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The New Phytologist Aug 2020The developmental program by which plants respond is tightly controlled by a complex cascade in which photoreceptors perceive and transduce the light signals that drive... (Review)
Review
The developmental program by which plants respond is tightly controlled by a complex cascade in which photoreceptors perceive and transduce the light signals that drive signaling processes and direct the transcriptional reprogramming, yielding specific cellular responses. The molecular mechanisms involved in the transcriptional regulation include light-regulated nuclear localization (the phytochromes and UVR8) and nuclear accumulation (the cryptochrome, cry2) of photoreceptors. This regulatory cascade also includes master regulatory transcription factors (TFs) that bridge photoreceptor activation with chromatin remodeling and regulate the expression of numerous light-responsive genes. Light signaling-related TFs often function as signal convergence points in concert with TFs in other signaling pathways to integrate complex endogenous and environmental cues that help the plant adapt to the surrounding environment. Increasing evidence suggests that chromatin modifications play a critical role in regulating light-responsive gene expression and provide an additional layer of light signaling regulation. Here, we provide an overview of our current knowledge of the transcriptional regulatory network involved in the light response, particularly the roles of TFs and chromatin in regulating light-responsive gene expression.
Topics: Cryptochromes; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Regulatory Networks; Light Signal Transduction; Phytochrome; Plants
PubMed: 32289880
DOI: 10.1111/nph.16602 -
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2023Cold stress is a major factor influencing the geographical distribution of soybean growth and causes immense losses in productivity. Understanding the molecular... (Review)
Review
Cold stress is a major factor influencing the geographical distribution of soybean growth and causes immense losses in productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that the soybean has undergone to survive cold temperatures will have immense value in improving soybean cold tolerance. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in soybean response to cold. We summarized the recent studies on soybean cold-tolerant quantitative trait loci (QTLs), transcription factors, associated cold-regulated () genes, and the regulatory pathways in response to cold stress. Cold-tolerant QTLs were found to be overlapped with the genomic region of maturity loci of , , , pubescence color locus of , stem growth habit gene locus of , and leaf shape locus of , indicating that pleiotropic loci may control multiple traits, including cold tolerance. The C-repeat responsive element binding factors (CBFs) are evolutionarily conserved across species. The expression of most was upregulated by cold stress and overexpression of in soybean protoplast, and transgenic Arabidopsis plants can increase the expression of genes with the DRE core motif in their promoter regions under cold stress. Other soybean cold-responsive regulators, such as , , , , and so on, enhance cold tolerance by regulating the expression of genes in transgenic Arabidopsis. CBF-dependent and CBF-independent pathways are cross-talking and work together to activate cold stress gene expression. Even though it requires further dissection for precise understanding, the function of soybean cold-responsive transcription factors and associated genes studied in Arabidopsis shed light on the molecular mechanism of cold responses in soybeans and other crops. Furthermore, the findings may also provide practical applications for breeding cold-tolerant soybean varieties in high-latitude and high-altitude regions.
PubMed: 36771543
DOI: 10.3390/plants12030459 -
Frontiers in Plant Science 2022Wounding not only induces the expression of damage-responsive genes, but also initiates physiological changes, such as tissue repair, vascular reconnection, and... (Review)
Review
Wounding not only induces the expression of damage-responsive genes, but also initiates physiological changes, such as tissue repair, vascular reconnection, and organogenesis in locally damaged tissues. Wound-induced signals also propagate from the site of wounding to distal organs to elicit a systemic response. Electrical signaling, which is the most conserved type of systemic signaling in eukaryotes, is triggered by wound-induced membrane potential changes. Changes in membrane potential spread toward systemic tissues in synergy with chemical and hydraulic signals. Here, we review current knowledge on wound-induced local and systemic responses in plants. We focus particularly on how wound-activated plasma membrane-localized ion channels and pumps propagate systemic information about wounding to induce downstream molecular responses in distal tissues. Finally, we propose future studies that could lead to a better understanding of plant electrical signals and their role in physiological responses to wounding.
PubMed: 35665138
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.880680 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2022Plant growth and development are greatly affected by the environment. Many genes have been identified to be involved in regulating plant development and adaption of... (Review)
Review
Plant growth and development are greatly affected by the environment. Many genes have been identified to be involved in regulating plant development and adaption of abiotic stress. Apart from protein-coding genes, more and more evidence indicates that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including small RNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), can target plant developmental and stress-responsive mRNAs, regulatory genes, DNA regulatory regions, and proteins to regulate the transcription of various genes at the transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and epigenetic level. Currently, the molecular regulatory mechanisms of sRNAs and lncRNAs controlling plant development and abiotic response are being deeply explored. In this review, we summarize the recent research progress of small RNAs and lncRNAs in plants, focusing on the signal factors, expression characters, targets functions, and interplay network of ncRNAs and their targets in plant development and abiotic stress responses. The complex molecular regulatory pathways among small RNAs, lncRNAs, and targets in plants are also discussed. Understanding molecular mechanisms and functional implications of ncRNAs in various abiotic stress responses and development will benefit us in regard to the use of ncRNAs as potential character-determining factors in molecular plant breeding.
Topics: Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Plant Development; Plants; RNA, Long Noncoding; RNA, Plant; RNA, Untranslated; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 35456943
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084124 -
Pharmacological Research Apr 2024Depression is a common disease that affects physical and mental health and imposes a considerable burden on afflicted individuals and their families worldwide.... (Review)
Review
Depression is a common disease that affects physical and mental health and imposes a considerable burden on afflicted individuals and their families worldwide. Depression is associated with a high rate of disability and suicide. It causes a severe decline in productivity and quality of life. Unfortunately, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying depression have not been fully elucidated, and the risk of its treatment is still presented. Studies have shown that the expression of autophagic markers in the brain and peripheral inflammatory mediators are dysregulated in depression. Autophagy-related genes regulate the level of autophagy and change the inflammatory response in depression. Depression is related to several aspects of immunity. The regulation of the immune system and inflammation by autophagy may lead to the development or deterioration of mental disorders. This review highlights the role of autophagy and neuroinflammation in the pathophysiology of depression, sumaries the autophagy-targeting small moleculars, and discusses a novel therapeutic strategy based on anti-inflammatory mechanisms that target autophagy to treat the disease.
Topics: Humans; Neuroinflammatory Diseases; Quality of Life; Autophagy; Antidepressive Agents
PubMed: 38403256
DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2024.107112 -
Seminars in Immunology Dec 2018The unprecedented increase of life expectancy challenges society to protect the elderly from morbidity and mortality making vaccination a crucial mean to safeguard this... (Review)
Review
The unprecedented increase of life expectancy challenges society to protect the elderly from morbidity and mortality making vaccination a crucial mean to safeguard this population. Indeed, infectious diseases, such as influenza and pneumonia, are among the top killers of elderly people in the world. Elderly individuals are more prone to severe infections and less responsive to vaccination prevention, due to immunosenescence combined with the progressive increase of a proinflammatory status characteristic of the aging process (inflammaging). These factors are responsible for most age-related diseases and correlate with poor response to vaccination. Therefore, it is of utmost interest to deepen the knowledge regarding the role of inflammaging in vaccination responsiveness to support the development of effective vaccination strategies designed for elderly. In this review we analyse the impact of age-associated factors such as inflammaging, immunosenescence and immunobiography on immune response to vaccination in the elderly, and we consider systems biology approaches as a mean for integrating a multitude of data in order to rationally design vaccination approaches specifically tailored for the elderly.
Topics: Aged; Aging; Animals; Datasets as Topic; Humans; Immunosenescence; Inflammation; Precision Medicine; Systems Biology; Vaccination
PubMed: 30501873
DOI: 10.1016/j.smim.2018.10.010 -
Frontiers in Chemistry 2021Of the multiple areas of applications of DNA nanotechnology, stimuli-responsive nanodevices have emerged as an elite branch of research owing to the advantages of... (Review)
Review
Of the multiple areas of applications of DNA nanotechnology, stimuli-responsive nanodevices have emerged as an elite branch of research owing to the advantages of molecular programmability of DNA structures and stimuli-responsiveness of motifs and DNA itself. These classes of devices present multiples areas to explore for basic and applied science using dynamic DNA nanotechnology. Herein, we take the stake in the recent progress of this fast-growing sub-area of DNA nanotechnology. We discuss different stimuli, motifs, scaffolds, and mechanisms of stimuli-responsive behaviours of DNA nanodevices with appropriate examples. Similarly, we present a multitude of biological applications that have been explored using DNA nanodevices, such as biosensing, pH-mapping, drug delivery, and therapy. We conclude by discussing the challenges and opportunities as well as future prospects of this emerging research area within DNA nanotechnology.
PubMed: 34277571
DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.704234 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2023Heterogeneity is a complex feature of cells and tissues with many interacting components. Depending on the nature of the research context, interacting features of... (Review)
Review
Heterogeneity is a complex feature of cells and tissues with many interacting components. Depending on the nature of the research context, interacting features of cellular, drug response, genetic, molecular, spatial, temporal, and vascular heterogeneity may be present. We describe the various forms of heterogeneity with examples of their interactions and how they play a role in affecting cellular phenotype and drug responses in breast cancer. While cellular heterogeneity may be the most widely described and invoked, many forms of heterogeneity are evident within the tumor microenvironment and affect responses to the endocrine and cytotoxic drugs widely used in standard clinical care. Drug response heterogeneity is a critical determinant of clinical response and curative potential and also is multifaceted when encountered. The interactive nature of some forms of heterogeneity is readily apparent. For example, the process of metastasis has the properties of both temporal and spatial heterogeneity within the host, whereas each individual metastatic deposit may exhibit cellular, genetic, molecular, and vascular heterogeneity. This review describes the many forms of heterogeneity, their integrated activities, and offers some insights into how heterogeneity may be understood and studied in the future.
Topics: Humans; Antineoplastic Agents; Neoplasms; Tumor Microenvironment
PubMed: 36909339
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1083048 -
Research (Washington, D.C.) 2020With controllable size, biocompatibility, porosity, injectability, responsivity, diffusion time, reaction, separation, permeation, and release of molecular species,... (Review)
Review
With controllable size, biocompatibility, porosity, injectability, responsivity, diffusion time, reaction, separation, permeation, and release of molecular species, hydrogel microparticles achieve multiple advantages over bulk hydrogels for specific biomedical procedures. Moreover, so far studies mostly concentrate on local responses of hydrogels to chemical and/or external stimuli, which significantly limit the scope of their applications. Tetherless micromotors are autonomous microdevices capable of converting local chemical energy or the energy of external fields into motive forces for self-propelled or externally powered/controlled motion. If hydrogels can be integrated with micromotors, their applicability can be significantly extended and can lead to fully controllable responsive chemomechanical biomicromachines. However, to achieve these challenging goals, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and motive mechanisms of hydrogel micromotors need to be simultaneously integrated. This review summarizes recent achievements in the field of micromotors and hydrogels and proposes next steps required for the development of hydrogel micromotors, which become increasingly important for and bioapplications.
PubMed: 32728669
DOI: 10.34133/2020/7659749 -
Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology Aug 2018Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food antigen-driven gastrointestinal disease that is characterized by esophageal eosinophilia. Currently, there are no Food... (Review)
Review
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food antigen-driven gastrointestinal disease that is characterized by esophageal eosinophilia. Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments for EoE, but the two most commonly prescribed therapies include topical corticosteroids and food elimination diets. Clinical trials have revealed a significant proportion of cases that are resistant to topical corticosteroids, and although we define EoE as a food antigen-driven disease, not all patients with EoE respond to elimination diets or even elemental diets. The varied response to treatments highlights the heterogeneity of EoE and the need for new treatment strategies. Despite the clinical differences in treatment response, predicting the outcome remains difficult since factors including age, histologic severity at diagnosis, atopic history, and anthropometrics are not predictive of treatment response. In our practice at an academic pediatric referral center, we observe distinct clinical EoE phenotypes, including cases with atopy, connective tissue disorders, or responsiveness to a proton pump inhibitor. Similar to the work in progress with asthma, stratification of patients with EoE by clinical phenotypes and/or molecular endotypes will likely assist with therapy selection and prediction of natural history. Molecular analysis with gene expression panels also shows promise in helping us classify patients based on molecular endotypes. In additional to the clinical and molecular classifications, more accurate histologic diagnostic criteria for EoE may help us tease out small differences between patient cohorts. Despite the leaps in knowledge over the past decade regarding EoE pathogenesis, it remains a challenge to predict the response to treatment. Future studies focused on molecular, genetic, and immunologic analyses of larger patient cohorts are needed to assist in identifying EoE phenotypes and endotypes as we attempt to improve patient outcomes in pediatric EoE.
Topics: Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Biomarkers, Pharmacological; Child; Diet Therapy; Eosinophilic Esophagitis; Genetic Testing; Humans; Immunologic Tests; Pathology, Molecular; Phenotype; Prognosis; Proton Pump Inhibitors; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 29270819
DOI: 10.1007/s12016-017-8658-8