Hydrogels are currently applied as the vehicles for drugs or active substances, rather than the active contributors to therapeutic activities. With increasing challenges related to antimicrobial resistance against many antibiotics, natural origin hydrogels have become attractive as more than just vehicles. Although many natural polymers exhibit intrinsic antimicrobial properties, these properties ...

Liposomes solubilize lipophilic drugs in the phospholipid membrane, and entrap hydrophilic drugs in its aqueous core. These vesicles provide a sustained- and targeted- drug release, and protect from degradation. Liposomes retain the drug onto/in the skin and improve skin drug deposition. Due to their liquid nature, a secondary vehicle, such as a hydrogel, is needed to obtain a necessary retention ...

Background: The internet is increasingly being used as a source of medicine-related information. People want information to facilitate decision-making and self-management, and they tend to prefer the internet for ease of access. However, it is widely acknowledged that the quality of web-based information varies. Poor interpretation of medicine information can lead to anxiety and poor adherence to ...

Bacterial biofilms account for up to 80% of all infections and complicate successful therapies due to their intrinsic tolerance to antibiotics. Biofilms also cause serious problems in the industrial sectors, for instance due to the deterioration of metals or microbial contamination of products. Efforts are put in finding novel strategies in both avoiding and fighting biofilms. Biofilm control is ...

ERK3 and ERK4 define a distinct and understudied subfamily of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Little is known about the physiological roles of these atypical MAPKs and their association with human diseases. Interestingly, accumulating evidence points towards a role for ERK3 and ERK4 signaling in the initiation and progression of various types of cancer. Notably, a recent study reported ...

Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that poses a serious threat due to the rise of incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, MDR A. baumannii clones have caused several outbreaks worldwide. Here, we describe a detailed investigation of an MDR A. baumannii outbreak that occurred at Policlinico San Matteo (Pavia, Italy). A total of 96 A. baumannii ...

Escherichia coli is a leading cause of invasive bacterial infections in humans. Capsule polysaccharide has an important role in bacterial pathogenesis, and the K1 capsule has been firmly established as one of the most potent capsule types in E. coli through its association with severe infections. However, little is known about its distribution, evolution and functions across the E. coli phylogeny, ...

The main focus when considering treatment of non-healing and infected wounds is tied to the microbial, particularly bacterial, burden within the wound bed. However, as fungal contributions in these microbial communities become more recognized, the focus needs to be broadened, and the remaining participants in the complex wound microbiome need to be addressed in the development of new treatment ...

The present study impacts the growing knowledge about co-products obtained from the primary processing of Atlantic salmon (Salmo Salar L.) as food ingredients by highlighting their microbial and chemical composition and stability. The proximate composition varied between the co-products from the fatty belly-flap (34% lipid, 15% protein) to the leaner deboned meat (10% fat, 22% protein) (p < 0.001), ...

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3) is a poorly characterized member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family. Functional analysis of the ERK3 signaling pathway has been hampered by a lack of knowledge about the substrates and downstream effectors of the kinase. Here, we used large-scale quantitative phosphoproteomics and targeted gene silencing to identify direct ERK3 substrates ...