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The previously underestimated effects of commensal gut microbiota on the human body are increasingly being investigated using omics. The discovery of active molecules of interaction between the microbiota and the host may be an important step towards elucidating the mechanisms of symbiosis. Here, we show that in the bloodstream of healthy people, there are over 900 peptides that are fragments of proteins from microorganisms which naturally inhabit human biotopes, including the intestinal microbiota. Absolute quantitation by multiple reaction monitoring has confirmed the presence of bacterial peptides in the blood plasma and serum in the range of approximately 0.1 nM to 1 μM. The abundance of microbiota peptides reaches its maximum about 5h after a meal. Most of the peptides correlate with the bacterial composition of the small intestine and are likely obtained by hydrolysis of membrane proteins with trypsin, chymotrypsin and pepsin — the main proteases of the gastrointestinal tract. The peptides have physicochemical properties allowing them selectively pass the intestinal mucosal barrier and resist fibrinolysis. Proposed approach to the identification of microbiota peptides in the blood may be useful for determining the microbiota composition of hard-to-reach intestinal areas and for monitoring the permeability of the intestinal mucosal barrier.

Dysregulation of pre-mRNA splicing is a common hallmark of cancer cells and it is associated with altered expression, localization, and mutations of the components of the splicing machinery. In the last few years, it has been elucidated that spliceosome components can also influence cellular processes in a splicing-independent manner. Here, we analyze open source data to understand the effect of the knockdown of splicing factors in human cells on the expression and splicing of genes relevant to cell proliferation, migration, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, and cell death. We supplement this information with a comprehensive literature review of non-canonical functions of splicing factors linked to cancer progression. We also specifically discuss the involvement of splicing factors in intercellular communication and known autoregulatory mechanisms in restoring their levels in cells. Finally, we discuss strategies to target components of the spliceosome machinery that are promising for anticancer therapy. Altogether, this review greatly expands understanding of the role of spliceosome proteins in cancer progression.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have long been known as one of the most important players in tumor initiation and progression. Even so, there is an incomplete understanding of the identification of CAFs among tumor microenvironment cells as the list of CAF marker genes varies greatly in the literature, therefore it is imperative to find a better way to identify reliable markers of CAFs. To this end, we summarized a large number of single-cell RNA-sequencing data of multiple tumor types and corresponding normal tissues. As a result, for 9 different types of cancer, we identified CAF-specific gene expression signatures and found 10 protein markers that showed strongly positive staining of tumor stroma according to the analysis of IHC images from the Human Protein Atlas database. Our results give an insight into selecting the most appropriate combination of cancer-associated fibroblast markers. Furthermore, comparison of different approaches for studying differences between cancer-associated and normal fibroblasts (NFs) illustrates the superiority of transcriptome analysis of fibroblasts obtained from fresh tissue samples. Using single-cell RNA sequencing data, we identified common differences in gene expression patterns between normal and cancer-associated fibroblasts, which do not depend on the type of tumor.

The properties of nanostructured SiOx films doped with Dawson-type heteropolycompounds at room temperature in clean air and in air containing ammonia were examined. It was studied adsorption activity of the sensors and found that the films formed at the surface of electrodes have a highly developed surface with nano-size pores. It has been shown that heteropolyanion composition and cation type have a significant influence on a sensor behavior of doped films. The study shows that the conditions of the environment affect the sensors characteristics markedly, which can be improved by choosing of the right procedure of forming and processing.

Currently low moisture content measurement remains one of the most urgent tasks. Besides, the requirements in respect of trace amounts of moisture become stricter for many processes. Operation principle of the microhumidity sensor is based on a relationship between a capacity of doped silica film and an amount of humidity that is sorbed by it. Characteristics of thin nanostructured modified films that were produced by a hydrolytic polycondensation from tetraethoxysilane based solutions were studied. There are many technological factors that influence on adsorption value of films, such as: solution content, film formation conditions, temperature rate and technological environment influence. Influence of technological parameters on sensor characteristics was investigated. Special algorithm of signal processing was developed for temperature effect compensation on sensor’s capacity. High sensitivity enables to use the sensors to measure humidity content for especially pure gases used in microelectronic technology, active gases at humidity content up to -80 o C by dew point and organic solvents.