Exploring music listening patterns: an online survey

An online survey was carried out to explore how respondents listen to music recordings. It was anticipated that the listener’s preferences would be influenced by various factors, such as age, music genre, the contexts in which they listen, and their favored methods of music consumption. Consequently, the data were collected to analyze these relationships. The survey, structured as a web application, encompassed 23 questions, with seven specifically aimed at defining the respondents and the remainder contributing to the dataset for analysis. The results reveal a prevailing preference for listening to music via streaming platforms. Respondents predominantly engage in passive listening, where music becomes a background presence without commanding their focused attention. Moreover, the data also highlight a noteworthy correlation between preferred music genres and the age of the listeners

NPM1 directs PIDDosome-dependent caspase-2 activation in the nucleolus

The PIDDosome (PIDD–RAIDD–caspase-2 complex) is considered to be the primary signaling platform for caspase-2 activation in response to genotoxic stress. Yet studies of PIDD-deficient mice show that caspase-2 activation can proceed in the absence of PIDD. Here we show that DNA damage induces the assembly of at least two distinct activation platforms for caspase-2: a cytoplasmic platform that is RAIDD dependent but PIDD independent, and a nucleolar platform that requires both PIDD and RAIDD. Furthermore, the nucleolar phosphoprotein nucleophosmin (NPM1) acts as a scaffold for PIDD and is essential for PIDDosome assembly in the nucleolus after DNA damage. Inhibition of NPM1 impairs caspase-2 processing, apoptosis, and caspase-2–dependent inhibition of cell growth, demonstrating that the NPM1-dependent nucleolar PIDDosome is a key initiator of the caspase-2 activation cascade. Thus we have identified the nucleolus as a novel site for caspase-2 activation and function

Exploring music listening patterns: an online survey

An online survey was carried out to explore how respondents listen to music recordings. It was anticipated that the listener’s preferences would be influenced by various factors, such as age, music genre, the contexts in which they listen, and their favored methods of music consumption. Consequently, the data were collected to analyze these relationships. The survey, structured as a web application, encompassed 23 questions, with seven specifically aimed at defining the respondents and the remainder contributing to the dataset for analysis. The results reveal a prevailing preference for listening to music via streaming platforms. Respondents predominantly engage in passive listening, where music becomes a background presence without commanding their focused attention. Moreover, the data also highlight a noteworthy correlation between preferred music genres and the age of the listeners

Antitumor activity of antimicrobial peptides against U937 histiocytic cell line

We investigated cytotoxic activity of antimicrobial peptides of different origin (both naturally occurring and synthetic), structure and known mechanisms of action against human histiocytic lymphoma cell line U937. The strongest cytotoxic activity against U937 cell line was shown by Pexiganan MSI-78, followed by Citropin 1.1, Protegrin 1 and a synthetic lipopeptide, N-α-palmitoyl-l-lysyl-l-lysine amide (Pal-Lys-Lys-NH2). The cytotoxic activity of the peptides was more dependent on the time of incubation than concentration. Only for the lipopeptide, whose mode of action was restricted to disruption of electric potential of the cell membrane, the correlation between cytotoxicity and concentration was almost linear. The high cytotoxicity of Pexiganan MSI-78, Protegrin 1 and the lipopeptide could be basically explained by their membranolytic activity leading to necrosis. However, in the case of Citropin 1.1, the cell membrane integrity was disrupted only slightly and independently of the peptide concentration. Therefore, some other mechanism of action might be responsible for its strong dose-dependent cytotoxic activity, e.g., membranolytic activity leading to apoptosis. Furthermore, TNF-α production due to LPS (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation was suppressed by the presence of Citropin 1.1, Pexiganan MSI-78 or Protegrin 1, but not by Buforin 2 or the lipopeptide. Our experiments have shown that cytotoxic activity is not limited to some specific molecular structure of a peptide, but rather to the length of the peptide chain as it is likely to affect the efficiency of the tumor cell membrane disruption and interaction with LPS