Dengue virus (DENV) is a major pathogen of concern globally. Infection with this mosquito-borne virus causes debilitating acute febrile disease that occur in over 128 countries putting more than 3.9 inhabitants to be at risk of the infection. If left untreated, the fatality rate for severe dengue can reach 20%. A vaccine that effectively prevents infection …
Since its discovery 35 years ago, the functional significance of catalytic RNA molecules, called ribozymes, has been better manifested through the analysis of their crystal structures. Hammerhead ribozyme of a plant satellite viroid catalyses a site-specific self-cleavage reaction, driven by an acid-base catalysis, producing RNA products with 2’3’-cyclic phosphate group and 5’-hydroxyl g…
Keratinocyte differentiation and stratification bases epidermal morphogenesis and kept throughout life as tissue homeostasis and architecture is maintained. Yet, a considerable part of the molecular mechanisms that take place during stratification is still unexplored. Here we describe a novel role in integrin activating protein, kindlin, as promising regulator of keratinocyte stratification. Th…
Vitiligo, a skin disorder characterized by the appearance of white patches in the skin, which arises from the lack of melanin, is considered as one of the most common dermatological disorder. It affects at least 1% of the world’s population. The exact main cause of the disease remains elusive; it is said that the lack of pigment arises from progressive destruction of melanocytes by the immune…