Plasmin, the enzyme responsible for degradation of fibrin in blood clots and thus thrombolysis, is normally formed when its zymogen plasminogen is activated by cleavage of the Arg561-Val562 bond by specific plasminogen activators. We have altered the activation characteristics of plasminogen by substituting the P3, P2, and P1' cleavage site residues with sequences from thrombin-cleavable protei...

In addition to its established roles in the haemostatic system, thrombin is an intriguing coagulation protease demonstrating an array of effects on endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), monocytes, and platelets, all of which are involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. There is mounting evidence that thrombin acts as a powerful modulator of many processes like regul...

Nucleic acid aptamers are artificial recognizing molecules that capable of specific binding to a wide variety targets. Aptamers commonly selected from huge library oligonucleotides and improved by introducing several mutations or modular constructions. Although hold great promise as therapeutic diagnostic tools, no simple approach improve their affinity has been suggested yet. Our recent analys...

Abstract Background The clinical, morphological, molecular features, treatment modalities, and survival of primary central nervous system neuroblastoma ganglioneuroblastoma (CNS-NB CNS-GNB) in adult patients are still poorly understood. Material Methods study included 15 with CNS-NB 16 CNS-GNB aged 18 years older who were treated our clinic from 2008 to 2020. Clinical, radiological data surgica...

background & objectives: the accurate assessment of the diseased tissue is fundamental to the diagnosis and management of disorders of the central nervous system (cns). the ‛squash’ or ‛crush’ technique has been universally employed in the intraoperative diagnosis of cns tumors. the aim of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of squash preparation in diagnosing cns tumors by comparing wit...

We report a rapid and simple assay for colorimetric visualization of thrombin at nanomolar levels using functional gold nanoparticles (FAuNPs) coupled with microporous membranes. We used a 29-mer thiolated-thrombin-binding-aptamer (TBA29) to prepare TBA29 functionalized AuNPs (TBA29-AuNPs) for the selective detection of human thrombin. The sensing mechanism is based on the principle of TBA29-Au...

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major polyphenolic component of green tea, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and provides neuroprotection against central nervous system diseases. Yet, it is not known whether EGCG may be neuroprotective against intracerebral hemorrhage. In this study, we used a simplified in-vitro model of thrombin neurotoxicity to test whether EGCG pro...

Three-dimensional fibrin matrices have been used as cellular substrates in vitro and as bridging materials for central nervous system repair. Cells can be embedded within fibrin gels since the polymerization process is non-toxic, making fibrin an attractive scaffold for transplanted cells. Most studies have utilized fibrin prepared from human or bovine blood proteins. However, fish fibrin may b...

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system includes IGF-I and IGF-II, the type I and type II IGF receptors, and specific IGF binding proteins (IGFBP-1 to IGFBP-6). These factors regulate both normal and malignant brain growth. Enhanced expression of IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA transcripts has been demonstrated in gliomas, meniningiomas, and other tumours. Abnormal imprinting of IGF-II occurs in glio...