TNF-α was discovered more then 20 years ago as a cytokine implicated in a wide range of cell signaling pathways, many of which are known to lead to the activation of genes involved in inflammation and carcinogenesis. TNF-α is involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including Crohn's disease, diabetes, septic shock, tumorigenesis, rheumatoid ...
Garlic-derived organosulfur compounds including diallyl polysulfides are well known for various health-beneficial properties and recent reports even point to a potential role of diallyl polysulfides as chemopreventive and therapeutic agents in cancer treatment due to their selective antiproliferative effects. In this respect, diallyl tri- and tetra...
Due to high prevalence and slow progression of prostate cancer, primary prevention appears to be attractive strategy for its eradication. During the last decade, curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a natural compound from the root of turmeric (Curcuma longa), was described as a potent chemopreventive agent. Curcumin exhibits anti-inflammatory, anticarcin...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent a class of small (21–23 nucleotides) non-coding RNAs that emerged as key post-transcriptional gene regulators, implicated in numerous physiological and pathological processes. Currently, a main focus of miRNA research is related to the roles of miRNAs in cancer development. The biogenesis and modes of action of miRNAs h...
Aurones [2-benzylidenebenzofuran-3(2H)-ones] are either natural or synthetic compounds, belonging to the flavonoid family. They are isomeric to flavones and provide a bright yellow color to the plants in which they occur. Today, a literature survey indicates that the related flavonoids have been studied not only for their physiological properties a...
Neuroblastoma is a common embryonal malignancy in which high-stage cases have a poor prognosis, often associated with resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. DNA methylation alterations are frequent in neuroblastoma and can modulate sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs in other cancers, suggesting that manipulation of epigenetic modifications could ...
Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for 2100 reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic se...
Investigation of aqueous methanol extracts of the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena KAC 66 led to the isolation of the nodulopeptins 899, 901 and 917. The chemical structures were determined using high-resolution NMR and MS-data. The stereochemistry of the amino-acid residues was realized by LC–MS analysis using Marfey’s reagent. The bioactivity o...
The aberrant activation of the wingless (Wnt) signaling pathway is a key element involved in carcinogenesis as Wnt regulates a variety of cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, survival, apoptosis and cell motility. Upon Wnt receptor activation, the canonical "Wnt/beta-catenin" as well as the non canonical "Wnt/planar cell pol...
Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) proteins were described as a family of latent cytosolic transcription factors whose activation is dependent on phosphorylation via growth factor- and cytokine-membrane receptors including interferon and interleukin, or by non-receptor intracellular tyrosine kinases, including Src. A vast maj...
