Kidney damage can be induced by ischemia, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, allograft rejection, metabolic or genetic disorders, infections or toxins. The influence of these factors could result in acute kidney injury (AKI) defined as an unexpected decrease in urine output or renal function, or encourage the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Biomarkers of renal function, measured in urine and serum, are in increasing use in order to estimate the severity and nature of kidney injury, and consequently apply appropriate therapy and improve patient management. The determined values of biomarkers can suggest the potential risk of kidney disease and the type of renal injury, predict the disease progression, as well as be helpful for assessing the response to an applied therapy. Although novel biomarkers are in practical use, serum creatinine, the indicator of glomerular filtration rate is still the most frequently used biomarker of renal function despite its known limitations. In recent decades, numerous studies resulted in discovering urinary and serum proteins that can serve as biomarkers for early and accurate detection of AKI and its development, as well as the identification of CKD. This review gives an overview of the most important renal biomarkers investigated in kidney diseases, classified in following types: functional biomarkers, up-regulated proteins, enzymes, and cycle arrest biomarkers. It describes their properties, physiological roles, and discusses the utility of these molecules in different clinical settings.
During the twentieth century, the entertainment industry recorded a steady revenue growth. The progress of information and communication technology (ICT) influenced the creation of a new segment in the industry at the beginning of the 80s, known as the video game industry. During the first two decades, the dominant model of earning for video games publishers was sale of a full game, which means that users were obliged to pay in order to play the game (pay-to-play concept). In the past ten years, publishers have developed a new approach, which instead of selling entire game content at once tends to decompose the sale into several smaller transactions. The prices of these supplements are often calculated in the virtual currency that is considered to be the currency of video game, and not in one of convertible currencies, which creates additional confusion. The subject of the paper is to explain the essence of microtransactions as type of electronic payments created in the video games industry and to observe their role in the process of industry transformation.
Traits expected to be lost in the evolutionary history of a species occasionally reappear apparently out of the blue. Such traits as extra nipples or tails in humans, hind limbs in whales, teeth in birds, or wings in wingless stick insects remind us that certain genetic information is not completely lost, but can be reactivated. Atavisms seem to violate one of the central evolutionary principles, known as Dollo's law, that "an organism is unable to return, even partially, to a previous stage already realized in the ranks of its ancestors." Although it is still not clear what triggers and controls the reactivation of dormant traits, atavisms are a challenge to evolutionary biologists and geneticists. This article presents some of the more striking examples of atavisms, discusses some of the currently controversial issues like human quadrupedalism, and reviews the progress made in explaining some of the mechanisms that can lead to atavistic features.
All current cryptocurrencies are controlled by private entities, so that the issue of impact on monetary system becomes very important. Autonomous decisions by private entities concerning the money supply could diminish the ability of central banks to implement monetary policy effectively. The subject of this paper is the influence of alternative cryptocurrency forms on the monetary system. The aim of this paper is to determine the ability of central banks to conduct monetary policy successfully in conditions of widespread use of cryptocurrencies in payment transactions. The situation in the cryptocurrency market is compared with the phases of Internet development and the current situation on other markets of electronic payment systems. It is concluded that cryptocurrencies do not have the capacity to endanger the traditional monetary system at the current level. Bearing in mind the early maturity of this market, certain predictions of possible future trends have been made. In the case of private cryptocurrency usage growth, central banks could partially or completely lose influence over monetary policy. The proposed solution is the development of national cryptocurrencies that would ensure the retention of seigniorage to central banks and the prevention of further use of private cryptocurrencies in criminal activities.
Peroxisomal biogenesis and function critically depends on the import of cytosolic proteins carrying a PTS1 sequence into this organelle upon interaction with the peroxin Pex5p. Recent structural studies have provided important insights into the molecular recognition of cargo proteins by Pex5p. Peroxisomal import is a key feature in the pathogenesis of primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), where alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT) undergoes mitochondrial mistargeting in about a third of patients. Here, we study the molecular recognition of PTS1 cargo proteins by Pex5p using oligopeptides and AGT variants bearing different natural PTS1 sequences, and employing an array of biophysical, computational and cell biology techniques. Changes in affinity for Pex5p (spanning over 3–4 orders of magnitude) reflect different thermodynamic signatures, but overall bury similar amounts of molecular surface. Structure/energetic analyses provide information on the contribution of ancillary regions and the conformational changes induced in Pex5p and the PTS1 cargo upon complex formation. Pex5p stability in vitro is enhanced upon cargo binding according to their binding affinities. Moreover, we provide evidence that the rational modulation of the AGT: Pex5p binding affinity might be useful tools to investigate mistargeting and misfolding in PH1 by pulling the folding equilibria towards the native and peroxisomal import competent state.
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