Mikrobiom człowieka i jego znaczenie dla prawidłowego funkcjonowania organizmu

Author(s): Wioleta Małgorzata Tylman,Izabela Magdalena Rzeszutko,Grażyna Dąbrowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2016

The human microbiome consists of microorganisms forming biocenosis that is only slightly different among persons. Various types of microbiota that colonize human skin, mouth, nose, gut are studied. Trillions of microorganisms harboured in human gut play essential role among other in immune system and metabolism. In microbiome the healthy person the balance between pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms is maintained. On the other hand in the body with weakened immune systems, comes into serious imbalance in microbiome and an uncontrollable expansion in pathogenic bacteria. It is demonstrated that important factors determining the species diversity of microorganisms in the human microbiome are type of diet and lifestyle. Results of the research on the human microbiome may contribute to the understanding of our needs of food, so important because of the necessity the prevention of lifestyle diseases including: obesity, cancer and diabetes by developing new recommendations in relation to food production and its consumption.

Mikrobiologiczna degradacja nonylofenoli (NP)

Author(s): Edyta Łaskawiec / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2016

Nonylphenols belong to the group of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds – EDCs. Because they are widely used for example in cosmetics and cleaning products, their presence is recorded in all parts of the biosphere. It is necessary to look at the metabolism that occur in the environment with their participation. These processes include degradation and detoxification of sorption involving microorganisms. These processes take place in a complex way, but their knowledge is essential in the creation of favorable conditions for their implementation. The use of carefully selected group of microorganisms in wastewater treatment may allow a high degree of their removal to safe products.

Transcriptional and translational mechanisms diversifying the proteome

Author(s): Anna Dawid / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

Results of genome sequencing show a surprising lack of a clear dependence between the number of genes and the organisms’ level of complexity. Moreover, along with proteomic data they indicate substantial disparity between the number of proteins and genes in Eukaryota. The resolution of this conundrum, along with post-translational modifications, may lie in mechanisms diversifying the proteome. Here, along with the most often cited examples such as alternative splicing, transcription initiation and termination, less common phenomena are described: RNA recoding, RNA editing, alternative translation initiation, and STOP codon readthrough.

Potential and actual use of stem cells in regenerative medicine

Author(s): Anita Helińska,Barbara Świerczek,Igor Meszka,Bartosz Mierzejewski,Karolina Archacka / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

In Recently, a great interest in stem cells issues has risen both among the scientific community and the society. Meeting these requirements, organizations promoting knowledge about stem cells have been founded. Among them EuroStemCell – a partnership of stem cell research centres and institutions from many European countries has been established. Additionally, different types of actions devoted to stem cells issues have been initiated with UniStem Day being the great example of them. The UniStem Day is organized every year simultaneously at many European universities. The main aim of this event is to disseminate knowledge about stem cell research among high school students. However, many myths about stem cells still exist in public opinion. This article – being the follow-up of the publications focused on stem cells and published in Biological and Environmental Education in 2013 – presents the current information about stem cells with special emphasis on their potential and actual use in regenerative medicine.

Charakterystyka zjawiska bólu oraz wybranych zespołów bólu mięśniowego – mialgii

Author(s): Edyta Wróbel,Dominik Szymański / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2015

Pain is an unpleasant sensory experience associated with damage of tissue surface (skin), or deeper tissue layers (muscle), inflammation or disease of internal organs, trauma or tumor of the nervous system (neuropathic pain). The different types of pain are defined by time, anatomical and pathological criteria. It is very important to understand the mechanism of pain, the phenomenon of nociception and pain transmission pathways. Nociceptors - pain receptors are free nerve endings activated by pain mediators. This article describes the general processes for the phenomenon of pain and the etiology, pathophysiology and symptoms of muscle pain syndromes.

Teoria metronomu błonowego – od błon komórkowych do tempa metabolizmu podstawowego (BMR)

Author(s): Magdalena Czajkowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) quantifies the minimal energetic cost of life of the organism. Animals, as well as humans, differ with respect to this trait. In 1999, based on the numerous comparative researches on ecotherms and endotherms species of animals that differ in body mass, Hulbert and Else have proposed the mechanism explaining in the simple way observed differences in BMR. They have formulated the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism, according to which BMR depend on lipid composition of biological bilayers. This paper explains the concept of basal metabolic rate, describes the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism, points out the role of desaturases in BMR, which are the important enzymes in fatty acids metabolism, and finally addresses the problem of metabolic syndrome, as well as suggests the practical usage of the theory described in the human daily food plan.

Odporność nornicy rudej na boreliozę

Author(s): Ewa Tarnowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

Bank vole is a highly adaptive forest species of rodent. It is known to be a reservoir of Borrelia sp. spirochetes, the etiological agent of Lyme disease. Bank vole also developed the adaptation in membrane Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) gene to avoid disease development. TLR2 is involved in pathogen recognition and initiation of immune response. In Swedish populations of bank vole three different groups of haplotypes of TLR2 gene partial sequence (1173 bp) were found. The frequencies of two of them (c1 and c2) were directly correlated with the incidence of Lyme disease in bank vole populations. Morbidity among vole populations varied from 16 to 50% and depended on gene variants. Higher resistance was found in populations, where c2 TLR2 haplotypes were present. Recent studies have shown that TLR2 sequence in bank vole is under positive selection. Individuals with adaptive variants (c2 group) may have had an evolutionary advantage in environments with high frequency of infected vectors (mainly ticks).

Grelina – niewielki peptyd, WIELKIE możliwości

Author(s): Pawel Jonczyk,Magdalena Potempa,Michał Janerka,Marek Kucharzewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

Ghrelin is a polypeptide-like hormone, synthesized mainly in stomach fundus and body by the neuroendocrine X/A cells. It works via GHS-R1a receptors, which are localized in numerous organs. Ghrelin secretion is multifactorial and depends on plenty of endo- and egzogenous conditions. As investigated, ghrelin is one of the most significant compounds taking part in human metabolism. It was nicknamed “the hunger hormone” after its role in appetite stimulation. Moreover, ghrelin interacts with carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, decreasing insulin secretion and intensifies adipogenesis process. Other functions of ghrelin are inter alia the anti-inflammatory effect, the role in osteogenesis process, alimentary and reproductive processes and its influence on the cardio-vascular system. It was also found that ghrelin is involved in positive impact on long-term and spatial memory.

Neki pokazatelji demografske statistike u BiH

Author(s): Snježana Musa / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 93-94/2017

Demografska struktura u Bosni i Hercegovini znatno se razlikuje u odnosu na strukturu prije 20 ili 30 godina. Rezultat je to kako ratnih i poratnih događanja na njenom teritoriju, ali i poslijeratnih emigracija između entiteta, županija i naravno odseljavanja ili vanjskih migracija. Razvoj broja stanovnika rezultat je četiri glavna čimbenika: natalitet, mortalitet kao prirodno kretanje, čiji je rezultat prirodni priraštaj i druga dva čimbenika koji se tiču mehaničkog kretanja stanovništva, a to su imigracije i emigracije, čiji odnos daje pozitivan ili negativan migracijski saldo. Bosna i Hercegovina je bila uvijek emigracijsko područje. Samo visoki prirodni priraštaj uspio je donekle pokrpati velike odlaske iz nje. Danas svjedočimo činjenici kako velikog broja rađanja više nema, useljavanja također, a rezultat je to da BiH ima smanjenje broja stanovnika u gotovo svim administrativnim jedinicama. Iznimka su velika gradska središta kao Sarajevo i Banjaluka. Prvi pokušaji izrade analiza broja i prirodnog priraštaja kao i migracija hrvatskog puka u Federaciji BiH, činjenice su još poraznije. I prirodno i mehaničko kretanje Hrvata u Federaciji BiH, a razumljivo i u BiH, negativno je. Za ovu se prigodu analizira kretanje broja stanovnika u BiH, koja u cijelosti pokazuje negativne trendove u kretanju stanovništva, a u čemu Hrvati BiH prednjače. Federacija BiH od 1991. ima smanjenje ukupnog broja stanovnika, sve ubrzaniju prirodnu depopulaciju i gotovo progresivno demografsko starenje, tj. porast broja i udjela stanovnika starijih od 65 godina, a Hrvati u njoj su u najnezavidnijoj poziciji.

Mukowiscydoza

Author(s): Monika Kloch,Iwona Stanisławska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2014

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter that functions as a cAMP-activated chloride channel. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are a large group of transmembrane proteins that utilize the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to transport various substrates across the membrane against the concentration gradient. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) differs from other members of this superfamily in that it functions as an epithelial cAMP-activated anion channel that allows for passive transport of chloride ions down their electrochemical gradient. Additionally, CFTR may regulate other epithelial ion channels or transporters, mediating the transmembrane Cl-, HCO3-, Na+, K+ and Ca2+ transport, thereby significantly contributing to the maintaining of the overall ion balance in the epithelia. Defective function of CFTR is responsible for several human diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic pancreatitis, all associated with abnormal ion fluxes in epithelial tissues of different organs.

Mitochondrial diseases

Author(s): Volha Paulouskaya / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

Mitochondria are found in every nucleated cell of the human body. The major function of these cell compartments is energy production. Mitochondria are the only orgenalles of the human cells that have their own genetic material – mitochondrial DNA, that is because of their bacterial ancestry. Mutations in the mtDNA as well as in the nuclear genome cause mitochondrial diseases, the symptoms of which are very diverse. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common phenomenon of many disorders, also of neurodegenarative diseases.

Składniki spliceosomu jako cel terapii przeciwnowotworowych

Author(s): Karolina Rokosz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2013

Splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, which is a large RNA-protein complex composed of five small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP). Spliceosome assembly is a highly dynamic process in which a number of factors is involved. Splicing reactions may play an vital role in cancerogenesis. Recently, two chemically different microbial natural products with cancer cell inhibiting potential were found to target the spliceosome. Both compounds, the pladienolide derivatives and spliceostatin A appear to bind to SF3b, a subcomplex of U2 snRNP, which is an essential part of spliceosome. The recent discovery that the spliceosome is a target for novel compounds with anticancer activity opens up new therapeutic avenues.

Biologia syntetyczna – nowa gałąź biologii

Author(s): Anna Miścicka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2013

Synthetic biology is realm of science that design and construct new biological systems from different perspectives, focusing on finding how life works. It is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines molecular biology, genetic engineering, organic chemistry, and bioinformatics. Differently from well-known genetic engineering approaches, synthetic biology uti-lizes standard genetic elements which may be combined easily to develop new biological sys-tems. Because synthetic biology is still young discipline, the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, initially aimed at undergraduate university students, is organized once a year in order to promote the synthetic biology among young scientists, and to help a scientific society that can further develop new genetic elements stored in genetic parts registry.

Plemnik – jedna z najciekawszych komórek w przyrodzie

Author(s): Przemysław Woźniak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2013

The spermatozoa are the male gametes providing a father genome to ovum. Cytological aspects of spermatozoa, spermatogenic processes conditioned by biochemical and hormonal relations and some problems of male sterility have been described. Their structural and functional abnormalities have also been discussed.

Komórki macierzyste. Część II – pluripotencjalne komórki macierzyste

Author(s): Barbara Świerczek,Damian Dudka,Karolina Archacka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2013

Pluripotent stem cells are able to differentiate into all types of cells and tissues buliding mammalian organism. During embryo development pluripotent cells are localized in the inner cell mass of blastocyst, which serves as a source of cells for embryo body formation. Pluripotent cells building inner cell mass can be isolated and propagated in vitro as embryonic stem cells (ES cells). Another type of pluripotent stem cells, i.e. induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), is derived as a result of the process called cell reprogramming. Both ES cells and iPS cells serve as a valuable research tool. They could also be used as a potential source of cells for transplantation in regenerative medicine. Derivation of both ES and iPS cells is considered as a real breakthrough in science and medicine, and was distinguished by the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. In 2007 Mario Capecchi, Olivier Smithies, and Martin Evans were awarded for development of methods which enabled derivation of ES cells and genetic modification of mice, while in 2012 John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka were awarded for research focused on cell reprogramming.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE ELDERLY IN ROMANIA

Author(s): Horaţiu Rusu / Language(s): English Issue: 52/2016

European societies are confronted in the medium and long term with major demographic transformations in respect of an increase in the size of the elderly population and a decrease in the numbers of the youngest. These changes raise important sustainability problems for the public social security systems (e.g. pensions, health). In Eastern Europe, such challenges go along with the transition economies’ problems. Solidarity between generations and more specifically intergenerational family solidarity are discussed in the literature as one of the solutions in respect of the complex challenges these changes represent for public care systems for the elderly. Thus, questions of public concern, support and care for the elderly persons and of the factors that underpin these attitudes become relevant. This paper seeks to ascertain if and how a combination of socioeconomic indicators, value orientations and family structure related indicators (with a focus on the latter), might contribute to explanations concerning attitudes towards the elderly in Romania. For this purpose, an individual-level analysis of the Romanian data of the World Values Study 2012 was employed. The results provide mixed evidence in supporting the importance of family-related indicators for attitudes of solidarity toward the elderly. While there is not enough evidence supporting a relation between the structure of opportunity and family size with the solidarity attitudes, a relation with familial experiences (marital status) exists and is important.

Savremene demografske promene na teritoriji rasinskog okruga

Author(s): Ljiljana Stričević,Aleksandar Radivojević,Ninoslav Golubović,Jelena Miletić,Jana Milić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1-2/2016

Rasina District is faced with serious demographic problems at the beginning of the twentyfirst century which are the consequence of long-term economic and social changes both in this area and the country as a whole. The basic problem is insufficient populationregeneration, which further leads to other negative processes. One of the most importantproblems of Rasina District is the ageing of population, i.e., a drop in young population and a significant rise in old population. Therefore, the population of Rasina District is already in the critical phase of demographic aging. Such age structure influences further economic development of this area at large. The decrease in young population, which is the carrier of future reproduction and regeneration of the population of this area, is evident. So as to stop or decelerate these processes, it is necessary to improve life conditions and ensure certain economic standard. Otherwise, these processes will not be stopped; they will be all the more intensified.

Demografske promene i populaciona politika - Majnc (Nemačka), 31. avgust − 03. septembar 2016.

Author(s): Vladimir Nikitović,Daniela Arsenović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2016

Research on reducing prematurity rupture of membrane

Author(s): Maria Ursachi (Bolota),Emil Anton,Sorana Caterina Anton / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2016

The membranes surrounding the amniotic cavity are composed from amnion and chorion, tightly adherent layers which are composed of several cell types, including epithelial cells, trophoblasts cells and mesenchyme cells, embedded in a collagenous matrix. They retain amniotic fluid, secret substances into the amniotic fluid, as well as to the uterus and protect the fetus against upward infections from urogenital tract. Normally, the membranes it breaks during labor. Premature rupture of the amniotic sac (PRAS) is defined as rupture of membranes before the onset of labor. Premature rupture of the fetal membrane, which occurs before 37 weeks of gestation, usually, refers to preterm premature rupture of membranes. Despite advances in the care period, premature rupture of membranes and premature rupture of membranes preterm continue to be regarded as serious obstetric complications. On the term 8% - 10% of pregnant women have premature rupture of membranes; these women are at increased risk of intrauterine infections, where the interval between membrane rupture and expulsion is rolledover. Premature rupture of membranes preterm occurs in approximately 1% of all pregnancies and is associated with 30% -40% of preterm births. Thus, it is important to identify the cause of pre-term birth (after less than 37 completed weeks of "gestation") and its complications, including respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal infection and intraventricular hemorrhage.

Time-lapse microscopy role in improving the outcome of IVF/ICSI cycles by monitoring and selection of early embryo

Author(s): Gabriela Simionescu,Radu Maftei,Emil Anton,Sabina Valeanu,Bogdan Doroftei / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2016

In vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI) are well-established assisted reproductive biotechnologies used to overcome infertility in couples. Time-lapse monitoring is an imagistic technology which was elaborated to fulfill the need for observing the dynamics of the mammalian embryonic development in a continuous, non-invasive manner, without removing the embryos from the optimal culturing conditions. This technology offers unique information regarding the cleavage process, as well as morphological and structural modifications thus enabling the embryologists to select the embryos with elevated implantation potential.