Significance of the Monocyte CCR2-CCL2 Axis in Triple-negative Breast Cancer.

Background: The monocyte CCR2-CCL2 axis appears to play a crucial role in the generation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which subsequently promotes tumor metastasis and resistance to therapy.

Aims: Our study assessed the monocyte CCR2-CCL2 axis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and its ability to predict tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Methods: The study included 42 female patients diagnosed with TNBC and eligible for NAC.

The evaluation of the inflammatory status and systemic antioxidant-oxidant balance of women with breast cancer during adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Chemotherapy may cause systemic inflammation. Therefore, reliable markers monitoring inflammation during cancer treatment are intensively investigated. In our study, we analyzed the concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and selected oxidative stress markers, such as malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), in breast cancer women before and during adjuvant chemotherapy.

Comparing Mfd- and UvrD-dependent models of transcription coupled DNA repair in live Escherichia coli using single-molecule tracking.

During transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) the detection of DNA damage and initiation of nucleotide excision repair (NER) is performed by translocating RNA polymerases (RNAP), which are arrested upon encountering bulky DNA lesions. Two opposing models of the subsequent steps of TCR in bacteria exist. In the first model, stalled RNAPs are removed from the damage site by recruitment of Mfd which dislodges RNAP by pushing it forwards before recruitment of UvrA and UvrB.

Decreased toll-like receptor 4 and CD11b/CD18 expression on peripheral monocytes of hypertensive patients correlates with a lesser extent of endothelial damage: a preliminary study.

Background: Low-grade chronic inflammation is recognized to contribute to the physiopathology of arterial hypertension. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the pro-inflammatory phenotype of peripheral monocytes of hypertensive patients by analyzing Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and CD11b/CD18 surface expression. In the second part, the influence of phenotypic alterations of monocytes on the endothelial status reflected by circulating endothelial cells (CECs) was evaluated.

Gene Variants Related to Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases May Correlate with Severe Outcome of COVID-19.

Severe outcomes of COVID-19 account for up to 15% of all cases. The study aims to check if any gene variants related to cardiovascular (CVD) and pulmonary diseases (PD) are correlated with a severe outcome of COVID-19 in a Polish cohort of COVID-19 patients. In this study, a subset of 747 samples from unrelated individuals collected across Poland in 2020 and 2021 was used and whole-genome sequencing was performed.

The Thousand Polish Genomes-A Database of Polish Variant Allele Frequencies.

Although Slavic populations account for over 4.5% of world inhabitants, no centralised, open-source reference database of genetic variation of any Slavic population exists to date. Such data are crucial for clinical genetics, biomedical research, as well as archeological and historical studies.

A global effort to dissect the human genetic basis of resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

SARS-CoV-2 infections display tremendous interindividual variability, ranging from asymptomatic infections to life-threatening disease. Inborn errors of, and autoantibodies directed against, type I interferons (IFNs) account for about 20% of critical COVID-19 cases among SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. By contrast, the genetic and immunological determinants of resistance to infection per se remain unknown.

Single-molecule imaging of DNA gyrase activity in living Escherichia coli.

Bacterial DNA gyrase introduces negative supercoils into chromosomal DNA and relaxes positive supercoils introduced by replication and transiently by transcription. Removal of these positive supercoils is essential for replication fork progression and for the overall unlinking of the two duplex DNA strands, as well as for ongoing transcription. To address how gyrase copes with these topological challenges, we used high-speed single-molecule fluorescence imaging in live Escherichia coli cells.

Developmentally regulated expression and complex processing of barley pri-microRNAs.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression via mRNA cleavage or translation inhibition. In spite of barley being a cereal of great economic importance, very little data is available concerning its miRNA biogenesis. There are 69 barley miRNA and 67 pre-miRNA sequences available in the miRBase (release 19).