Reviewing Atrial Fibrillation Pathophysiology from a Network Medicine Perspective: The Relevance of Structural Remodeling, Inflammation, and the Immune System

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of sustained arrhythmia. The numerous gaps concerning the knowledge of its mechanism make improving clinical management difficult. As omics technologies allow more comprehensive insight into biology and disease at a molecular level, bioinformatics encompasses valuable tools for studying systems biology, as well as combining and modeling multi-omics data and networks. Network medicine is a subarea of network biology where disease traits are considered perturbations within the interactome. With this approach, potential disease drivers can be revealed, and the effect of drugs, novel or repurposed, used alone or in combination, may be studied. Thus, this work aims to review AF pathology from a network medicine perspective, helping researchers to comprehend the disease more deeply. Essential concepts involved in network medicine are highlighted, and specific research applying network medicine to study AF is discussed. Additionally, data integration through literature mining and bioinformatics tools, with network building, is exemplified. Together, all of the data show the substantial role of structural remodeling, the immune system, and inflammation in this disease etiology. Despite this, there are still gaps to be filled about AF

Adaptive expression pattern of different proteins involved in cellular calcium homeostasis in denervated rat vas deferens

The activity and protein expression of plasma membrane and sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum (Ca2+-Mg2+)ATPases and ryanodine receptors were investigated in surgically denervated rat vas deferens. the function of thapsigargin-sensitive but not thapsigargin-resistant (Ca2+-Mg2+) ATPase (from sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum and plasma membrane, respectively), evidenced by enzyme activity and Ca2+ uptake experiments, was significantly depressed by 30-50% when compared to innervated vas. Western blots showed that such reduction in sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum (Ca2+-Mg2+)ATPase performance was accompanied by a decrement of similar magnitude in sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum (Ca2+-Mg2+) ATPase type 2 protein expression, without any significant change in plasma membrane (Ca2+-Mg2+)ATPase expression. Finally, [3 H]ryanodine binding revealed that the density of ryanodine binding sites was reduced by 45% after denervation without modification in affinity. the present findings demonstrate that sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum proteins involved in intracellular calcium homeostasis are clearly down-regulated and brings further evidence of a modified calcium translocation in denervated rat vas deferens. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Farmacol Basica & Clin, BR-21941590 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Farmacol, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Farmacol, BR-04044020 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Asma no cenário da pandemia da COVID-19: guia de orientações e exercícios

This book originated from a patients with asthma demand's, their families and friends in relation to the better management of this disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. The book was prepared by the group of researchers, professors and students of the Research Laboratory for Evaluation and Pulmonary Rehabilitation at UFRJ (LiRP / UFRJ) and had the collaboration of a multiprofessional team formed by doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists, pharmacists and physical education teachers with extensive clinical experience in caring for people with asthma.Esse livro foi originado de uma demanda dos pacientes com asma, seus familiares e amigos em relação ao melhor manejo dessa doença durante a pandemia da COVID-19. O livro foi elaborado pelo grupo de pesquisadores, professores e alunos do Laboratório de Investigação em Avaliação e Reabilitação Pulmonar da UFRJ (LiRP/UFRJ) e contou com a colaboração de uma equipe multiprofissional formada por médicos, fisioterapeutas, nutricionistas, farmacêuticos e professores de educação física com vasta experiência clínica no atendimento a pessoas com asma