Single-cell RNA sequencing has rapidly proliferated in the literature. New algorithms are available to infer high-quality aneuploidy and copy-number alteration calls from such data, at no additional cost. The more often researchers report these calls from single-cell RNA sequencing experiments, the better we will understand how aneuploidy contributes to biology.
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VIEWPOINT
JOE R. DELANEY*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1167-1170, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.017296
Abstract Single-cell sequencing data has transformed the understanding of biological heterogeneity. While many flavors
of single-cell sequencing have been developed, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is currently the most prolific
form in published literature. Bioinformatic analysis of differential biology within the population of cells studied relies
on inferences and grouping of cells due to the spotty nature of data within individual cell scRNA-seq gene counts.
One biologically relevant variable is readily inferred from scRNA-seq gene count tables regardless of individual gene
representation within single cells: aneuploidy. Since hundreds of genes are present on chromosome arms, high-quality
inferences of aneuploidy can be made… More >
Open Access
VIEWPOINT
FRANCESCO MAININI*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1171-1173, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.017399
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Molecular and Cellular Nanobiotechnology)
Abstract Adoptive cell therapy and Immune Checkpoint Blockade Inhibitors have recently revolutionized the field of oncology. However, these types of immunotherapeutic approaches have limited success in treating solid tumors. In particular, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells efficacy is hampered by immunosuppressive signals in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and by a limited infiltration of re-infused T cells to the tumor site. The field of nanobiotechnology applied to oncology is also rapidly expanding. Nanoparticles-based delivery systems can be employed to modulate the activity of immune cells present in the TME enhancing the efficacy of CAR-T cells. Interestingly, nano-backpacks can be attached to CAR-T… More >
Open Access
REVIEW
SAIKAT SAMANTA1,#, ASHISH RANJAN SHARMA2,#, ABINIT SAHA1, MANOJ KUMAR SINGH1, ARPITA DAS1, MANOJIT BHATTACHARYA3, RUDRA PRASAD SAHA1,*, SANG-SOO LEE2,*, CHIRANJIB CHAKRABORTY1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1175-1186, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015537
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Bacteriophage Biology and Biotechnology)
Abstract Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and can choose any one of the two alternative pathways for
infection, i.e., lysis or lysogeny. Phage lysis is one of the conventional biological processes required to spread infection
from one bacterium to another. Our analysis suggests that in the paradigm bacteriophage Mu, six proteins might be
involved in host cell lysis. Mu has a broad host range, and Mu-like phages were found in both Gram-negative and
Gram-positive bacteria. An analysis of the genomes of Mu and Mu-like phages could be useful in elucidating the lysis
mechanism in this group of phages. A detailed… More >
Open Access
REVIEW
HUAN YIN1, LIZHEN WANG1, YUBO FAN1, BINGMEI M. FU1,2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1187-1199, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.016650
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Cellular Biomechanics in Health and Diseases)
Abstract Primary cilium is an antenna-like and non-motile structure protruding from the apical surface of most mammalian cells including endothelial cells lining the inner side of all the blood vessels in our body. Although it has been over a century since primary cilia were discovered, the investigation about their mechano-sensing and other roles in maintaining normal functions of cardiovascular system has just started in recent years. This focused review aims to give an update about the current literature for the role of endothelial primary cilia in blood flow mechano-sensing and shear stress-shielding. To do this, we first summarized the characteristic features… More >
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ARTICLE
CHEN-LIANG TSAI1, YU-HUEI LIN2, CHIH-YING CHANGCHIEN3, CHIH-FENG CHIAN1,#,*, CHI-HUEI CHIANG4,#,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1201-1211, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014279
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Cellular Biomechanics in Health and Diseases)
Abstract Primary lung graft dysfunction could significantly attribute to ischemia-reperfusion lung injury (IRLI) during
transplantation surgery. β2-adrenergic agonists were one of the bronchodilators that had been well-established in the
management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with anti-inflammatory potency. By
applying the model of isolated rat lung, we evaluated the efficacy of short-acting β2-agonist inhalation to ameliorate
ischemia-reperfusion damage. The experiment protocol was 180 min of global ischemia and then reperfusion for
60 min. In the β2-agonist inhalation group, aerosolized albuterol was administrated prior ischemia procedure.
Increased weight ratios of wet to dry lung and microvascular permeability were characterized… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
MIZUNA YANO1, YUTA UMEHARA1, TOMOKAZU KUDO1, TAKAO NAKAMURA2, TADASHI KOSAWADA1, ATSUYOSHI NISHINA3, MASAKI SAZUKA4, DAISUKE SATO1,*, ZHONGGANG FENG1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1213-1229, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.016281
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Cellular Biomechanics in Health and Diseases)
Abstract While fatty acids play essential roles in the physiology of the myocardium, conventional culture media contain little lipid. We previously revealed that rat neonatal myocardium mainly contains docosahexaenoic (DHA), linoleic (LA), and arachidonic (AA) acids as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and these contents in cultured cardiomyocytes derived from fetal rats were markedly lower than those in the neonatal myocardium. In this study, we first assessed the effects of supplementation of DHA, LA, or AA on the fatty acid contents and the percentage change of contractile area in primarily cultured rat cardiomyocytes. Based on this assessment, we then evaluated the effects… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
LINMEI ZHENG1, RONG TANG2, 1,*, ZHONGYI ZHOU3
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1231-1240, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015752
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Cellular Biomechanics in Health and Diseases)
Abstract Pre-eclampsia is characterized by an excessive maternal inflammatory response. The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) has been shown as the efferent arm of a vagal reflex with the potential to limit inflammatory responses. Therefore, in this study, the CAP regulation through the nervous vagal stimulation (VNS) reduced the severity of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-induced pre-eclampsia was determined in a rat model. Rats were given 125 mg/kg/day of L-NAME via subcutaneous injection on gestational day (GD) 10–16. In addition, the rats were treated by active or sham electrical stimulation once a day during GD 13–19. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), urinary albumin, and… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
HAZAEL RAMIRO CEJA-GALVEZ1, ERANDIS DHENI TORRES-SÁNCHEZ1, JUAN HERIBERTO TORRES-JASSO2, EMMANUEL REYESURIBE1, JOEL SALAZAR-FLORES1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1241-1250, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015771
Abstract Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes organophosphate pesticides. The presence of
polymorphisms in PON-1 (L55M and Q192R) decreases its enzyme activity and increases the risk of central nervous
system (CNS) toxicity in occupationally exposed farmers, leading to chronic degenerative diseases and death. We
studied 103 farmers in the region of Cienega Jalisco, Mexico, which were exposed mainly to organophosphate
pesticides. We used serum and plasma samples to assay PON-1 activity and perform polymorphism analysis (L55M
and Q192R) using qPCR and TaqMan probes, respectively. For both polymorphisms, there was high percentage of
heterozygosity (55 LL = 0.19, LM = 0.75,… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
NARAYANAN NAMPOOTHIRI V. P.1, VIGNESH SUNDARARAJAN1, PALLAVI DAN1, G. DEVANAND VENKATASUBBU2,*, SAHABUDEEN SHEIK MOHIDEEN1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1251-1262, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015090
Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common forms of dementia. Cognitive dysfunction and memory loss are
the two main clinical symptoms of AD. Drosophila melanogaster models of AD, which are based on overexpression of human
amyloid β (Aβ) or human tau (hTau) protein, have been used to study the mechanism underlying AD and to screen potential
therapeutic compounds. Drugs that are currently available for AD provide only symptomatic relief. Huge unmet medical needs
exists to slow, stop, or reverse the progression of AD. Thymoquinone (TQ) is an active ingredient isolated from Nigella sativa
(NS) and possesses various pharmacological… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
MOHAMMAD EL-METWALLY1,*, MAMDOUH ABDEL-MOGIB2, MANAL ELFEDAWY2, GAAD SOHSAH2, AHMED REZK3, MAHMOUD MOUSTAFA4, MOHAMED SHAABAN5,6
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1263-1271, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.013198
Abstract Microorganisms are a huge mine of bioactive metabolites, and actinomycetes are one of the very active groups
in this area. In this article, we are concerned about the full taxonomical characterization of Streptomyces lividans AM,
isolated from Egyptian soil. This isolate produced three new bioactive metabolites, namely: 1-Nona-decanoyl,4-oleyl
disuccinate (1), filoboletic acid; (9Z,11E)-8,13-dihydroxy octadeca-9,11-dienoic acid (2), and sitosteryl-3β-D-glucoside (3).
Extensive 1D and 2D NMR and HR-mass spectrometry were used to elucidate the structures of the three compounds.
Moreover, ten known compounds were also identified. The antimicrobial activity of the producing organism and newly
reported compounds (1–3) was investigated against a… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
BARKAT ALI KHAN1, FAZAL KARIM1, MUHAMMAD KHALID KHAN1,*, FAHEEM HAIDER1, SADIQULLAH KHAN2
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1273-1285, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015323
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Biotherapeutic Agents and Innovative Theranostic Formulations: Physical-Chemical Aspects, Pharmacological and Biological Effects)
Abstract The fourth most predominant overwhelming type of trauma is burn injuries worldwide. Ideal wound healing
dressings help in the wound healing process in a lower time with less pain. Commonly used dry wound dressing, like
absorbent gauze or absorbent cotton, possess limited therapeutic effects and require repeated use, which further
exaggerates patients’ suffering. In contrast, hydrogels films present a promising alternative to improve healing by
guaranteeing a moisture balance at the wound site. The aim of the current study was to synthesize Tamarix aphylla
(T. aphylla) extract-loaded hydrogel film with Na-CMC and pectin and to study their wound healing properties.… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
ALAA OMRAN ALMAGRABI1, YASER DAANIAL KHAN2, SHER AFZAL KHAN3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1287-1298, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.013770
Abstract Phosphoaspartate is one of the major components of eukaryotes and prokaryotic two-component signaling
pathways, and it communicates the signal from the sensor of histidine kinase, through the response regulator, to the
DNA alongside transcription features and initiates the transcription of correct response genes. Thus, the prediction of
phosphoaspartate sites is critical, and its experimental identification can be expensive, time-consuming, and tedious.
For this purpose, we propose iPhosD-PseAAC, a new computational model for predicting phosphoaspartate sites in a
particular protein sequence using Chou’s 5-steps rues: (1) Benchmark dataset. (2) The feature extraction techniques
such as pseudo amino acid composition (PseAAC), statistical… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
GAGANJOT GUPTA1, DEEPAK BANSAL2, ANSHULA SHARMA1, TAWSEEF AHMAD1, ATUL SACHDEV2, AJAZ AHMAD3, HAMED A. EL-SEREHY4, BALJINDER KAUR1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1299-1311, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015411
Abstract Helicobacter pylori infection has been significantly linked to Peptic Ulcer Disease and Gastric Cancer.
Metabolomic fingerprinting may offer a principal way of early diagnosis and to understand the molecular mechanism
of H. pylori-induced pathogenicity. The rationale of the study is to explore the underlying distinct metabolic
mechanisms of H. pylori-induced PUD and to identify potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis and associated risks
using Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. GC/MS-based analytical method was used to compare metabolic
profiles of healthy controls (N = 20) and peptic ulcer patients (N = 45). Acquired metabolomic data were analyzed by
constructing a diagnostic model using principal… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
TING LAN, SHENG QIN, XIAOJIN GONG, PING ZHENG, JIAXIN YAN, YANG LIU*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1313-1319, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015923
Abstract Invasive stratified mucin-producing carcinoma (ISMC) is a recently described histologic variant of high-risk
human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated endocervical adenocarcinoma, as the putative invasive counterpart of the
stratified mucin-producing intraepithelial lesion (SMILE). ISMC can display variable architectural patterns and usually
coexists with other more conventional types of HPV-associated carcinomas, which makes diagnosis and differential
diagnosis of ISMC is difficult for pathologists. Moreover, the prognosis of ISMC is still controversial. We analyzed 6
ISMCs with detailed pathological and clinical information. Intraepithelial lesion, including 1 high-grade squamous
intraepithelial lesion and 1 SMILE, was found. Various architectures were observed (including nest, glandular, solid,
trabecular, and… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
HUI ZHANG1,3,#, SHIRUI CHEN1,3,#, MENGTING LIU1,2, YAOCHI WANG1,2, CONG XIN1,2, JING MA1,3, XIAODONG ZHENG1,2, YUANDI HUANG1,2, BO ZHANG3,4, XUEJUN ZHANG1,2, LIANGDAN SUN1,2,*, SEN YANG1,3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1321-1335, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.016524
Abstract The skin is the largest organ of the human body, and its aging is visible to the naked eye. The aging rate of men
and women is slightly different. This study compared the protein expression of skin samples on the curved forearms of
11 healthy women and 9 healthy men. Quantitative proteomics analysis found that the expression of epidermal proteins
in men and women of the same age group was different. Compared with female skin, in male skin, 20 proteins were
upregulated, and 7 proteins were downregulated. These data suggest that men and women have differences in the
speed of… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
ATTALLA F. EL-KOTT1,2,*, AYMAN E. EL-KENAWY3, EMAN R. ELBEALY4, ALI S. ALSHEHRI1, HEBA S. KHALIFA2, MASHAEL MOHAMMED BIN-MEFERIJ5, EHAB E. MASSOUD6,7,8, AMIRA M. ALRAMLAWY9
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1337-1353, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015464
Abstract This study examined if the anti-tumorigenesis effect of Exendin-4 in HT29 and HCT116 colorectal
cancer (CRC) involves modulation of SIRT1 and Akt/GSR3K/β-catenin/NF-κB axis. HT29 and HCT116 cells were
treated either with increasing levels of Exendin-4 (0.0-200 µM) or with Exendin-4 (at its IC50) in the presence or
absence of EX-527 (10 µM/a selective SIRT1 inhibitor) or Exendin-4 (9-39) amide (E (9-39) A) (1 µM/an Exendin-4
antagonist). In a dose-dependent manner, Exendin-4 inhibited cell survival, but enhanced levels of lactate
dehydrogenase (LDH) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in both HT29 and HCT116. In both cell lines and at it has
an IC50… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
ISIDORA PETROVIC1, MILENA MILIVOJEVIC1, ANA ARSENIJEVIC2, ANDRIJANA LAZIC1, NATASA KOVACEVIC GRUJICIC1, MARIJA SCHWIRTLICH1, JELENA POPOVIC3, MILENA STEVANOVIC1,4,5,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1355-1367, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015817
Abstract Genetic and molecular heterogeneity, together with intrinsic and acquired resistance to therapy, represent the
major obstacles to the successful treatment of different types of breast carcinoma. Increasing evidence demonstrates that
SOX transcription factors in breast carcinomas could act both as oncogenes and tumor suppressors and have been
associated with tumor stage and grade, poor prognosis, and therapy resistance. Both SOX2 and SOX18 overexpression has been correlated with poor prognosis in breast carcinomas, and these genes are recognized as potential
antitumor targets. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of retinoic acid (RA), a well-known cyto-differentiating agent,
on breast carcinoma cells… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
ANZANA PARVIN1,3, BANG-HONG WEI1, SHUANG-LI HAO1, WAN-XI YANG1,*, FU-QING TAN1,2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1369-1391, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.016654
Abstract Mitotic kinesin KIFC1 plays critical roles in mitosis by regulating the spindle length, pole formation, and known for clustering extra centrosomes in cancer cells. Centrosome clustering is associated with the survival of cancer cells, but this phenomenon remains obscure in prostate cancer (PCa). The present study demonstrated that PCa cells showed centrosome amplification and clustering during interphase and mitosis, respectively. KIFC1 is highly expressed in PCa cells and tumor tissues of prostatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) patients. Up-regulation of KIFC1 facilitated the PCa cell survival in vitro by ensuring bipolar mitosis through clustering the multiple centrosomes, suggesting centrosome clustering could be a… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
DEBI RANI DATTA1, MOHD RAFII YUSOP1,2,*, AZIZAH MISRAN2, MASHITAH JUSOH2, YUSUFF OLADOSU1, FATAI AROLU1, AZADUL HAQUE1, NADZIRAH M. SULAIMAN1
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1393-1401, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015321
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Advances in Plant Cell Biology Research)
Abstract Indo-Burmese region was the primary center of eggplant diversity from where the crop extended to several
secondary origins of diversity. In this study, the genetic diversity among fifty-six eggplant accessions collected from
three countries was assessed using sixteen polymorphic SSR markers to determine suitable parents for heterotic
hybridization. The estimation of genetic diversity among the population of three countries (Bangladesh, Malaysia, and
Thailand) varied from 0.57 to 0.74, with Shannon’s index value of 0.65. The mean value of expected heterozygosity
and Nei’s index was 0.49, with an average PIC value of 0.83. A dendrogram was constructed based on UPGMA
(unweighted… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
SULAIMAN A. AL YOUSEF*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1403-1411, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015450
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Advances in Plant Cell Biology Research)
Abstract Seeds from soybean collected from different commercial markets were surveyed for seed-borne fungi. Ninetyeight fungal colonies were isolated all over three monthly isolations constituting twenty-two fungal species. The isolated
fungi were belonging to the genera: Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cephalosporium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Colletotrichum,
Curvularia, Fusarium, Macrophomina, Mucor, Penicillium, Rhizoctonia, Rhizopus, Sclerotium, Stemphylium, and
Verticillium. Assay of the antifungal activity of four ethanolic extracts of clove, cinnamon, garlic, and mint was carried
out against the most common fungal species (Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Fusarium solani, F. oxysporium, and
F. moniliforme), which significantly reduced the growth of tested fungi. Clove extract recorded the highest… More >
Open Access
ARTICLE
MURTAZA KHAN1,*, TIBA NAZAR IBRAHIM AL AZZAWI2, MUHAMMAD IMRAN3, ADIL HUSSAIN4, BONG-GYU MUN1, ANJALI PANDE1, BYUNG-WOOK YUN1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.5, pp. 1413-1423, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015954
Abstract
In rice, high concentration of lead (Pb) can cause phyto-toxicity affecting several physiological functions. Cultivation of rice varieties that are resistant to Pb-induced oxidative stress is an important management strategy in Pb-contaminated soils. In the current study, we evaluated four different rice cultivars for their response to Pb-induced stress. Three japonica type cultivars X-Jigna, Ediget, and Furat, and one Indica type cultivar Amber 33 were grown in soil containing different Pb concentrations (0 mM, 0.6 mM, and 1.2 mM). The soil was treated with 0 mM or 0.6 mM or 1.2 mM Pb solution one month prior to rice seedling… More >