This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Crohn’s disease is an incredibly painful inflammatory bowel disease that frequently reoccurs after treatment. The growth of a certain type of abdominal fat has been associated with Crohn's disease recurrence. This fat, called mesenteric adipose tissue, is tucked up against the membrane connecting the intestines to the abdominal wall. Microbes can escape the intestines in Crohn's disease and may affect the mesenteric fat. Recently, researchers explored this relationship by investigating the mesenteric microbiome of patients with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease patients had distinct mesenteric microbiomes, host gene expression patterns, and metabolites compared to controls. To explore the specifics, the researchers isolated bacterial strains from the mesenteric microbiome of these patients. In a mouse model of colitis, introducing a mixture of five of the isolated bacterial strains made disease symptoms worse. One of these strains, _A..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) plays essential roles in cancer development and progression. Exosomes mediate crosstalk between tumor cells and other stromal or immune cells in the TME, but how tumor-derived exosomes promote the progression of bladder cancer, one of the most common types of cancer, remains unclear. To find out, researchers recently examined the effects of exosomes extracted from the conditioned medium (CM) of MB49 bladder cancer cells. The researchers found that the cancer-derived exosomes were ingested by mouse macrophages both in vitro and in vivo and that they induced macrophage polarization toward the immunosuppressive M2 phenotype. Exosome-secreting MB49 cells induced tumor growth in mice, but the exosome inhibitor GW4869 reduced tumor growth, macrophage M2 polarization and immunosuppression, confirming the pro-tumor effects of the cancer-derived exosomes..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"A group of scientists collaborating across the US has developed a new tool to help understand eye diseases: cornea organoids, miniaturized corneas that can be grown in the lab using human stem cells. The cornea forms the outermost surface of the eye, and many disorders affecting eyesight arise from defects in this tissue, including some inherited forms of blindness. Traditional cell culture experiments have fallen short when trying to study these conditions because they don’t adequately capture the complex arrangement of cells and extracellular matrix found in the cornea. But organoids do, opening the door for new discoveries that could change how we treat eye disorders. To create this 3D model system, the researchers started with human stem cells to capture the earliest stages of development. By adding specific factors to the culture medium, the scientists were able to direct the cells into becoming cornea cells..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive, treatment-resistant liver cancer. One factor associated with poor prognosis in patients with HCC and other cancers is elevated levels of the enzyme WIP1. WIP1 removes phosphate groups from other proteins and is involved in many potentially pathogenic processes. Researchers recently explored WIP1 as a target for HCC treatment. In both patient databases and cell culture experiments, WIP1 was consistently elevated in HCC cells compared to normal liver cells. Further experiments revealed that inhibiting WIP1 slowed cancer progression by increasing DNA damage in cancerous cells, thus killing them. With less WIP1 available, more of the key homologous recombination repair protein H2AX was phosphorylated and impaired, allowing damage to accumulate in HCC cells. Cells from cancers with impaired homologous recombination repair, like breast cancer, can be killed by inhibiting another enzyme, PARP..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Glioblastoma is a devastatingly aggressive and prevalent primary brain tumor. Despite the discovery of many potential biomarkers and treatment targets, there has been little improvement in survival. One unexplored pathway in glioblastoma is chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), which has been implicated in a variety of human malignancies. A new paper examined CMA and its key component, lysosome-associated membrane protein type 2A (LAMP-2A), using clinical samples, in vitro experiments, and a mouse xenograft model. In clinical samples, glioblastoma showed elevated expression of LAMP-2A compared to peritumoral regions and low-grade glioma and an associated decrease in nuclear receptor co-repressor (N-CoR). Glioblastoma with high LAMP-2A expression also had inhibited unfolded protein response and apoptosis. In vitro, silencing LAMP-2A up-regulated N-CoR and activated the unfolded protein response pathway, which led to apoptosis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Sound waves. They bring music to our ears, help doctors peer inside our bodies, and even allow us to “see” underwater. Now, scientists are using these versatile packets of vibrating energy for a new application: growing functional, transplantable blood vessels right on the benchtop. These engineered tissues can be used to repair injuries caused by diminished blood flow from blood clots or other blockages. But there’s a lot to consider when fabricating therapeutic blood vessels. There are biological and mechanical attributes that are tricky to get right. The body’s vasculature is complex and multiscale, and a precise geometric arrangement is needed for efficient perfusion. Vessels are also composed of multiple cell types, which need to be well integrated to function. To engineer tissues that meet these requirements, scientists developed a new acoustophoretic cell patterning technique. The method uses sound waves to precisely align cells into user-defined patterns..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Extracellular vesicles (EVs) function in many physiological events ranging from normal cellular activity to pathogenic processes. Some EVs prepared in vitro have exhibited therapeutic effects in preclinical models of immune or neurodegenerative disease. In a recent study, researchers generated EVs enriched with HSPB8 (small heat shock protein B8) in vitro from oligodendroglia (OLs). HSPB8 protects cells from oxidative stress-mediated cell death by supporting autophagic activity and could be carried by EVs. Both the native OL-EVs and the HSPB8-enriched OL-EVs were internalized by a microglial cell line and primary mixed neural cultures without inducing cell death. The HSPB8-enriched OL-EVs increased the endogenous production of HSPB8 mRNA. Both EV subsets helped maintain cellular homeostasis during chronic inflammation by increasing autophagic vesicle formation..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This first lesson (of three) explains sexual and reproductive anatomy, and human reproduction via penis-in-vagina sexual intercourse (PIV sex). During this lesson, the educator will model the use of respectful, inclusive concepts and language to describe the process of human reproduction and family formation.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Critically ill COVID-19 patients under invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) are at greatly increased risk of death compared to the general population. While some drivers of COVID-19 disease progression, such as inflammation and hypercoagulability, have been identified, they do not completely explain the mortality of critically ill COVID-19 patients, making a search for overlooked factors necessary. A recent study examined the virome of tracheal aspirates from 25 COVID-19 patients under IMV. These samples were compared to tracheal aspirates from non-COVID patients and nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals with mild COVID-19. Critically ill COVID-19 patients had elevated expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K), and elevated HERV-K expression in tracheal aspirate and plasma was associated with early mortality in those same patients. Among deceased patients, HERV-K expression was associated with IL-17-related inflammation, monocyte activation, and increased consumption of clotting factors..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Scientists have recently developed a new system to screen cardiovascular medications for potential complications – using human heart cells. In the US the average time to develop and release a new drug to the public is 10-15 years. The average cost is nearly 5 billion dollars. A significant amount of this time and money is put into preclinical trials, in which animal models are used to test the safety of the drugs before human trials can begin. Due to biological differences, however, these models can’t fully capture the physiological properties of humans and, therefore, often fail to predict complications. In an attempt to remedy this, a team of researchers in the US set out to develop an alternative system to screen and predict potential safety concerns of drugs. To do this, the researchers used human induced pluripotent stem cells – cells derived from adults that have the ability to form many different types of tissues..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common cancers in the United States. The most frequent form of RCC, clear cell RCC (ccRCC), is particularly aggressive with high mortality. Thus, there is an urgent need for prognostic tools and treatments. The protein Integrin β4 (ITGB4) plays important roles in other malignancies, but its role in ccRCC is not well documented. A recent study confirmed that ITGB4 was significantly overexpressed in ccRCC tissues and that high levels predicted metastasis and a poor prognosis. ITGB4 stimulated cell migration and invasion in benchtop experiments and metastasis in a mouse model. Another protein, methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14), accelerated the degradation of ITGB4 mRNA, ultimately reducing ITGB4's expression. METTL14 did this by facilitating the addition of a methyl group to an adenosine on the end of ITGB4 mRNA. The modified ITGB4 mRNA is then bound by YTH domain family protein 2 (YTHDF2), which promotes the decay of the mRNA..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Notch signaling is the key to many binary decisions metazoan cells make during development. Downstream signals from Notch trigger transcriptional remodeling that resolves dichotomies like differentiation between developmental cell fates. In the "Notch on" state, the Notch intracellular domain (NICD) relocates to the nucleus and binds to the protein RBPJ. While Notch activation is well studied, the transition to the "Notch off" state, where NICD and RBPJ dissociate, is not well understood. Recent research using phylogenetic analysis, computational biochemistry, and in vitro experiments suggests that heat flux is an important regulator of Notch signaling. The researchers determined that NICD senses temperature changes through its ankyrin domain. The ankyrin domain is highly conserved across species and contains β-hairpins enriched for charged amino acids. These charged amino acids amplify destabilizing electrostatic interactions, making the domain vulnerable to heat destruction..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Sepsis is a life-threatening overreaction of the immune system to infection. Sepsis causes damage to vascular endothelial cells, which play an important role in maintaining vascular function. Treatment strategies that restore vascular endothelial cell function after sepsis are desperately needed. Pericyte-derived microvesicles (PMVs) have had therapeutic effects in other disorders and may be useful in sepsis treatment. To evaluate the potential treatment utility of PMVs, researchers combined experiments in rats and cultured vascular endothelial cells. PMVs were able to protect lung tissue and improve pulmonary function of septic rats. PMVs were also protective of cellular function in the cell culture model. Through subsequent experiments, the researchers determined that PMV absorption was mediated by the cell-surface protein CD44. and that PMVs restored vascular function by delivering the signaling molecule CTGF and activating the ERK1/2- STAT3 pathway..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Osteoarthritis is a painful degradation of joint cartilage. Therapies that boost cartilage's limited ability to repair using adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) have shown promise in cell culture and animal studies, but that success has not carried over to clinical trials. This variability in clinical trials may come down to how the cells are cultured prior to implantation. To test this, a recent study examined a co-culture system combining ASCs taken from the fat pad behind the patella and cartilage cells (chondrocytes). Co-cultured ASCs and chondrocytes had higher expression of cartilage-associated genes than expected, and the effect was larger in cultures with a lower ratio of ASCs to chondrocytes. This gene expression change likely reflects changes in the ASCs and would suggest that the ASCs are starting to make the molecular changes needed to repair damaged cartilage, but increased expression in the chondrocytes, rather than the ASCs, cannot be ruled out without further experiments..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Metabolic syndrome is becoming increasingly common among humans and domestic animals and is thought to be linked to dysfunction in adipose tissue components, including adipose progenitor stem cells (ASCs). The proteins PTP1B and LMPTP have been implicated in the development of metabolic disorders, but their roles in adipogenic differentiation of ASCs and modulation of mitochondrial dynamics in these cells remain unclear. To clarify this issue, a recent study treated ASCs from metabolically impaired horses with PTP1B and LMPTP inhibitors in vitro. Both selective inhibitors enhanced the differentiation of ASCs into adipose cells and increased the expression of PPARγ, a master adipogenesis regulator, while the LMPTP inhibitor increased the expression of adiponectin, which helps protect against metabolic disorders. The compounds also improved antioxidant defense and altered mitochondrial bioenergetics..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is a deadly illness characterized by persistent lung inflammation. This inflammation is commonly triggered by the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS activates the synthesis and release of inflammatory cytokines by binding TLR4 (toll-like receptor 4), which activates NF-κB (nuclear factor-κB). To understand the exact signaling mechanisms, researchers focused on two potentially involved proteins, ezrin and ROCK (Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase). Ezrin is a cross-linking protein that has been previously implicated in the activation of TLR4 signaling during LPS challenge, and ROCK is a kinase that may regulate the activity of ezrin-related proteins via phosphorylation. In cultured pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells, LPS induced ezrin phosphorylation, but this could be inhibited by blocking RhoA/ROCK..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Esophageal cancers are common globally but are difficult to treat and have a poor prognosis. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is especially dangerous and has poorly understood molecular mechanisms. A recent study took a comprehensive look at the kappa opioid receptor (KOR), a protein that has been shown to influence the progression of other cancers. First, researchers examined existing patient datasets and found that ESCC tumors had reduced KOR expression and that lower expression of KOR was correlated with reduced patient survival. In the lab, they found that reducing KOR expression in cultured ESCC cells led to increased proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. When looking for potential mechanisms, they found that down-regulation of KOR activated the PDK1-AKT signaling pathway. It also led to invasion-related changes in cells, including invadopodia formation and cytoskeletal rearrangement. Reducing expression of KOR in mice led to increased metastasis and phosphorylation of the AKT enzyme..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The hormone and receptor pair IGF-1 and IGF-1R and the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway are critical to breast cancer stem cells, but if or how these pathways interact in these cells remained unclear. So, researchers recently examined YAP and IGF-1R in triple negative breast cancer cell lines and xenograft models. YAP knockdown reduced viability and stemness in cell culture and tumorigenicity in vivo, suggesting that YAP contributes to stemness in breast cancer cells. Further tests determined that IGF-1R regulated YAP expression, and in turn, YAP regulated IGF-1 expression but not IGF-1R. Specifically, depleting IGF-1R decreased YAP expression, while addition of IGF-1 upregulated YAP and increased its nuclear localization. YAP overexpression increased IGF-1 expression without impacting IGF-1R expression. In clinical data from basal-like breast cancer patients, higher levels of YAP and IGF-1 are correlated with shorter overall survival..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.