Review
Plant Sciences
Yunzhuan Zhou, Fuxiang Xu, Yanan Shao, Junna He
Summary: As global warming intensifies, the earth's average temperature continues to rise. Plants have developed two main mechanisms, the heat stress response and the thermomorphogenesis response, to cope with elevated temperatures. This review summarizes recent progress in understanding these heat-responsive molecular regulatory pathways in plants and discusses future perspectives in this field.
Review
Plant Sciences
Fengxia Tian, Xiao-Li Hu, Tao Yao, Xiaohan Yang, Jin-Gui Chen, Meng-Zhu Lu, Jin Zhang
Summary: Global warming poses a threat to plant life, with heat shock response (HSR) playing a crucial role in protecting cellular homeostasis, especially for perennial trees. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of HSR in woody plants is essential for predicting how they will respond to climate changes.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pia Roos-Mattjus, Lea Sistonen
Summary: Heat-shock factors (HSFs) are a family of transcription factors with a wide range of target genes, playing crucial roles in normal development and linked to various diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. The regulatory mechanisms of HSFs and their specific target gene selection under different conditions remain unclear, with posttranslational modifications and interplay among family members being key regulatory mechanisms.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Urszula Korotko, Karolina Chwialkowska, Izabela Sanko-Sawczenko, Miroslaw Kwasniewski
Summary: The study found that under heat stress, the level of DNA methylation decreases in Arabidopsis thaliana, especially after returning to normal conditions. Analysis of gene ontology enrichment and regulatory pathways showed that genes with differential DNA methylation are mainly associated with stress responses, including heat stress. This indicates an active demethylation phenomenon rather than passive demethylation under the influence of heat stress.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mengyao Li, Ran Zhang, Jin Zhou, Jiageng Du, Xiaoyan Li, Yong Zhang, Qing Chen, Yan Wang, Yuanxiu Lin, Yunting Zhang, Wen He, Xiaorong Wang, Aisheng Xiong, Ya Luo, Haoru Tang
Summary: High temperature stress is a significant abiotic stress that affects natural habitats and agriculturally significant plants worldwide. The HSF family is an important transcription factor family in plants that responds rapidly to heat and other abiotic stresses. This study identified and classified 29 AgHSFs in celery, and demonstrated their involvement in multiple biological processes. The functional validation of AgHSFa6-1 confirmed its role as a positive regulator in response to high temperature, enhancing thermotolerance in yeast and Arabidopsis and improving celery's thermotolerance through various mechanisms.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ayush Ranawade, Rati Sharma, Erel Levine
Summary: The Heat Shock Response (HSR) is a conserved genetic system that protects the proteome in organisms. Mathematical modeling has been crucial in understanding its regulation, but there are still many unanswered questions that can benefit from quantitative modeling.
Review
Plant Sciences
Baptiste Bourgine, Anthony Guihur
Summary: Heat stress events limit crop productivity, leading plants to accumulate heat-shock proteins (HSPs) for thermal protection. HSP chaperones play a critical role in regulating protein folding and preventing misfolded protein formation, thereby avoiding heat-induced cell death. The HSP20 family is tightly repressed at low temperatures, suggesting a costly mechanism that can become detrimental under unnecessary conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yunzhuan Zhou, Yue Wang, Fuxiang Xu, Cunxu Song, Xi Yang, Zhao Zhang, Mingfang Yi, Nan Ma, Xiaofeng Zhou, Junna He
Summary: This study provides insights into potential heat response patterns in bulbous plants by conducting RNA sequencing on lilies under heat treatments. The findings highlight the crucial roles of small HSPs in mediating the crosstalk between HSF-HSP and ROS pathways in heat stress response of lilies, laying the foundation for understanding the mechanism of heat stress in bulbous plants.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhenyu Ma, Mingyue Li, Huaning Zhang, Baihui Zhao, Zihui Liu, Shuonan Duan, Xiangzhao Meng, Guoliang Li, Xiulin Guo
Summary: High temperature reduces crop production, especially wheat. A novel splice variant, TaHsfA2-7-AS, was induced by heat and positively regulated thermotolerance in wheat. TaHsfA2-7-AS encodes a truncated isoform and its expression is up-regulated during heat shock.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Abdulhakim A. Aldubai, Abdullah A. Alsadon, Hussein H. Migdadi, Salem S. Alghamdi, Sulieman A. Al-Faifi, Muhammad Afzal
Summary: This study aimed to determine the response of tomato to heat stress under different temperature conditions and characterized the heat shock genes in tomato genotypes. The results showed that heat shock factor genes play an important role in plant heat tolerance pathways, and different genotypes have different responses to high-temperature stress.
Article
Plant Sciences
Kunliang Xie, Jinliang Guo, Shaoyu Wang, Wenjie Ye, Fengli Sun, Chao Zhang, Yajun Xi
Summary: This study identified the Hsf family in switchgrass and revealed its functional role in heat stress signal transduction and heat tolerance. PvHsf03 and PvHsf25 were found to play critical roles in the early and late stages of switchgrass response to heat stress, respectively, while HsfB mainly showed a negative response to heat stress. Additionally, ectopic expression of PvHsf03 significantly increased the heat resistance of Arabidopsis seedlings. This research provides a notable foundation for studying the regulatory network in response to deleterious environments and for further excavating tolerance genes in switchgrass.
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Adity Majee, Diksha Kumari, Vidhu A. Sane, Rajesh Kumar Singh
Summary: The thermotolerant ability of heat shock factors (HSFs) and heat shock proteins (HSPs) in plants has been studied, with recent focus on their function in non-stress plant growth and development. Their involvement in flowering has been suggested, as lower levels of HSFs/HSPs affect flowering in Arabidopsis. Genetic and molecular studies of Arabidopsis mutants have identified an association between HSFs/HSPs and temperature-mediated regulation of flowering, but the underlying genetic mechanism remains unclear. This article outlines the possible integration between HSFs/HSPs and temperature-dependent pathways in plants regulating flowering, and discusses similar pathways in thermoperiodic geophytic plants.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Margaret K. Kurop, Cormac M. Huyen, John H. Kelly, Brian S. J. Blagg
Summary: The heat shock response is a conserved cellular pathway that activates heat shock proteins to alleviate stress and refold denatured proteins. Pathological conditions can negatively impact HSR function and lead to misfolded protein aggregation.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Ariadni Androvitsanea, Kostas Stylianou, Eleni Drosataki, Ioannis Petrakis
Summary: Research has shown that heat-shock proteins can have varying effects on the immune system, either triggering immune responses or alleviating them, which is important for studying and treating autoimmune diseases.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Megha Sharma, Shivanti Negi, Pankaj Kumar, Dinesh Kumar Srivastava, Mani Kant Choudhary, Mohammad Irfan
Summary: Crop production is greatly affected by climate change, particularly by rising temperatures and heat stress. Plants have evolved adaptive mechanisms to cope with these stresses, and the phytohormone ethylene plays a crucial role in regulating stress responses and crop productivity. Recent studies have shown that heat stress significantly affects fruit quality and ripening by altering the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling genes, resulting in substantial loss of fruit yield and postharvest stability. However, the interplay between ethylene, ripening, and heat stress is still not well understood.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Ana P. Spencer, Marilia Torrado, Beatriz Custodio, Sara C. Silva-Reis, Sofia D. Santos, Victoria Leiro, Ana P. Pego
Article
Oncology
Christoph Niemietz, Filipa Bezerra, Maria Rosario Almeida, Shuling Guo, Brett P. Monia, Maria Joao Saraiva, Paula Schuetz, Hartmut H-J Schmidt, Andree Zibert
EXPERIMENTAL CELL RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Immunology
Joao Moreira, Susete Costelha, Margarida Saraiva, Maria Joao Saraiva
Summary: Inflammation is a key feature of neurodegenerative disorders like ATTRv. Compared to wild type animals, chemokine expression is significantly downregulated in the peripheral nervous system of a mouse model of the disease, possibly due to a mechanism that leads to the inactivation of TTR activation in patients.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joana Magalhaes, Jessica Eira, Marcia Almeida Liz
Summary: TTR is an extracellular protein involved in transporting thyroxin and retinol, but can also lead to amyloidosis. Recent studies show novel cellular activities of TTR, suggesting potential impacts on brain health, cellular fate, and metabolism beyond its known carrier functions.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Sofia Alcada-Morais, Nelio Goncalves, Veronica Moreno-Juan, Belen Andres, Sofia Ferreira, Joana M. Marques, Joana Magalhaes, Joao M. M. Rocha, Xinli Xu, Matilde Partidario, Rodrigo A. Cunha, Guillermina Lopez-Bendito, Ricardo J. Rodrigues
Summary: The study found that A(2A)R controls the radial migration of cortical projection neurons, not just the tangential migration of somatostatin(+) interneurons. Furthermore, A(2A)R plays a crucial role in the multipolar-bipolar transition and axon formation of the latter.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Filipa Bezerra, Christoph Niemietz, Hartmut H. J. Schmidt, Andree Zibert, Shuling Guo, Brett P. Monia, Paula Goncalves, Maria Joao Saraiva, Maria Rosario Almeida
Summary: The SerpinA1 plays an important role in regulating the proteolysis and aggregation of transthyretin. Downregulation of SerpinA1 leads to increased TTR levels in mice plasma and deposition in the cardiac tissue.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joana Magalhaes, Emilie Tresse, Patrick Ejlerskov, Erling Hu, Yawei Liu, Andrea Marin, Alexia Montalant, Letizia Satriano, Carsten Friis Rundsten, Eva Maria Meier Carlsen, Rasmus Rydbirk, Ali Sharifi-Zarchi, Jesper Boje Andersen, Susana Aznar, Tomasz Brudek, Konstantin Khodosevich, Marco Prinz, Jean-Francois Marie Perrier, Manu Sharma, Thomas Gasser, Shohreh Issazadeh-Navikas
Summary: Familial Parkinson disease (PD) is associated with rare genetic mutations, however, most patients with sporadic (s)PD have largely unknown etiology and poorly characterized basis for progression to dementia (sPDD). Loss of IFN beta or IFNAR1 causes pathological and behavioral changes resembling PDD, suggesting dysregulated genes in the IFN beta-IFNAR signaling pathway may predispose to sPD. Transcriptomic analysis revealed defective neuronal IFN beta-IFNAR signaling, with elevated PIAS2 expression associated with sPDD. Meta-analysis of GWASs identified sequence variants in IFN beta-IFNAR-related genes in sPD patients, while sPDD patients showed higher levels of PIAS2 mRNA and protein in neurons.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aubin Michalon, Andreas Hagenbuch, Christian Huy, Evita Varela, Benoit Combaluzier, Thibaud Damy, Ole B. Suhr, Maria J. Saraiva, Christoph Hock, Roger M. Nitsch, Jan Grimm
Summary: Through analyzing memory B cell repertoires of healthy elderly, researchers developed a selective human antibody that removes cardiac amyloid by recruiting phagocytic immune cells.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Maurizio Gulino, Sofia Duque Santos, Ana Paula Pego
Summary: Platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) have diverse applications in medicine, including drug delivery and surface coating on biomedical devices. Studies show that PtNPs have limited impact on cell viability in normal conditions and do not exacerbate tissue responses under neuropathological induced scenarios. However, PtNPs can cause microglial cell activation and morphological alterations in certain brain regions. Further research is needed to ensure the safe use of PtNPs and develop more biocompatible nanoparticles for brain applications.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Jessica Eira, Joana Magalhaes, Nidia Macedo, Maria Elena Pero, Thomas Misgeld, Monica M. Sousa, Francesca Bartolini, Marcia A. Liz
Summary: TTR plays a role in promoting axon elongation by modulating microtubule dynamics and alpha-tubulin acetylation, and TTR knockout results in increased dynamic microtubules and decreased regenerative capacity of axons.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xinli Xu, Rui O. Beleza, Francisco Q. Goncalves, Sergio Valbuena, Sofia Alcada-Morais, Nelio Goncalves, Joana Magalhaes, Joao M. M. Rocha, Sofia Ferreira, Ana S. G. Figueira, Juan Lerma, Rodrigo A. Cunha, Ricardo J. Rodrigues, Joana M. Marques
Summary: This study reveals that adenosine A(2A) receptors (A(2A)R) contribute to circuit remodeling in the mature brain, specifically in the hippocampal mossy fiber (MF) sprouting found in diseases like temporal lobe epilepsy. A(2A)R activation in dentate granule cells induces the formation of abnormal secondary axons, which is activated by extracellular ATP-derived adenosine. These findings highlight the role of the CD73-A(2A)R axis in regulating circuit remodeling in the mature brain.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Filipa Gaspar-Silva, Diogo Trigo, Joana Magalhaes
Summary: Ageing is characterized by the progressive loss of cellular homeostasis, leading to an overall decline of the organism's fitness. In the brain, ageing is highly associated with cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. This review focuses on the molecular/cellular hallmarks associated with brain ageing, the impact of systemic ageing on brain ageing, and the rejuvenating strategies that have shown success in delaying brain ageing and related diseases.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Debora A. Moreira, Sofia D. Santos, Victoria Leiro, Ana P. Pego
Summary: Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects over 30 million people worldwide and is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid beta peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates in the brain. Currently, there are limited approved drugs for AD treatment, and the majority of patients have no disease-modifying options. Nanobiomaterials, especially dendrimers, offer potential as multifunctional and multitargeted therapies for AD. Dendrimers have unique characteristics as drug carriers and also display anti-amyloidogenic properties. This review discusses the properties of dendrimers and derivatives that make them excellent AD nanotherapeutics, their use as drugs, and the challenges in their clinical application.
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Maria Lopes, Marilia Torrado, Daryl Barth, Sofia D. Santos, Melike Sever-Bahcekapili, Ayse B. Tekinay, Mustafa O. Guler, Franck Cleymand, Ana P. Pego, Joao Borges, Joao F. Mano
Summary: Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are effective molecular building blocks for self-assembling nanobiomaterials. This study developed a simple approach to recreate the native neural extracellular matrix (ECM) using electrostatic-driven supramolecular presentation of a laminin-derived IKVAV-containing self-assembling PA (IKVAV-PA). The bioactive ECM-mimetic supramolecular nanofilms promote primary neuronal cells' adhesion, viability, morphology, and neurite outgrowth, making them promising for neural tissue regeneration.
BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Raquel L. Pereira, Daniela Oliveira, Ana P. Pego, Sofia D. Santos, Felismina T. C. Moreira
Summary: This study reports a novel electrochemical miRNA biosensor for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The biosensor, based on carbon screen-printed electrodes modified with gold nanostructures and a complementary anti-miR-34a oligonucleotide probe, showed good target affinity and selectivity. The biosensor displayed a wide linearity range and low detection limit, and it was not affected by serum compounds. Additionally, the biosensor successfully detected miR-34a in the cell culture medium. These findings suggest that the proposed biosensor could serve as a new, inexpensive, and minimally invasive tool for the early diagnosis of AD.
BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY
(2023)