The microRNA profile of brain-derived extracellular vesicles: A promising step forward in developing pharmacodynamic biomarkers for psychiatric disorders.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have the potential to affect drug metabolism, and some drugs affect cellular miRNA expression. miRNAs are found inside extracellular vesicles (EVs), and the profile of these EV-miRNAs can change across different diseases and disease states. Consequently, in recent years EV-miRNAs have attracted increasing attention as possible non-invasive biomarkers.

Turmeric Root and Its Bioactive Ingredient Curcumin Effectively Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 In Vitro.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The availability of effective and well-tolerated antiviral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients is still very limited. Traditional herbal medicines elicit antiviral activity against various viruses and might therefore represent a promising option for the complementary treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Nuclear Accumulation of LAP1:TRF2 Complex during DNA Damage Response Uncovers a Novel Role for LAP1.

Lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1) is a nuclear envelope (NE) protein whose function remains poorly characterized. In a recent LAP1 protein interactome study, a putative regulatory role in the DNA damage response (DDR) has emerged and telomeric repeat-binding factor 2 (TRF2), a protein intimately associated with this signaling pathway, was among the list of LAP1 interactors. To gain insights into LAP1's physiological properties, the interaction with TRF2 in human cells exposed to DNA-damaging agents was investigated.

Proteomics for blood biomarker exploration of severe mental illness: pitfalls of the past and potential for the future.

Recent improvements in high-throughput proteomic approaches are likely to constitute an essential advance in biomarker discovery, holding promise for improved personalized care and drug development. These methodologies have been applied to study multivariate protein patterns and provide valuable data of peripheral tissues. To highlight findings of the last decade for three of the most common psychiatric disorders, namely schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD), we queried PubMed.

CK2-dependent phosphorylation determines cellular localization and stability of ataxin-3.

The nuclear presence of the expanded disease proteins is of critical importance for the pathogeneses of polyglutamine diseases. Here we show that protein casein kinase 2 (CK2)-dependent phosphorylation controls the nuclear localization, aggregation and stability of ataxin-3 (ATXN3), the disease protein in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3). Serine 340 and 352 within the third ubiquitin-interacting motif of ATXN3 were particularly important for nuclear localization of normal and expanded ATXN3 and mutation of these sites robustly reduced the formation of nuclear inclusions; a putative nuclear leader sequence was not required.