The marine opisthobranch Scaphander lignarius has been analyzed in the systematic search for novel bioactive compounds in Arctic marine organisms using bioassay guided fractionation. A number of highly cytotoxic fractions were shown to contain mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Selected PUFAs were isolated and identified using both liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and nuclear ...

Mold particles from <i>Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus versicolor</i>, and <i>Stachybotrys chartarum</i> have been linked to respiratory‐related diseases. We characterized X‐ray‐inactivated spores and hyphae fragments from these species by number of particles, morphology, and mycotoxin, β‐glucan and protease content/activity. The pro‐inflammatory properties of mold particles ...

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 ...

Enterococcus are a group of bacteria growing on different environmental condition behaving as a commensal as well as opportunistic pathogen. Among the enterococci, Enterococcus faecium is recently emerged as a nosocomial multi-resistance pathogen especially in the severely ill and immunocompromised patients causing a wide range of diseases like endocarditis, bacteraemia and urinary tract infections. ...

Invasive infection by multidrug-resistant Enterococcus faecium is increasingly becoming a healthcare concern. Few studies have addressed whether and how clinical E. faecium strains are able to outcompete commensal strains. This thesis aimed to characterize the in vitro competition between commensal and clinical E. faecium strains with respect to growth inhibition exerted by bacteriocins produced by ...

Excessive alcohol intake can alter the gut microbiota, which may underlie the pathophysiology of alcohol-related diseases. We examined gut microbiota composition and functions in patients with alcohol overconsumption for >10 years, compared to a control group of patients with a history of no or low alcohol intake. Faecal microbiota composition was assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Gut microbiota ...

Background: Clinical studies have reported overexpression of PDE5 and elevation of intracellular cyclic GMP in various types of cancer cells. ABCC5 transports intracellular cGMP out of the cells with high affinity, while PDE5 inhibitors prevent high affinity cGMP efflux by inhibiting ABCC5. Increasing intracellular cGMP levels through inhibition of PDE5 and PDE5 export activity is hypothesized ...

Expression and processing of mitochondrial gene transcripts are fundamental to mitochondrial function, but information from early vertebrates like teleost fishes is essentially lacking. We have analyzed mitogenome sequences of ten codfishes (family Gadidae), and provide complete sequences from three new species (Saithe, Pollack and Blue whiting). Characterization of the mitochondrial mRNAs in Saithe ...

microRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in regulation of many cellular processes. miRNAs are processed to their mature functional form in a step-wise manner by multiple proteins and cofactors in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Many miRNAs are conserved across vertebrates. Mature miRNAs have recently been characterized in Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.). The aim of this study was to identify and ...

Background: Articular cartilage is an essential part of the skeletal system. It provides a frictionless surface for smooth pain-free articulation and limits the load applied to subchondral bone during joint movement. Articular cartilage is an avascular and aneural tissue without lymphatic vessels. Due to this unique nature, articular cartilage has poor self-repair capacity. Therefore, minor cartilage ...