Hippo Pathway Activity Influences Liver Cell Fate

SummaryThe Hippo-signaling pathway is an important regulator of cellular proliferation and organ size. However, little is known about the role of this cascade in the control of cell fate. Employing a combination of lineage tracing, clonal analysis, and organoid culture approaches, we demonstrate that Hippo pathway activity is essential for the maintenance of the differentiated hepatocyte state. Remarkably, acute inactivation of Hippo pathway signaling in vivo is sufficient to dedifferentiate, at very high efficiencies, adult hepatocytes into cells bearing progenitor characteristics. These hepatocyte-derived progenitor cells demonstrate self-renewal and engraftment capacity at the single-cell level. We also identify the NOTCH-signaling pathway as a functional important effector downstream of the Hippo transducer YAP. Our findings uncover a potent role for Hippo/YAP signaling in controlling liver cell fate and reveal an unprecedented level of phenotypic plasticity in mature hepatocytes, which has implications for the understanding and manipulation of liver regeneration

Murine Norovirus: Propagation, Quantification, and Genetic Manipulation

Murine norovirus (MNV) is a positive- sense, plus- stranded RNA virus in the Caliciviridae family. It is the most common pathogen in biomedical research colonies. MNV is also related to the human noroviruses, which cause the majority of nonbacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Like the human noroviruses, MNV is an enteric virus that replicates in the intestine and is transmitted by the fecal- oral route. MNV replicates in murine macrophages and dendritic cells in cells in culture and in the murine host. This virus is often used to study mechanisms in norovirus biology, because human noroviruses are refractory to growth in cell culture. MNV combines the availability of a cell culture and reverse genetics system with the ability to study infection in the native host. Herein, we describe a panel of techniques that are commonly used to study MNV biology. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol 33:15K.2.1- 15K.2.61. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163819/1/cpmc15k02.pd

Domestic Violence against Women and COVID-19

Domestic violence against women is defined as harmful behavior that occurs within a home and it involves aggressive and violent conduct towards women. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following the restrictions imposed to combat the pandemic (lockdowns, staying at home, isolation), domestic violence against women has increased worldwide. The current entry presents existing knowledge and discusses issues important for public awareness

Domestic Violence against Women and COVID-19

Domestic violence against women is defined as harmful behavior that occurs within a home and it involves aggressive and violent conduct towards women. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following the restrictions imposed to combat the pandemic (lockdowns, staying at home, isolation), domestic violence against women has increased worldwide. The current entry presents existing knowledge and discusses issues important for public awareness

Continuous and pulsed ultrasound-assisted extraction of carob’s antioxidants: Processing parameters optimization and identification of polyphenolic composition

Polyphenols in carobs have recently attracted great attention due to their wide range of biological and health promoting effects. A comprehensive study was conducted to find an optimum method for the extraction, purification and characterization of these valuable bioactive substances. Under this framework, the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of polyphenols from carob pulp was optimized by the maximization of the yield in total phenolics using response surface methodology. In particular, the effects of solid-solvent ratio, solvent concentration, extraction time, sonication amplitude, and sonication mode were investigated and optimized using a complete experimental design. In comparison to conventional extraction techniques, UAE offered a higher yield of antioxidants and a shorter processing time. Solid-phase extraction was evaluated as a clean-up strategy prior to the electrophoretic analysis of extracts. The results from the analysis of real samples revealed the predominance of gallic acid and highlighted the great influence of the ripening stage on carobs composition

Analytical separations in open-tubular capillary electrochromatography

This review represents a summary of recent progress in open-tubular capillary electro-chromatography (OT-CEC) for chiral and achiral separations. The OT-CEC approach is an alternative to packed-CEC that could eliminate the problems associated with retaining frits and silica particles. In OT-CEC, the stationary phase is immobilized on the inner walls of the capillary. Preparation of the stationary phase is critical for OT-CEC. The preparation methods for capillary columns include (i)adsorption, (ii) covalent bonding and/or cross-linking, (iii) porous layers, (iv) chemical bonding after etching, (v) sol-gel, and (vi) molecular imprinting. Major developments, potential applications, technical difficulties and advantages associated with these wall coatings in OT-CEC are presented. In addition, the coupling of OT-CEC with mass spectrometry (MS) is briefly reviewed. Several applications of this hyphenated technique for analytical separations are also summarized