The vertebrate brain contains neurons and 3 classical types of glia cells, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia. Astrocytes and microglia have mainly been studied in gray matter, whereas oligodendrocytes myelinate white matter tracts. Until recently microglial effects were considered mainly during pathological conditions, but is now known that microglia plays important roles also in norma…
Mangrove ecosystems are widely distributed in the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical estuaries or coasts, containing abundant biological communities, for example, mangrove plants and diverse groups of microorganisms, featuring various bioactive secondary metabolites. We surveyed the literature from 2010 to 2022, resulting in a collection of 134 secondary metabolites, and classified …
Alkaline elements are present in large quantities and in different forms in the Earth's layers. They are widely used in the manufacture of materials showing interesting physical properties that can be applied in several fields, including catalysis, biology, energy, and others. This book describes different methods of synthesis and treatment of certain alkaline materials and their applications i…
Kurarinone is a prenylated flavonone isolated from the roots of Sophora flavescens. Among its known functions, kurarinone has both anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Coronaviruses (CoVs), including HCoV-OC43, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2, are the causative agents of respiratory virus infections that range in severity from the common cold to severe pneumonia. There are cu…
Exciting new scholarship has been emerging as performance studies scholars begin to turn their attention to the performance of politics, nationhood, and jurisprudence. Branislav Jakovljevic's project on the history and eventual demise of the former Yugoslavia demonstrates how fruitful this approach can be. Jakovljevic considers the concept of theatricality as central to understanding the events…
Marine natural products have achieved great success as an important source of new lead compounds for drug discovery. The Red Sea provides enormous diversity on the biological scale in all domains of life including micro- and macro-organisms. In this review, which covers the literature to the end of 2019, we summarize the diversity of bioactive secondary metabolites derived from Red Sea micr…
The aim of this study, focused on the nutritional value of wild berries, was to determine the contents of macronutrients, profiles of fatty (FAs) and amino acids (AAs), and the contents of selected elements in red arils (RA) of Taxus baccata L., grown in diverse locations in Poland. Protein (1.79–3.80 g/100 g) and carbohydrate (18.43–19.30 g/100 g) contents of RAs were higher than in ma…
Cyanobacteria are a rich source of secondary metabolites with a vast biotechnological potential. These compounds have intrigued the scientific community due their uniqueness and diversity, which is guaranteed by a rich enzymatic apparatus. The ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are among the most promising metabolite groups derived from cyanobacteria.
Exploration for specialized metabolites of Okinawan marine sponges Agelas spp. resulted in the isolation of five new bromopyrrole alkaloids, agesasines A (1) and B (2), 9-hydroxydihydrodispacamide (3), 9-hydroxydihydrooroidin (4), and 9E-keramadine (5). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. Agesasines A (1) and B (2) were assigned as rare bromopyrrole alka…
Cyclooxygenases (COXs), including COX-1 and -2, are enzymes essential for lipid mediator (LMs) syntheses from arachidonic acid (AA), such as prostaglandins (PGs). Furthermore, COXs could interplay with other enzymes such as lipoxygenases (LOXs) and cytochrome P450s (CYPs) to regulate the signaling of LMs