We are excited to highlight new research from the IUBMB Journals: IUBMB Life, BioFactors, Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education.
Please also consider submitting your own research to the IUBMB Journals. You can expect to work with distinguished Editorial Board members and benefit from worldwide circulation and readership through our publishing partnership with Wiley. For more information about the journal and submissions, feel free to peruse the IUBMB journals website.
For now, please enjoy highlights of our recent content. Happy reading!
IUBMB Life
Special Issue: Volume 75, Issue 5
Issue Highlights
A standardised nomenclature for long non-coding RNAs
Ruth L. Seal, Susan Tweedie, Elspeth A. Bruford
First published: 26 July 2023
The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) is the sole group with the authority to approve symbols for human genes, including long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes. Use of approved symbols ensures that publications and biomedical databases are easily searchable and reduces the risks of confusion that can be caused by using the same symbol to refer to different genes or using many different symbols for the same gene. Here, we describe how the HGNC names lncRNA genes and review the nomenclature of the seven lncRNA genes most mentioned in the scientific literature.
Resistance to prostate cancer treatments
Werner Krause
First published: 17 August 2023
A review of the current treatment options for prostate cancer and the formation of resistance to these regimens has been compiled including primary, acquired, and cross-resistance. The diversification of the pathways involved and the escape routes the tumor is utilizing have been addressed. Whereas early stages of tumor can be cured, there is no treatment available after a point of no return has been reached, leaving palliative treatment as the only option. The major reasons for this outcome are the heterogeneity of tumors, both inter- and intra-individually and the nearly endless number of escape routes, which the tumor can select to overcome the effects of treatment. This means that more focus should be applied to the individualization of both diagnosis and therapy of prostate cancer. In addition to current treatment options, novel drugs and ongoing clinical trials have been addressed in this review.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education
Issue Highlights
Michael Van Haute, Jan David Monzon
First published: 06 May 2023
While the innovativeness of the flipped classroom (FC) approach promotes active participation and higher-order thinking among students, there are concerns about its effectiveness in terms of knowledge retention. Currently, there are no studies involving medical school biochemistry that evaluate this aspect of effectiveness. Thus, we conducted a historical control study that analyzed observational data from two freshman batches of the Doctor of Medicine program in our institution. Class 2021 (n = 250) served as the traditional lecture (TL) group while Class 2022 (n = 264) served as the FC group. Data on relevant observed covariates (age, sex, National Medical Admission Test or NMAT score, undergraduate degree) and the outcome variable (carbohydrate metabolism course unit examination percentage scores, as indicator of knowledge retention) were included in the analysis. Propensity scores were calculated using logit regression conditional on these observed covariates. Afterwards, 1:1 nearest-neighbor propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to produce an estimated average treatment effect (ATE) measure afforded by FC (as adjusted mean difference in examination scores between the two batches), balancing on the covariates. Nearest-neighbor matching using the calculated propensity scores effectively balanced the two groups (standardized bias <10%), producing 250 matched student-pairs that received either TL or FC. Following PSM, the FC group was found to have a significantly higher adjusted mean examination score compared to the TL group (adjusted mean difference = 5.62%, 95% CI: 2.54%, 8.72%; p < 0.001). Using this approach, we were able to demonstrate benefit of FC over TL in terms of knowledge retention, as reflected by the estimated ATE.
Did you know? Wiley and Jisc just signed an agreement that allows UK authors to publish Open Access in the IUBMB Journals at no cost to them.
Thanks to a partnership our publisher Wiley has signed with Jisc, certain UK institutions now have full access to journals published by Wiley, including the IUBMB Journals. Further, the partnership enables authors at participating UK institutions to publish open access at no cost to them in the IUBMB Journals. Payment of the associated Article Publication Charges (APC) would be covered via the partnership, and authors will not need to cover the APCs from their own pockets.
Wiley has also signed similar agreements with universities in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, and with the US-based OhioLink And VIVA.
Submit your research to the IUBMB Journals today.
Molecular Aspects of Medicine
Volume 92 (August 2023) 101183
Vaccination against Helicobacter pylori – An approach for cancer prevention?
by Verena Friedrich, Markus Gerhard
Volume 91 (June 2023) 101108
In vitro high-content tissue models to address precision medicine challenges. Samson Afewerki
by Samson Afewerki, Thiago Domingues Stocco, André Diniz Rosa da Silva, André Sales Aguiar Furtado, Gustavo Fernandes de Sousa, Guillermo U. Ruiz-Esparza, Thomas J. Webster, Fernanda R. Marciano, Maria Strømme, Yu Shrike Zhang, Anderson Oliveira Lobo
Aspects of Molecular Medicine
Volume 1 (2023) 100005
Advances in RNA cancer therapeutics: New insight into exosomes as miRNA delivery
by Luca Volpini, Federica Monaco, Lory Santarelli, Jiri Neuzil, Marco Tomasetti
Volume 1 (2023) 100006
TTV and other anelloviruses: The astonishingly wide spread of a viral infection
by Pietro Giorgio Spezia, Daniele Focosi, Andreina Baj, Federica Novazzi, Francesca Drago Ferrante, Fabrizio Carletti, Claudia Minosse, Giulia Matusali, Fabrizio Maggi
If you are interested in reviewing for Aspects of Molecular Medicine, or would like to apply to be an Editorial Board Member, visit our journal homepage to find out more.
