Journal of molecular biochemistry最新文献

{"title":"Impact of a stress management program on weight loss, mental health and lifestyle in adults with obesity: a randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Niovi Xenaki,&nbsp;Flora Bacopoulou,&nbsp;Alexandras Kokkinos,&nbsp;Nicolas C Nicolaides,&nbsp;George P Chrousos,&nbsp;Christina Darviri","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate the impact of a stress management program on weight loss, depression, anxiety and stress as well as on the adoption of healthy lifestyle in adults with obesity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Adults with obesity who sought help for weight loss at a medical obesity clinic were consecutively enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. All participants received standard instructions for a healthy lifestyle. The intervention group attended an 8-week stress management program that comprised diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided visualization and instructions about healthy nutrition/dietary habits. Anthropometric parameters were assessed and several questionnaires were completed by all participants, at the beginning and at the end of the study.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 45 adults (mean age±SD 45.7±10.55 years) with obesity were enrolled in the study; 22 in the intervention group and 23 in the control group. Participants in the two groups were matched for age and BMI. Participants in the intervention group achieved a significantly larger reduction in BMI compared to the control group (ΔBMI -3.1 vs. -1.74 kg/m² respectively, <i>P</i><0.001). In addition, they displayed ameliorated depression and anxiety scores and a reduction in the health locus of control based on chance.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"7 2","pages":"78-84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6296480/pdf/nihms-992063.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36789232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"HCMV activation of ERK-MAPK drives a multi-factorial response promoting the survival of infected myeloid progenitors.","authors":"Verity G. Kew, M. Wills, M. Reeves","doi":"10.17863/CAM.11285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.11285","url":null,"abstract":"Viral binding and entry provides the first trigger of a cell death response and thus how human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) evades this - particularly during latent infection where a very limited pattern of gene expression is observed - is less well understood. It has been demonstrated that the activation of cellular signalling pathways upon virus binding promotes the survival of latently infected cells by the activation of cell encoded anti-apoptotic responses. In CD34+ cells, a major site of HCMV latency, ERK signalling is important for survival and we now show that the activation of this pathway impacts on multiple aspects of cell death pathways. The data illustrate that HCMV infection triggers activation of pro-apoptotic Bak which is then countered through multiple ERK-dependent functions. Specifically, ERK promotes ELK1 mediated transcription of the key survival molecule MCL-1, along with a concomitant decrease of the pro-apoptotic BIM and PUMA proteins. Finally, we show that the elimination of ELK-1 from CD34+ cells results in elevated Bak activation in response to viral infection, resulting in cell death. Taken together, these data begin to shed light on the poly-functional response elicited by HCMV via ERK-MAPK to promote cell survival.","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"6 1 1","pages":"13-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46419423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights into the molecular mechanisms of stress and inflammation in ageing and frailty of the elderly.","authors":"Dimitrios Vlachakis,&nbsp;Evangelia I Zacharaki,&nbsp;Eirini Tsiamaki,&nbsp;Maria Koulouri,&nbsp;Sofia Raftopoulou,&nbsp;Louis Papageorgiou,&nbsp;George P Chrousos,&nbsp;John Ellul,&nbsp;Vasileios Megalooikonomou","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Frailty is a natural state of physical, cognitive and mental decline that is expected in the elderly. The role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of frailty has been hypothesized, and so far many studies have been performed in order to understand the mechanism of action underlying this association. Recent studies support this hypothesis and show a clear association between inflammation, frailty, and age-related disease. Chronic inflammation is key pathophysiologic process that contributes to the frailty directly and indirectly through other intermediate physiologic systems, such as the musculoskeletal, endocrine, and hematologic systems. The complex multifactorial etiologies of frailty also include obesity and other age-related specific diseases. Herein, we investigate the link between chronic inflammation and frailty of the older people. In particular, we present an up-to-date review of the role of cytokines, interleukins, cardiovascular abnormalities, chronic high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and diabetes in relation to the severity of frailty in the elderly.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"6 ","pages":"41-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788199/pdf/nihms930982.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35783535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of S-Palmitoylation of the Human Glucocorticoid Receptor (hGR) in Mediating the Nongenomic Glucocorticoid Actions.","authors":"Nicolas C Nicolaides,&nbsp;Tomoshige Kino,&nbsp;Michael L Roberts,&nbsp;Eleni Katsantoni,&nbsp;Amalia Sertedaki,&nbsp;Paraskevi Moutsatsou,&nbsp;Anna-Maria G Psarra,&nbsp;George P Chrousos,&nbsp;Evangelia Charmandari","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Many rapid nongenomic glucocorticoid actions are mediated by membrane-bound glucocorticoid receptors (GRs). S-palmitoylation is a lipid post-translational modification that mediates the membrane localization of some steroid receptors. A highly homologous amino acid sequence (663YLCM KTLLL671) is present in the ligand-binding domain of hGRα, suggesting that hGRα might also undergo S-palmitoylation.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To investigate the role of the motif 663YLCMKTLLL671 in membrane localization of the hGRα and in mediating rapid nongenomic glucocorticoid signaling.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>We showed that the mutant receptors hGRαY663A, hGRαC665A and hGRαLL670/671AA, and the addition of the palmitoylation inhibitor 2-bromopalmitate did not prevent membrane localization of hGRα and co-localization with caveolin-1, and did not influence the biphasic activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in the early time points. Finally, the hGRα was not shown to undergo S-palmitoylation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The motif 663YLCMKTLLL671 does not play a role in membrane localization of hGRα and does not mediate the nongenomic glucocorticoid actions.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"6 1","pages":"3-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5538142/pdf/nihms871556.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35382842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"HCMV activation of ERK-MAPK drives a multi-factorial response promoting the survival of infected myeloid progenitors.","authors":"Verity Kew,&nbsp;Mark Wills,&nbsp;Matthew Reeves","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Viral binding and entry provides the first trigger of a cell death response and thus how human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) evades this - particularly during latent infection where a very limited pattern of gene expression is observed - is less well understood. It has been demonstrated that the activation of cellular signalling pathways upon virus binding promotes the survival of latently infected cells by the activation of cell encoded anti-apoptotic responses. In CD34+ cells, a major site of HCMV latency, ERK signalling is important for survival and we now show that the activation of this pathway impacts on multiple aspects of cell death pathways. The data illustrate that HCMV infection triggers activation of pro-apoptotic Bak which is then countered through multiple ERK-dependent functions. Specifically, ERK promotes ELK1 mediated transcription of the key survival molecule MCL-1, along with a concomitant decrease of the pro-apoptotic BIM and PUMA proteins. Finally, we show that the elimination of ELK-1 from CD34+ cells results in elevated Bak activation in response to viral infection, resulting in cell death. Taken together, these data begin to shed light on the poly-functional response elicited by HCMV via ERK-MAPK to promote cell survival.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"6 1","pages":"13-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5421601/pdf/emss-72539.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34985443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"HCV genetics and genotypes dictate future antiviral strategies.","authors":"Louis Papageorgiou, Chrisanthy Vlachakis, Konstantina Dragoumani, Sofia Raftopoulou, Dimitrios Brouzas, Nicolas C Nicolaides, George P Chrousos, Evangelia Charmandari, Vasileios Megalooikonomou, Dimitrios Vlachakis","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>At the end of the 1980s, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was cloned and formally identified as the cause of the majority of non-A and non-B hepatitis cases. Today, around 170 million people worldwide are infected with HCV, making it five times more common than infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Several methods exist which mediate the spread of infection. One of the most common and efficient is sharing or re-using injecting equipment; studies have indicated that 80-90% of individuals in some populations of intravenous drug users test positive in serum HCV assays. Contracting HCV from infected blood transfusions was also a major cause of infection before screening tests were introduced in the early 1990s. Other possible, but less common, methods of infection transmission include mother-to-child during pregnancy, sexual contact and nosocomial acquisition (for example between surgical or dialysis patients). It appears that concurrent HIV-1 infection increases the risk of HCV transmission via the mother-to-child or sexual routes.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"6 ","pages":"33-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788192/pdf/nihms930983.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35783532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effectiveness of a stress-management intervention program in the management of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence.","authors":"Stavroula Stavrou,&nbsp;Nicolas C Nicolaides,&nbsp;Ifigenia Papageorgiou,&nbsp;Pinelopi Papadopoulou,&nbsp;Elena Terzioglou,&nbsp;George P Chrousos,&nbsp;Christina Darviri,&nbsp;Evangelia Charmandari","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents a major health problem of our century, and accounts for a significant increase in morbidity and mortality in adulthood. In addition to the increased consumption of calories and lack of exercise, accumulating evidence suggests that childhood obesity is strongly associated with prolonged and excessive activation of the stress system.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of a stress-management intervention program, which included progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, guided imagery and cognitive restructuring, in overweight and obese children and adolescents.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Forty-nine children and adolescents (mean age ± SEM: 11.15 ± 1.48 years) were prospectively recruited to participate in this randomized controlled study. Of those, 23 participants were assigned into the intervention group, while 26 participants represented the control group. Anthropometric measurements were recorded at the beginning and at the end of the study, and participants were asked to complete the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (S.C.A.R.E.D.), the Child Depression Inventory (C.D.I.), the Child Behavior Checklist (C.B.C.L.) and the Youth Self Report (Y.S.R.).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The applied stress-management methods resulted in a significant reduction in the body mass index (BMI) in the intervention group compared with the control group [ΔBMI=1.18 vs 0.10 kg/m² (p<0.001)]. In addition to BMI, these methods ameliorated depression and anxiety, and reduced the internalizing and externalizing problems in the intervention group.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study demonstrated that the application of an 8-week stress management program could facilitate weight loss in Greek overweight and obese children and adolescents. Further larger studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of stress-management methods in overweight and obese subjects.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"5 2","pages":"63-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4996635/pdf/nihms810023.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34343524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of nucleophosmin and its potential regulation by peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase.","authors":"Xuelian Zhao,&nbsp;Junfang Ji,&nbsp;Li-Rong Yu,&nbsp;Timothy Veenstra,&nbsp;Xin Wei Wang","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nucleophosmin (NPM) is a ubiquitously expressed phosphoprotein involved in many cellular processes. Phosphorylation is considered the major regulatory mechanism of the NPM protein, associated with diverse cellular events. In this study, we characterized the phosphorylation status of several physiological phosphorylation sites of NPM, especially the newly confirmed <i>in vivo</i> site threonine 95 (Thr95). NPM-Thr95 exhibits a transient and cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation state compared to several other <i>in vivo</i> phosphorylation sites examined, including Ser4, Thr199 and Thr234/Thr237. In addition, we characterized a functional interaction between NPM and the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1, which specifically bind to each other during mitosis. The demonstration of this binding represents a novel post-phosphorylation regulatory mechanism for NPM that has not been investigated before. Mutated Pin1 putative binding sites result in defected cell division and reduced number of mitotic cells, suggesting that post-phosphorylation is important for NPM in regulating cell cycle progression.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"4 ","pages":"95-103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4834723/pdf/nihms774962.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34419909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Niemann-Pick C1 and caveolin-1 proteins interact to modulate efflux of low density lipoprotein-derived cholesterol from late endocytic compartments.","authors":"David Jelinek,&nbsp;Randy A Heidenreich,&nbsp;Robert A Orlando,&nbsp;William S Garver","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) protein has a central role in regulating the efflux of lipoprotein-derived cholesterol from late endosomes/lysosomes and transport to other cellular compartments. Since the NPC1 protein has been shown to regulate the transport of cholesterol to cellular compartments enriched with the ubiquitous cholesterol-binding and transport protein caveolin-1, the present study was performed to determine whether the NPC1 and caveolin-1 proteins interact and function to modulate efflux of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-derived cholesterol from endocytic compartments. To perform these studies, normal human fibroblasts were grown in media with lipoprotein-deficient serum (LPDS) or media with LPDS supplemented with purified human LDL. The results indicated reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation and partial co-localization of the NPC1 and caveolin-1 proteins that was decreased when fibroblasts were grown in media with LDL. Consistent with interaction of the NPC1 and caveolin-1 proteins, a highly conserved caveolin-binding motif was identified within a cytoplasmic loop located adjacent to the sterol-sensing domain (SSD) of the NPC1 protein. To examine the functional relevance of this interaction, fibroblasts were transfected with caveolin-1 siRNA and found to accumulate increased amounts of LDL-derived cholesterol within late endosomes/ lysosomes. Together, this report presents novel results demonstrating that the NPC1 and caveolin-1 proteins interact to modulate efflux of LDL-derived cholesterol from late endocytic compartments.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"3 1","pages":"14-26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4181540/pdf/nihms572403.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"32722855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"3D structural analysis of proteins using electrostatic surfaces based on image segmentation.","authors":"Dimitrios Vlachakis, Spyridon Champeris Tsaniras, Georgia Tsiliki, Vasileios Megalooikonomou, Sophia Kossida","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Herein, we present a novel strategy to analyse and characterize proteins using protein molecular electro-static surfaces. Our approach starts by calculating a series of distinct molecular surfaces for each protein that are subsequently flattened out, thus reducing 3D information noise. RGB images are appropriately scaled by means of standard image processing techniques whilst retaining the weight information of each protein's molecular electrostatic surface. Then homogeneous areas in the protein surface are estimated based on unsupervised clustering of the 3D images, while performing similarity searches. This is a computationally fast approach, which efficiently highlights interesting structural areas among a group of proteins. Multiple protein electrostatic surfaces can be combined together and in conjunction with their processed images, they can provide the starting material for protein structural similarity and molecular docking experiments.</p>","PeriodicalId":73836,"journal":{"name":"Journal of molecular biochemistry","volume":"3 1","pages":"27-33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4981338/pdf/nihms808029.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34308735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}