Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision impairment in Western populations over 55 years. A growing number of gene variants have been identified which are strongly associated with an altered risk to develop AMD. Nevertheless, gene-based biomarkers which could be dysregulated at defined stages of AMD may point toward key processes in disease mechanism and thus...

We have recently demonstrated that induction of Th2 responses by Schistosoma mansoni egg Ag is largely due to carbohydrates on the Ag functioning as adjuvants. Lacto-N-fucopentaose III (LNFPIII), a polylactosamine sugar, is the predominant carbohydrate found in S. mansoni egg Ag. Therefore, using neoglycoprotein, we investigated whether LNFPIII induces in vivo Th2 response and functions as an a...

Anthracyclines are considered to be some of the most effective anticancer drugs for cancer therapy. However, drug resistance and cardiotoxicity of anthracyclines limit their clinical application. An 3'-azido disaccharide analogue of daunorubicin, 7-[4-O-(2,6-dideoxy-3-O-methyl-alpha-l-arabino-hexopyranosyl)-3-azido-2,3,6-trideoxy-alpha-l-lyxo-hexopyranosyl]daunorubicinone (ADNR-3), was shown to...

The Homo sapiens kin17 ((HSA)kin17) protein is a chromatin-associated protein conserved during evolution and overproduced in certain human tumor cell lines. For the first time, immunoelectron microscopy analysis of endogenous (HSA)kin17 protein revealed an ultrastructural co-localization of (HSA)kin17 and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) at sites of DNA replication after either short (15 min) or long...

Cellular senescence of normal human cells has by now far exceeded its initial role as a model system for aging research. Many reports show the accumulation of senescent cells in vivo, their effect on their microenvironment and its double-edged role as tumour suppressor and promoter. Importantly, removal of senescent cells delays the onset of age-associated diseases in mouse model systems. To ch...

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in the blood plasma. Drug binding to HSA is crucial to study the absorption, distribution, metabolism, efficiency and bioavailability of drug molecules. In this study, isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular dynamics simulation of HSA and its complex with indometacin (IM) were performed to investigate thermodynamics parameters and th...

The interactions between platinum complexes and human serum albumin (HSA) play crucial roles in the distribution, metabolism, and activity of platinum-based anticancer drugs. Octahedral platinum (IV) complexes represent a significant class of anticancer agents that display molecular pharmacological properties different from cisplatin. In this study, the interaction between two Pt(IV) complexes ...

Nanoparticles prepared using human serum albumin (HSA) have emerged as versatile carriers for improving the pharmacokinetic profile of drugs. The desolvation of HSA using ethanol followed by stabilization through crosslinking with glutaraldehyde is a common technique for preparing HSA nanoparticles, but our knowledge concerning the characteristics (or functions) of HSA nanoparticles and their e...

Human serum albumin (HSA) is a potent inhibitor of Aβ self-association and this novel, to our knowledge, function of HSA is of potential therapeutic interest for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. It is known that HSA interacts with Aβ oligomers through binding sites evenly partitioned across the three albumin domains and with comparable affinities. However, as of this writing, no informatio...

Glycation involves the non-enzymatic addition of reducing sugars and/or their reactive degradation products to amine groups on proteins. This process is promoted by the presence of elevated blood glucose concentrations in diabetes and occurs with various proteins that include human serum albumin (HSA). This review examines work that has been conducted in the study and analysis of glycated HSA. ...