The basic biology of erbB-2 and its participation in colorectal cancers

ErbB-2 is one of Tour cell surface growth factor receptors involved in transmission of signals controlling normal cell growth and differentiation. A range of growth factors serve as ligands, but none is specific for the ErbB-2 receptor. Ligand binding to ErbB-1, ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 induces rapid receptor dimerization, with a marked preference for ErbB-2 as a dimer partner. When ErbB-2 is overexpressed multiple ErbB-2 heterodimers are formed and cell signalling is stronger, resulting in enhanced responsiveness to growth factors and malignant growth. This explains why ErbB-2 overexpression is an indicator of poor prognosis in colorectal cancers and may be predictive of response to treatment. ErbB-2 is a highly specific and promising target for new colon cancer treatments.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Materiały funkcjonalne oparte na magnetycznych nanokapsułkach węglowych

The chemistry of carbon nanomaterials attracts continuous attention of scientists because of their promising properties and applications. Carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles (CEINs) are subgroup of carbon nanomaterials. CEINs are the core-shell nanostructures including the metallic phase permanently encapsulated in a tight carbon coating. The carbon shell protects CEINs against oxidation of metal into a corresponding oxide, as well as prevents them from spontaneous aggregation. It has been documented that the magnetic properties of CEINs are superior in comparison with the respective materials comprising metal oxides. Additionally, the presence of the carbon shell enables surface functionalization of CEINs by means of various synthetic routes, both covalent and non-covalent ones. Chemical functionalization enables tuning the materials’ properties and applications, for example toward introducing catalytically active sites or improving colloidal stability. One may conclude that CEINs combine physicochemical properties of graphene and iron nanoparticle. Therefore, this is prospective material for many applications. In this article, we discuss the properties, chemistry and selected applications of CEINs