Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer associated with a poor prognosis. This carcinoma was named after its presumed cell of origin, the Merkel cell, which is a mechanoreceptor cell located in the basal epidermal layer of the skin. Merkel cell polyomavirus seems to be the major causal factor for MCC because approximately 80% of all MCCs are positive for viral DNAs. ...

Macroautophagy (hereafter called autophagy) is a process where proteins, organelles and intracellular micro-organisms are degraded by the lysosome. The autophagosome engulfs a part of the cytoplasm where the cargo is, and transports it to the endosomal-lysosomal system for degradation. Autophagy can also be selective, where cargos are recognized directly by the autophagy receptors or by other proteins ...

Many distinct polyomaviruses infecting a variety of vertebrate hosts have recently been discovered, and their complete genome sequence could often be determined. To accommodate this fast-growing diversity, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) <i>Polyomaviridae</i> Study Group designed a host- and sequence-based rationale for an updated taxonomy of the family <i>Polyomaviridae</i>. ...

Antidepressants are the most common treatment of depression, one of the leading causes of suicide and disability worldwide. Currently marketed antidepressants have certain limitations; they have a delayed response time, only about 1/3 of the patients respond to the first agent prescribed, and many of them produce side effects that reduce the quality of life. The need for more efficacious and ...

Background<br> Approximately 15%–20% of all diagnosed breast cancers are characterized by amplified and overexpressed HER2 (= ErbB2). These breast cancers are aggressive and have a poor prognosis. Although improvements in treatment have been achieved after the introduction of trastuzumab and lapatinib, many patients do not benefit from these drugs. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the mechanisms ...

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) causes 5-10 % of breast cancer cases and 25 % of ovarian cancer cases. About 24 % of HBOC are caused by deleterious variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Currently, more than 25 different genes have been associated with HBOC, including BRCA1 and BRCA2, many of which encode proteins participating in homologous recombination repair (HRR) and mismatch repair (MMR). ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies towards nuclear antigens. Sub-populations of anti-dsDNA antibodies have the potential to bind in the kidney and thereby induce nephritis, but there is no definite distinction that separates non-pathogenic from pathogenic antibodies. There must be parameters that determine anti-dsDNA antibody binding, ...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disorder found mostly in elderly people. The role of mechanical behavior in the progression of OA is complex and remains unclear. The stress-relaxation behavior of human articular cartilage in clinically defined osteoarthritic stages may have importance in diagnosis and prognosis of OA. In this study, we investigated differences in the biomechanical responses ...

Background: Infections with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are increasingly being reported from patients in healthcare settings. They are associated with high patient morbidity, attributable mortality and hospital costs. Patients who are “at-risk” may be carriers of these multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (MDR-E). The purpose of this guidance is to raise awareness and identify ...

Neuroblastoma is a peripheral neural system tumor that originates from the neural crest and is the most common and deadly tumor of infancy. Here we show that neuroblastoma harbors frequent mutations of genes controlling the Rac/Rho signaling cascade important for proper migration and differentiation of neural crest cells during neuritogenesis. RhoA is activated in tumors from neuroblastoma ...