IUBMB LifePub Date : 2026-04-14DOI: 10.1002/iub.70097
Chou-Yi Hsu, Ihab M. Abdelrahim, Ahmed Hjazi, Hansraj Choubisa, Mirza R. Baig, Haider W. Alsarhan, Vimal Arora, Tina Saeed Basunduwah, Pusparaj Samantsinghar, Gunjan Singh
{"title":"Self-Assembled Nanovaccines: A Promising Strategy for Overcoming Influenza Variability and Advancing Universal Vaccine Development","authors":"Chou-Yi Hsu, Ihab M. Abdelrahim, Ahmed Hjazi, Hansraj Choubisa, Mirza R. Baig, Haider W. Alsarhan, Vimal Arora, Tina Saeed Basunduwah, Pusparaj Samantsinghar, Gunjan Singh","doi":"10.1002/iub.70097","DOIUrl":"10.1002/iub.70097","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Influenza viruses present an ongoing global health risk because they are always changing, which in turn results in the ineffectiveness of current strain-specific vaccines and leaves the world vulnerable to potential pandemics. The need for a universal influenza vaccine, designed to develop lasting broadly protective immunity against volatile influenza virus strains has led to advances in immunogen design. Nanotechnology, specifically self-assembled nanovaccines, offers a truly revolutionary “bottom-up” strategy to address this issue. Nanovaccines that spontaneously self-assemble into easily discernable pathogen-like nanoparticles, including protein cages (e.g., ferritin) and virus-like particles, provide densely displayed conserved influenza epitopes—such as hemagglutinin (HA) stalk, neuraminidase (NA), and M2 ectodomain (M2e)—in a multivalent array, greatly enhancing B-cell activation, initiated by extensive receptor crosslinking, and generating immune responses to a magnitude and breadth that is unattainable with soluble antigens. Moreover, self-assembled nanovaccines, often in adjuvant-free or self-adjuvanting formulations, not only induce durable and broad cross-protective humoral and cellular immunity but also offer protection from numerous heterosubtypic viral challenges. While significant hurdles remain in scaling the process to a manufacturing level and subsequently translating it into the clinic, self-assembling nanovaccines represent a paradigm shift in influenza prevention, providing a rational and promising pathway toward the development of a universal vaccine and a rapid response platform for future pandemics.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14728,"journal":{"name":"IUBMB Life","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147690152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IUBMB LifePub Date : 2026-04-12DOI: 10.1002/iub.70101
Federica Sodano, Maria Monticelli, Bruno Hay Mele, Barbara Rolando, Loretta Lazzarato, Angela De Simone, Vincenza Andrisano, Debora Paris, Maria Grazia Rimoli, Maria Vittoria Cubellis, Giuseppina Andreotti
{"title":"Lipo-Glc-1,6-P2: A Bioprecursor Prodrug for Phosphomannomutase-2 Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation","authors":"Federica Sodano, Maria Monticelli, Bruno Hay Mele, Barbara Rolando, Loretta Lazzarato, Angela De Simone, Vincenza Andrisano, Debora Paris, Maria Grazia Rimoli, Maria Vittoria Cubellis, Giuseppina Andreotti","doi":"10.1002/iub.70101","DOIUrl":"10.1002/iub.70101","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Phosphomannomutase-2 (PMM2) deficiency leads to the prominent Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation (CDG), a rare disease currently lacking effective treatment options. The complete absence of PMM2 activity is incompatible with life, and all patients carry at least one missense destabilising variant that allows residual enzymatic function. This makes PMM2-CDG amenable to pharmacological chaperone treatment. Glucose-1,6-bisphosphate (Glc-1,6-P<sub>2</sub>) is PMM2's natural activator and stabiliser, but its clinical application is severely limited due to its unfavourable physicochemical profile. Here, we applied the bioprecursor prodrug strategy to design and synthesise Lipo-Glc-1,6-P<sub>2</sub>, a novel prodrug with good stability and oral bioavailability. Its advantageous physicochemical profile was confirmed through metabolomics-based studies in fibroblasts derived from PMM2-CDG patient.</p>","PeriodicalId":14728,"journal":{"name":"IUBMB Life","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://iubmb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/iub.70101","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147673623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IUBMB LifePub Date : 2026-04-07DOI: 10.1002/iub.70102
Heba Ibrahim Abd El-Moaty, Ahmed S. Doghish, Shaza H. Aly, Mai A. Abd-Elmawla, Manar Mohammed El Tabaa, Nehal I. Rizk, Ahmed E. Elesawy, Sherif S. Abdel Mageed, Osama A. Mohammed, Samy Y. Elkhawaga, Hanan A. Rizk, Alaa Ashraf, Rabab S. Hamad, Reda M. Mansour
{"title":"Deciphering the Angiogenic Switch: The Role of miRNAs in Breast Cancer","authors":"Heba Ibrahim Abd El-Moaty, Ahmed S. Doghish, Shaza H. Aly, Mai A. Abd-Elmawla, Manar Mohammed El Tabaa, Nehal I. Rizk, Ahmed E. Elesawy, Sherif S. Abdel Mageed, Osama A. Mohammed, Samy Y. Elkhawaga, Hanan A. Rizk, Alaa Ashraf, Rabab S. Hamad, Reda M. Mansour","doi":"10.1002/iub.70102","DOIUrl":"10.1002/iub.70102","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Angiogenesis, which is the formation of new blood vessels from existing vasculature, exhibits a pivotal role in breast cancer progression and promotes metastasis. This complex biological process is influenced by the dynamic balance of pro- and anti-angiogenic factors within the tumor microenvironment, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factors, and angiopoietins. Targeted therapeutic strategies have been developed to interfere with angiogenic signaling, aiming to normalize or inhibit the tumor vasculature. In recent years, miRNAs have arisen as crucial post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression implicated in angiogenic homeostasis. These microRNAs can function as either promoters or suppressors of angiogenesis by targeting mRNAs that encode angiogenic factors or other signaling molecules. Deregulated expressions of these miRNAs in BC are associated with perturbed angiogenesis, tumor progression, and therapeutic resistance. This review presents a thorough overview of the molecular processes controlling angiogenesis in BC and highlights the emerging roles of angioregulatory miRNAs. The article also discusses the therapeutic potential of targeting miRNAs to modulate tumor angiogenesis, providing novel insights for the development of miRNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics in BC management.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14728,"journal":{"name":"IUBMB Life","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147633561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IUBMB LifePub Date : 2026-04-03DOI: 10.1002/iub.70096
Yasmine Chakkor, Redouane Aherrahrou
{"title":"CYP17A1 Locus: Regulatory Mechanisms and Clinical Associations With Cardiovascular Disease and Metabolic Syndrome","authors":"Yasmine Chakkor, Redouane Aherrahrou","doi":"10.1002/iub.70096","DOIUrl":"10.1002/iub.70096","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The <i>CYP17A1</i> gene encodes the P450 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase protein, a key enzyme in steroidogenesis. In the past, it was associated with disorders such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, disorders of sex development, and castration resistant prostate cancer. Recently, genome-wide association studies have revealed that the locus harboring the <i>CYP17A1</i> gene is strongly associated with multiple other traits, including cardiovascular and metabolic characteristics. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the regulatory mechanisms and monogenic disease implications of the <i>CYP17A1</i> gene, then attempts to link the locus to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, using experimental evidence supporting these relationships. Additionally, the review also speculates that the research focus may have been placed solely on one gene of the locus, which could have obscured the effects of other neighboring ones. In summary, our review aimed to highlight this locus as a complex regulatory region with implications that extend beyond a single gene.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14728,"journal":{"name":"IUBMB Life","volume":"78 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147608908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}