International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Somatic cell count (SCC) is routinely used as an indicator of mammary gland health, but the SCC level at which coordinated inflammatory and systemic changes become apparent remains uncertain. This study aimed to characterize biological changes across increasing SCC and identify the SCC range associated with a coordinated transition. The study included 580 clinically healthy Polish Holstein–Friesi…

Influenza pandemics have had devastating impacts in the 20th and 21st centuries, resulting in millions of deaths. It is challenging to control the influenza virus through antiviral drugs due to its rapid evolution to evade the host immune system. The 3D8 single chain variable fragment (scFv) protein, known for its nuclease activity against DNA and RNA viruses, has demonstrated broad antiviral pro…

Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) is widely used as a biomarker of male fertility, although its predictive value for assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes remains controversial. We hypothesised that this discrepancy reflects the inclusion of non-viable spermatozoa in conventional SDF assessment of native semen. We retrospectively analysed semen samples from 1394 men to evaluate associations…

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common benign vascular tumor of infancy, characterized by a unique life cycle encompassing a rapid proliferative phase followed by spontaneous involution. Although the majority of cases exhibit a favorable prognosis, a small subset may be complicated by severe sequelae that adversely affect the physical and mental health of affected infants. Accumulating evid…

Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) are key regulators of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis. While the canonical YAP/TAZ-TEAD axis is well-characterized, non-canonical interaction partners and downstream long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that orchestrate fibrogenic programs in HSCs remain undefined. Using BioID and next-ge…

Nanoparticles are increasingly explored as carriers for therapeutic radionuclides in oncology, offering prolonged circulation, high payload capacity, and active targeting. Radiolabeling enables non-invasive tracking of these constructs by SPECT or PET, providing biodistribution data that are inaccessible to ex vivo organ counting. In principle, such imaging could be used to predict therapeutic ou…

The composition of honey is complex and can vary depending on its botanical and geographical origin. This study evaluated the phenolic acid profile (PAP), antioxidant activity, and antimicrobial properties of honey samples from different geographical origins, such as Romania (nine types: multiflower, thyme, manna, hawthorn, black locust, linden, rapeseed, mint, and pasture), Malaysia (Tualang), N…

Chronic pain, sleep disturbances, and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression disorders frequently co-occur, forming a self-reinforcing cycle that impairs daily functioning and quality of life. Chronic pain is driven by peripheral and central sensitization, the latter sustained by reciprocal microglial–astrocytic crosstalk and maladaptive neuroplasticity. Poor sleep amplifies pain …

The Southeast Asian deletion (--SEA), the most prevalent α0-thalassemia mutation in Southeast Asia, is a major target of regional thalassemia prevention programs. Coinheritance of α0-thalassemia with other hemoglobinopathies, particularly hemoglobin E (Hb E), complicates routine hematological screening and requires reliable molecular confirmation. This study developed and validated a duplex nanop…

Dietary fiber shapes both gut microbial community structure and the fermentable substrates available to resident taxa, yet how fiber deprivation reshapes taxonomic representation and predicted functional potential remains incompletely resolved. We performed an in silico re-analysis of publicly deposited 16S rRNA gene data from 15 female C57BL/6 mice distributed across three dietary cohorts—fiber-…

Neonatal hypoxic–ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a major cause of neonatal mortality and long-term neurological disability, affecting 1–3 per 1000 live births in developed countries and occurring at substantially higher rates in developing countries. Neuroinflammation is a key contributor to disease progression, with growing evidence implicating the activation of the NLR family pyrin domain con…

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), caused by FIPV, is a highly fatal disease. The coordinated shifts in gut microbiota, metabolome, and their interactions following FIPV infection remain poorly understood. In this pilot discovery work, we established an oral FIPV DF-2 challenge model in kittens, which reproduced typical FIP phenotypes confirmed by clinical scores and pathology for exploratory m…

Idesia polycarpa is a woody oil tree threatened by stem canker caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea, yet the organization and infection-responsive behavior of its phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) gene family remain poorly understood. Here, we identified five IpPAL genes and characterized their phylogenetic relationships, conserved features, duplication patterns, promoter cis-elements, and infection…

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a highly immune-evasive malignancy that exhibits limited and often transient responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and remains a major challenge for emerging cellular immunotherapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells. A defining feature of ccRCC, largely driven by von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) deficiency, is persistent activation of…

Immune dysregulation characterized by persistent myeloid activation and associated impairment of regulatory T cell (Treg) function contributes to inflammatory signaling across peripheral and central compartments in neurodegenerative diseases. We evaluated whether combining a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA; semaglutide) with low-dose interleukin-2 (LD-IL2) could modulate myeloid…

The bovine liver is a highly compartmentalized organ that plays essential roles in continuous gluconeogenesis and nitrogen recycling; however, its spatial molecular architecture has remained largely uncharacterized due to the limitations of traditional bulk and single-cell approaches. To address this gap, Spatial Enhanced Resolution Omics-sequencing (Stereo-seq) was utilized to generate a subcell…

Actionable ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK, and NRG1 fusions define biologically distinct subsets of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), yet real-world data across these rare populations remain limited. We retrospectively evaluated patients with advanced NSCLC treated at Memorial Healthcare System who received genotype-matched fusion-directed therapy; the first fusion-directed agent defined the ind…

Field cancerization in the upper respiratory tract (URT) heavily drives cancer recurrence. The present study evaluated Thai ethnobotanical ingredients from Kampramong’s anticancer remedies as alternative agents for URT cancer control. Thirty-one ethanolic extracts were screened for cytotoxicity against six URT malignant cell lines (HK1, KB, HONE-1, NPC38, NPC43, and HEp2) and two non-cancerous co…

Caloric restriction (CR) is among the most effective nutritional interventions for promoting healthy aging, yet the influence of intervention duration and age at initiation on its efficacy remains incompletely understood. This study investigated the effects of short-term caloric restriction (STCR) and long-term caloric restriction (LTCR) on frailty and brain redox homeostasis in male Wistar rats.…

Congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy (CHED) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the corneal endothelium caused by biallelic variants in the SLC4A11 gene. Its genetic spectrum is well described in the Indian subcontinent, but poorly characterized in the Saudi population, where high rates of consanguinity may concentrate specific alleles. We performed whole-exome sequencing in 47 clini…