Diagnostic, Prognostic and Therapeutic Biomarkers Related to Civilization Diseases: State-of-the-Art

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Biophysics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 13209

Special Issue Editors


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Department of Community Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Interests: biochemistry and pathobiochemistry of connective tissue;
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Interests: laboratory medicine; extracellular matrix; civilization diseases; biomarkers;
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Civilization diseases constitute a growing global problem, reflected in both the practical and scientific sphere of health care of specialists, e.g., diagnosticians, biotechnologists, pharmacists and medicine doctors.

This Special Issue’s goal is to promote the current knowledge concerning the discovery, development and implementation of novel disease-specific biomarkers in clinical practice that are useful in the diagnosis, treatment monitoring and prediction of patient outcomes, at the same time integrating multidisciplinary aspects particularly helpful in patient-orientated therapeutic approaches.

We hope for conditions including autoimmune-related disorders and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases to be at the center of attention in this Special Issue entitled "Diagnostic, Prognostic and Therapeutic Biomarkers Related to Civilization Diseases—State-of-the-Art".

Furthermore, we would like to encourage interested researchers to prepare and send experimental publications as well as review articles referring to potential, innovative diagnostic tools dedicated to the diagnosis and monitoring of the effectiveness of treatments or forecasting the severity of diseases and their acute and chronic complications.

Prof. Dr. Pawel Olczyk
Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Komosinska-Vassev
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biomarkers
  • risk factors
  • pathogenesis
  • prophylaxis
  • disease diagnosis and prognosis
  • biochemical indicators
  • therapy monitoring
  • predicting the severity of the disease and response to treatment
  • civilization diseases
  • theranostics

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3082 KiB  
Article
PM2.5-Induced Cardiac Structural Modifications and Declined Pro-Survival Signalling Pathways Are Responsible for the Inefficiency of GSK-3β Inhibitor in Attenuating Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats
by Bhavana Sivakumar, Nemat Ali, Sheikh F. Ahmad, Ahmed Nadeem, Mohammad Waseem and Gino A. Kurian
Cells 2023, 12(16), 2064; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12162064 - 15 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1248
Abstract
Circulatory GSK3β is recognized as a biomarker and therapeutic target for diseases, including myocardial diseases. However, its potential as a target for myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR) in the presence of PM2.5 exposure is unclear. Wistar rats underwent IR following either a 21-day [...] Read more.
Circulatory GSK3β is recognized as a biomarker and therapeutic target for diseases, including myocardial diseases. However, its potential as a target for myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR) in the presence of PM2.5 exposure is unclear. Wistar rats underwent IR following either a 21-day or single exposure to PM2.5 at a concentration of 250 µg/m3. The effects of GSK3β inhibitor on cardiac physiology, tissue injury, mitochondrial function, and the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β signalling axis were examined. The inhibitor was not effective in improving hemodynamics or reducing IR-induced infarction in the myocardium exposed to PM2.5 for 21 days. However, for a single-day exposure, the inhibitor showed potential in mitigating cardiac injury. In normal hearts undergoing IR, the inhibitor activated the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway, improved mitochondrial function, and reduced oxidative stress. These positive effects were not observed in PM2.5-exposed rats. Furthermore, the inhibitor stimulated autophagy in hearts exposed to PM2.5 for 21 days and subjected to IR, resulting in increased mTOR expression and decreased AMPK expression. In normal hearts and those exposed to a single dose of PM2.5, the inhibitor effectively activated the PI3K/Akt/AMPK axis. These findings suggest that GSK3β may not be a reliable therapeutic target for IR in the presence of chronic PM2.5 exposure. Full article
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12 pages, 2391 KiB  
Article
The Highly Efficient Expression System of Recombinant Human Prolidase and the Effect of N-Terminal His-Tag on the Enzyme Activity
by Justyna Czyrko-Horczak, Magdalena Nizioł, Antonella Forlino, Roberta Besio and Wojciech Miltyk
Cells 2022, 11(20), 3284; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11203284 - 19 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1441
Abstract
Prolidase is an enzyme hydrolyzing dipeptides containing proline or hydroxyprolineat the C-terminus and plays an important role in collagen turnover. Human prolidase is active as a dimer with the C-terminal domain containing two Mn2+ ions in its active site. The study aimed [...] Read more.
Prolidase is an enzyme hydrolyzing dipeptides containing proline or hydroxyprolineat the C-terminus and plays an important role in collagen turnover. Human prolidase is active as a dimer with the C-terminal domain containing two Mn2+ ions in its active site. The study aimed to develop a highly efficient expression system of recombinant human prolidase (rhPEPD) and to evaluate the effect of the N-terminal His-Tag on its enzymatic and biological activity. An optimized bacterial expression system and an optimized purification procedure for rhPEPD included the two-step rhPEPD purification procedure based on (i) affinity chromatography on an Ni2+ ion-bound chromatography column and (ii) gel filtration with the possibility of tag removal by selective digestion with protease Xa. As the study showed, a high concentration of IPTGand high temperature of induction led to a fast stimulation of gene expression, which as a result forced the host into an intensive and fast production of rhPEPD. The results demonstrated that a slow induction of gene expression (low concentration of inducing factor, temperature, and longer induction time) led to efficient protein production in the soluble fraction. Moreover, the study proved that the presence of His-Tag changed neither the expression pattern of EGFR-downstream signaling proteins nor the prolidase catalytic activity. Full article
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20 pages, 2204 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Tissue Expression of Vaspin and Serum Vaspin Concentration as a Prognostic and Risk Factor in Endometrial Cancer
by Mateusz Kozłowski, Dominika Pietrzyk, Małgorzata Rychlicka, Katarzyna Piotrowska, Katarzyna Nowak, Sebastian Kwiatkowski and Aneta Cymbaluk-Płoska
Cells 2022, 11(20), 3196; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11203196 - 11 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1437
Abstract
Adipose tissue is a multifunctional endocrine organ. One of the biologically active substances is vaspin, which is part of the serpin family. The purpose of the following study is to determine the possibility of using vaspin as a prognostic and risk factor in [...] Read more.
Adipose tissue is a multifunctional endocrine organ. One of the biologically active substances is vaspin, which is part of the serpin family. The purpose of the following study is to determine the possibility of using vaspin as a prognostic and risk factor in endometrial cancer. The study included 127 patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. To determine the value of adipokine, the study used Kaplan-Meier curves to estimate patients survival. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed simultaneously using the Cox regression model. Tissue expression of vaspin was assessed in patients from the study group (endometrial cancer) and the control group (non-cancerous). We found that higher levels of vaspin are found in obese people, with lower staging (FIGO I and II), lower grading (G1), no LVSI metastases and no lymph node metastases. Higher serum vaspin levels are an independent protective factor for endometrial cancer. We concluded that endometrial cancer patients with serum vaspin concentrations above the median have longer DFS compared to patients with concentrations below the median. Considering multivariate analysis, vaspin concentrations above the median are independent favourable prognostic factors for endometrial cancer. Tissue expression of vaspin cannot be a histological marker to distinguish between cancer and non-cancerous lesions and between different grading levels. Full article
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10 pages, 1429 KiB  
Article
Validating Discriminative Signatures for Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Exhaled Breath
by Bettina Streckenbach, Martin Osswald, Stefan Malesevic, Renato Zenobi and Malcolm Kohler
Cells 2022, 11(19), 2982; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11192982 - 24 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1816
Abstract
Rapid and reliable tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are currently lacking. Prior studies using a chemical analysis of exhaled breath have suggested the existence of an OSA-specific metabolic signature. Here, we validated this diagnostic approach and the [...] Read more.
Rapid and reliable tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are currently lacking. Prior studies using a chemical analysis of exhaled breath have suggested the existence of an OSA-specific metabolic signature. Here, we validated this diagnostic approach and the proposed marker compounds, as well as their potential to reliably diagnose OSA. In this cross-sectional observational study, exhaled breath was analyzed using secondary electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry. The study cohort included untreated OSA patients, OSA patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure and healthy subjects. The robustness of previously reported OSA markers was validated based on detectability, significant differences between groups (Mann–Whitney U test) and classification performance. The breath analysis of 118 participants resulted in 42 previously reported markers that could be confirmed in this independent validation cohort. Nine markers were significantly increased in untreated OSA compared to treated OSA, with a subset of them being consistent with a previous validation study. An OSA prediction based on the confirmed OSA signature performed with an AUC of 0.80 (accuracy 77%, sensitivity 73% and specificity 80%). As several breath markers were clearly found to be repeatable and robust in this independent validation study, these results underscore the clinical potential of breath analysis for OSA diagnostics and monitoring. Full article
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Review

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33 pages, 4581 KiB  
Review
The Role of Selected Adipocytokines in Ovarian Cancer and Endometrial Cancer
by Sebastian Stępień, Paweł Olczyk, Joanna Gola, Katarzyna Komosińska-Vassev and Aleksandra Mielczarek-Palacz
Cells 2023, 12(8), 1118; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12081118 - 9 Apr 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2373
Abstract
Due to their multidirectional influence, adipocytokines are currently the subject of numerous intensive studies. Significant impact applies to many processes, both physiological and pathological. Moreover, the role of adipocytokines in carcinogenesis seems particularly interesting and not fully understood. For this reason, ongoing research [...] Read more.
Due to their multidirectional influence, adipocytokines are currently the subject of numerous intensive studies. Significant impact applies to many processes, both physiological and pathological. Moreover, the role of adipocytokines in carcinogenesis seems particularly interesting and not fully understood. For this reason, ongoing research focuses on the role of these compounds in the network of interactions in the tumor microenvironment. Particular attention should be drawn to cancers that remain challenging for modern gynecological oncology—ovarian and endometrial cancer. This paper presents the role of selected adipocytokines, including leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, resistin, apelin, chemerin, omentin and vaspin in cancer, with a particular focus on ovarian and endometrial cancer, and their potential clinical relevance. Full article
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24 pages, 1890 KiB  
Review
Tuning between Nuclear Organization and Functionality in Health and Disease
by Naresh Kumar Manda, Upendarrao Golla, Kishore Sesham, Parth Desai, Shrushti Joshi, Satyam Patel, Sharada Nalla, Susmitha Kondam, Lakhwinder Singh, Deepak Dewansh, Hemalatha Manda and Namita Rokana
Cells 2023, 12(5), 706; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12050706 - 23 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4067
Abstract
The organization of eukaryotic genome in the nucleus, a double-membraned organelle separated from the cytoplasm, is highly complex and dynamic. The functional architecture of the nucleus is confined by the layers of internal and cytoplasmic elements, including chromatin organization, nuclear envelope associated proteome [...] Read more.
The organization of eukaryotic genome in the nucleus, a double-membraned organelle separated from the cytoplasm, is highly complex and dynamic. The functional architecture of the nucleus is confined by the layers of internal and cytoplasmic elements, including chromatin organization, nuclear envelope associated proteome and transport, nuclear–cytoskeletal contacts, and the mechano-regulatory signaling cascades. The size and morphology of the nucleus could impose a significant impact on nuclear mechanics, chromatin organization, gene expression, cell functionality and disease development. The maintenance of nuclear organization during genetic or physical perturbation is crucial for the viability and lifespan of the cell. Abnormal nuclear envelope morphologies, such as invagination and blebbing, have functional implications in several human disorders, including cancer, accelerated aging, thyroid disorders, and different types of neuro-muscular diseases. Despite the evident interplay between nuclear structure and nuclear function, our knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms for regulation of nuclear morphology and cell functionality during health and illness is rather poor. This review highlights the essential nuclear, cellular, and extracellular components that govern the organization of nuclei and functional consequences associated with nuclear morphometric aberrations. Finally, we discuss the recent developments with diagnostic and therapeutic implications targeting nuclear morphology in health and disease. Full article
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