s individual success,

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A timeseries analysis of the fracture callus extracellular matrix proteome during bone fracture healing

Christopher B. Erickson, Ryan Hill, Donna Pascablo, Galateia Kazakia, Kirk Hansen, Chelsea Bahney

While most bones fully self-heal, certain diseases require bone allograft to assist with fracture healing. Bone allografts offer promise as treatments for such fractures due to their osteogenic properties.

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Bacteria: our ally in the fight against cancer

Bhavana Kushwaha and Manish Charan

Cancer heterogeneity and development of resistance is the main limiting factor for the management and treatment of the disease.

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The conflicting role of SIRT3 as therapeutic target in cancer

Patrick M. Schaefer, Devyani Bhosale

Mitochondria are increasingly recognized as key factors in cancer, affecting a multitude of tumor hallmarks. Likewise, sirtuin 3, a master regulator of mitochondrial function, has gained attention as a therapeutic target in cancer.

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RNA oxidation: Role of polynucleotide phosphorylase in the quality control of oxidized RNA

Sulochan Malla, and Alexander Kwakye

Reactive oxygen species is one of the most common cellular RNA damaging agents in living organisms. A growing number of studies show a strong correlation between oxidatively damaged RNA and human diseases, predominantly age-related neurodegenerative disorders.

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Differences in Therapeutic Efficacy in Pancreatic Cancer Between Interstitial and Superficial Light Delivery Strategies in Targeted Photo Therapy

Nzola De Magalhães

The purpose of this study was to determine if therapeutic efficacy of a Cetuximab based near-infrared (NIR) targeted photo therapy (TPT) was dependent on light delivery strategies.

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In silico screening for investigating the potential activity of phytoligands against SARS-CoV-2

Acharya Balkrishna, Pallavi Thakur, Shivam Singh, Namita Singh, Ankit Tanwar, and Rakesh Kumar Sharma

SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19, a life-threatening respiratory illness with high rates of morbidity and mortality. As of date, there is no specific medicine to treat COVID-19.

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Cell type resolved co-expression networks of core clock genes in brain development

Surbhi Sharma, Asgar Hussain Ansari, Soundhar Ramasamy

The circadian clock regulates vital cellular processes by adjusting the physiology of the organism to daily changes in the environment. Rhythmic transcription of core Clock Genes (CGs) and their targets regulate these processes at the cellular level.

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Drug testing and delivery techniques for the in vivo tumor spheroid based shell-less chorioallantoic membrane model

Nzola De Magalhães

We have previously published in detail our methodology of developing the novel tumor spheroid-based shell-less chicken embryo Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) model, and its applications in biomedical research.

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Unique cesium-binding sites in proteins, a case study with the sacrificial sulfur transferase LarE

Matthias Fellner

Crystallography was used to characterize the cesium-binding sites in the sacrificial sulfur transferase LarE from Lactobacillus plantarum. Cs+ binding was unique when compared to a large range of other previously investigated metals.

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The role of wild-type tau in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies

Chih Hung Lo and Jonathan N. Sachs

Tau oligomers have recently emerged as the principal toxic species in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and tauopathies.

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Integration of spatial and non-spatial information by heterogeneous dentate gyrus granule cells

Xiaomin Zhang and Peter Jonas

The hippocampus is the key site for learning and memory and for processing of spatial information in the brain. It is divided into three main subregions:

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T cell receptor sequencing in autoimmunity

Angela M. Mitchell and Aaron W. Michels

T cells are an integral component of the adaptive immune response via the recognition of peptides by the cell surface-expressed T cell receptor (TCR).

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Modulating lysosomal pH: a molecular and nanoscale materials design perspective

Jialiu Zeng, Orian S. Shirihai and Mark W. Grinstaff

Lysosomes, membrane-bound organelles, play important roles in cellular processes including endocytosis, phagocytosis, and autophagy.

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Snapshot of miRNA biology - progress from 1993 to 2020

Vinny Negi and Balaram Ghosh

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs ~22nt in length that regulate gene expression post transcriptionally by binding to their 3’UTR.

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Understanding the complexity of Multiple Sclerosis: A short communication

Rashmi Wardhan, Ankit Tanwar Anil K Gupta, and Ruby Sharma

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex progressive, disabling neurological disease that involves both genetic and environmental factors with the pivotal role of immune cells.

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Gut delivery of Orsay virus capsid proteins induces longevity and hyperactive behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans

Priyanka Mishra, Lilly Hueber, Megan Cornall, Sheliza Shivji, Victoria Kooner, Michelle Mony, Brandon Kong, Aaron Chang, Zina Aburegeba, Laure Etzi, Alekesy Bikov, Frederic Pio.

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Mitochondrial respiratory chain composition and organization in response to changing oxygen levels

Alba Timón-Gómez and Antoni Barrientos

Mitochondria are the major consumer of oxygen in eukaryotic cells, owing to the requirement of oxygen to generate ATP through the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) and the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS).

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Engineering polymersomes for intracellular biopharmaceutics delivery

Min Qiu and Chao Deng

Biopharmaceutics, such as proteins, nucleic acids, antibodies, have emerged as promising candidates for the treatment of a variety of diseases due to their high specificity and greater bioactivity.

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Glutamine diet supplementation prevents obesity through inhibiting inflammation

Ying Yang

Obesity has become a serious health concern worldwide because it is associated with a higher risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and even certain types of cancers.

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EDITORIAL: The new age of the PhD: Transforming the PhD from a product to a process

Lakshanie Carmen Wickramasinghe and Jessica Geraldine Borger

In science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical (STEMM) discipline, one in three students graduate with a PhD, with the number of annual PhD completions doubling each year in most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

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Editorial: Vaccine Hesitancy

Michelle A. Linterman

Vaccination has been one of the most successful medical interventions to date, reducing the morbidity and mortality of vaccine-preventable infectious disease by over 90% in countries where vaccines are readily available.

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Combining immune checkpoint blockade with ErbB targeted therapies for cancer treatment

Zhida Liu, Chuanhui Han, Yang-Xin Fu

Aberrant EGFR family signaling pathways are well known as oncogenic drivers and account for several types of cancer with their functions in abnormally promoting cell proliferation and preventing cell apoptosis.

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The Emerging Role of Mitophagy in Kidney Diseases

Divya Bhatia, Mary E. Choi

Mitochondria fulfill the high metabolic energy demands of the kidney and are regularly exposed to oxidative stress causing mitochondrial damage.

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Regulation and New Treatment Strategies in Breast Cancer

Rosa-Maria Ferraiuolo, Kay-Uwe Wagner

Breast cancer classifications are based on the presence or absence of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor along with the overexpression or amplification of the Her2 receptor.

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Epigenetic Regulation of Cardiac Development and Disease through DNA Methylation

Yahui Lan and Todd Evans

Epigenetic control mechanisms play critical roles in organ development and tissue homeostasis.

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Kinases: The "Indispensables" of the DNA Damage Response Cascade

Vijay Menon and M. Michael Dcona

The human genome is exposed to a gamut of cellular and exogenous insults on a daily basis which needs to be monitored for proper cellular functioning and survival.

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Metabolic adaptations to glutamine deprivation in pancreatic cancer

Ying Yang, Mari B. Ishak Gabra, and Mei Kong

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a poorly vascularized malignancy, is one of the most lethal human cancers. Despite using chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, the survival rate remains largely dismal.

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JoLS, Journal of Life Sciences, a Postdoc Community Initiative

Nimrat Chatterjee, and Theo van den Broek

With great pleasure we welcome you to the first issue of the Journal of Life Sciences (JoLS), a postdoc community initiative. With the generation of this new journal, JoLS has set two major goals.

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Road to HIV cure; from Berlin to London and beyond

Theo van den Broek

Around 37 million people are living with HIV worldwide, with a million deaths due to HIV in 2017.

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Immune Control of HIV

Muthukumar Balasubramaniam, Jui Pandhare, and Chandravanu Dash

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of the immune cells expressing the cluster of differentiation 4 cell surface glycoprotein (CD4+ cells) causes progressive decline of the immune system and leads to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

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Capsid-CPSF6 interaction: Master regulator of nuclear HIV-1 positioning and integration

Vasudevan Achuthan, Jill M. Perreira, Jenny J. Ahn, Abraham L. Brass, Alan N. Engelman

HIV-1 integration favors active chromatin, which is primarily mediated through interactions between the viral capsid and integrase proteins with host factors cleavage and polyadenylation specificity

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Immunotherapy for hematological malignancies

Shuai Dong, and Irene M Ghobrial

Tumor immune tolerance remains a major barrier for effective anti-cancer therapy. A growing number of pathways whereby solid tumors escape immune surveillance have been characterized.

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How daily habits help you deal with stress

D. van Lith

Stress and burnouts are a serious issue for workers worldwide; approximately 1 in 5 workers feel burned out regularly. Burnouts cost societies worldwide billions each year.