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The rapidly developing field of targeted analysis of metagenomes focuses on retrieving information about specific genes and/or genome(s) from environmental DNA. The traditional shotgun sequencing methods overemphasise dominant microorganisms and often fail to confidently assign the entirety of the analysed genetic material to specific species, genomovars, or strains. The ultimate goal of the targeted methods is to overcome this limitation of throughput and precision of current shotgun metagenomics when analysing complex microbial communities in the quest of refined information. Here, we discuss recent technological advances that are designed to focus the analytical power of diagnostic tools like sequencing, towards phylogenetically or functionally distinct and rare microbial groups and enhance e.g. the confidence in the assignment of genetic elements to their respective owning organisms. We specifically showcase the capabilities of these technological advances for targeted analysis of metagenomes, identify suitable related applications, discuss methodological limitations, and propose solutions for addressing these limitations. This review aspires to inspire highly relevant experimental designs in the future that will unlock unknown and important aspects of microbial ecology, and the yet-uncultivated microbial majority.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2025.108619 | DOI Listing |
J Pathol Transl Med
September 2025
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China.
Background: C-C motif chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) is a crucial chemokine that plays a fundamental role in the immune microenvironment and is closely linked to the development of various cancers. Despite its importance, there is limited research regarding the expression and function of CCL3 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Therefore, this study seeks to examine the expression of CCL3 and assess its clinical significance in NPC using bioinformatics analysis and experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that acts as a central regulator of inflammation and immune responses across diverse organ systems. Functioning upstream in immune activation cascades, MIF influences macrophage polarization, T and B cell differentiation, and cytokine expression through CD74, CXCR2/4/7, and downstream signaling via NF-κB, ERK1/2, and PI3K/AKT pathways. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of MIF's mechanistic functions under both physiological and pathological conditions, highlighting its dual role as a protective mediator during acute stress and as a pro-inflammatory amplifier in chronic disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell Physiol Biochem
September 2025
Department of General Practice, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China, E-Mail:
Background/aims: Ubiquitin D (UBD), a member of the ubiquitin-like modifier (UBL) family, is significantly overexpressed in various cancers and is positively correlated with tumor progression. However, the role and underlying mechanisms of UBD in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of UBD knockdown on the progression of RA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerg Microbes Infect
September 2025
Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Hypervirulent (hvKp) and classical multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains belong to distinct lineages and hvKp are typically characterized by hypermucoid capsules that have been shown to limit horizontal gene transfer (HGT), including plasmid acquisition. However, the convergence of hypervirulence and MDR is increasingly common worldwide. When we profiled 127 antibiotic-susceptible hvKp strains, we found that most (86%) are highly permissive to plasmid transfer despite their capsules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanoscale
September 2025
School of Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221005, India.
Early-stage cancer diagnosis is considered a grand challenge, and even though advanced analytical assays have been established through molecular biology techniques, there are still clinical limitations. For example, low concentration of target biomarkers at early stages of cancer, background values from the healthy cells, individual variation, and factors like DNA mutations, remain the limiting factor in early cancer detection. Volatile organic compound (VOC) biomarkers in exhaled breath are produced during cancer cell metabolism, and therefore may present a promising way to diagnose cancer at the early stage since they can be detected both rapidly and non-invasively.
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