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All Outputs (22)

β-Cell keratin 8 maintains islet mechanical integrity, mitochondrial ultrastructure, and β-cell glucose transporter 2 plasma membrane targeting (2024)
Journal Article
Baghestani, S., Haldin, C., Kosijer, P., Alam, C. M., & Toivola, D. M. (2024). β-Cell keratin 8 maintains islet mechanical integrity, mitochondrial ultrastructure, and β-cell glucose transporter 2 plasma membrane targeting. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology, 327(2), C462-C476. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00123.2024

Islet β-cell dysfunction is an underlying factor for type I diabetes (T1D) development. Insulin sensing and secretion are tightly regulated in β-cells at multiple subcellular levels. The epithelial intermediate filament (IF) protein keratin (K) 8 is... Read More about β-Cell keratin 8 maintains islet mechanical integrity, mitochondrial ultrastructure, and β-cell glucose transporter 2 plasma membrane targeting.

The influence of claw morphology on gripping efficiency (2023)
Journal Article
Turnbull, G., Chari, S., Li, Z., Yang, Z., Alam, C. M., Clemente, C. J., & Alam, P. (2023). The influence of claw morphology on gripping efficiency. Biology Open, 12(5), Article bio059874. https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.059874

This paper considers the effects of claw morphology on the gripping efficiency of arboreal (Varanus varius) and burrowing (Varanus gouldii and Varanus panoptes) lizards. To ensure a purely morphological comparison between the lizards, we circumvent t... Read More about The influence of claw morphology on gripping efficiency.

Intermediate Filament Keratins in the Exocrine Pancreas (2021)
Book Chapter
Alam, C., Baghestani, S., & Toivola, D. M. (2021). Intermediate Filament Keratins in the Exocrine Pancreas. In J. A. Williams, & F. S. Gorelick (Eds.), The Pancreas: Biology and Physiology (72-84). Michigan Publishing

Intermediate filament keratins are cytoskeletal components in epithelial tissues, including the exocrine pancreas. Keratin (K) intermediate filaments are highly conserved proteins that are expressed from early developmental stages up to the different... Read More about Intermediate Filament Keratins in the Exocrine Pancreas.

Keratin 7 Is a Constituent of the Keratin Network in Mouse Pancreatic Islets and Is Upregulated in Experimental Diabetes (2021)
Journal Article
Alam, C. M., Baghestani, S., Pajari, A., Omary, M. B., & Toivola, D. M. (2021). Keratin 7 Is a Constituent of the Keratin Network in Mouse Pancreatic Islets and Is Upregulated in Experimental Diabetes. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(15), Article 7784. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22157784

Keratin (K) 7 is an intermediate filament protein expressed in ducts and glands of simple epithelial organs and in urothelial tissues. In the pancreas, K7 is expressed in exocrine ducts, and apico-laterally in acinar cells. Here, we report K7 express... Read More about Keratin 7 Is a Constituent of the Keratin Network in Mouse Pancreatic Islets and Is Upregulated in Experimental Diabetes.

Keratin intermediate filaments in the colon: guardians of epithelial homeostasis (2020)
Journal Article
Polari, L., Alam, C. M., Nyström, J. H., Heikkilä, T., Tayyab, M., Baghestani, S., & Toivola, D. M. (2020). Keratin intermediate filaments in the colon: guardians of epithelial homeostasis. International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 129, Article 105878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105878

Keratin intermediate filament proteins are major cytoskeletal components of the mammalian simple layered columnar epithelium in the gastrointestinal tract. Human colon crypt epithelial cells express keratins 18, 19 and 20 as the major type I keratins... Read More about Keratin intermediate filaments in the colon: guardians of epithelial homeostasis.

PDE6D Inhibitors with a New Design Principle Selectively Block K-Ras Activity (2019)
Journal Article
Siddiqui, F. A., Alam, C., Ora, M., Sabt, A., Manoharan, G. B., Bindu, L., Okutachi, S., Catillon, M., Taylor, T., Abdelhafez, O. M., Lönnberg, H., Stephen, A. G., Papageorgiou, A. C., Virta, P., & Abankwa, D. (2020). PDE6D Inhibitors with a New Design Principle Selectively Block K-Ras Activity. ACS Omega, 5(1), 832-842. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b03639

The trafficking chaperone PDE6D (also referred to as PDEδ) has been nominated as a surrogate target for K-Ras4B (hereafter K-Ras). Arl2-assisted unloading of K-Ras from PDE6D in the perinuclear area is significant for correct K-Ras localization and t... Read More about PDE6D Inhibitors with a New Design Principle Selectively Block K-Ras Activity.

Decreased levels of keratin 8 sensitize mice to streptozotocin-induced diabetes (2018)
Journal Article
Alam, C., Silvander, J., Helenius, T., & Toivola, D. (2018). Decreased levels of keratin 8 sensitize mice to streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Acta physiologica, 224(2), Article e13085. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13085

Aim
Diabetes is a result of an interplay between genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Keratin intermediate filaments are stress proteins in epithelial cells, and keratin mutations predispose to several human diseases. However, the involveme... Read More about Decreased levels of keratin 8 sensitize mice to streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

Keratins regulate β‐cell mitochondrial morphology, motility, and homeostasis (2017)
Journal Article
Silvander, J. S. G., Kvarnström, S. M., Kumari‐Ilieva, A., Shrestha, A., Alam, C. M., & Toivola, D. M. (2017). Keratins regulate β‐cell mitochondrial morphology, motility, and homeostasis. FASEB Journal, 31(10), 4578-4587. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201700095r

Loss of the epithelial intermediate filament protein keratin 8 (K8) in murine β cells leads to irregular insulin vesicles and decreased insulin levels. Because mitochondria are central in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, the relationship between... Read More about Keratins regulate β‐cell mitochondrial morphology, motility, and homeostasis.

Diatom-inspired skeletonisation of insulin - Mechanistic insights into crystallisation and extracellular bioactivity (2015)
Journal Article
Véliz, D. S., Alam, C., Nietzel, T., Wyborski, R., Rivero-Müller, A., & Alam, P. (2015). Diatom-inspired skeletonisation of insulin - Mechanistic insights into crystallisation and extracellular bioactivity. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 133, 140-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.05.047

In this paper, we encage insulin within calcium carbonate by means of a biomineralisation process. We find that both dogbone and crossbone morphologies develop during the crystallisation process. The crystals break down into small nanocrystals after... Read More about Diatom-inspired skeletonisation of insulin - Mechanistic insights into crystallisation and extracellular bioactivity.

The amount of keratins matters for stress protection of the colonic epithelium (2015)
Journal Article
Asghar, M. N., Silvander, J. S. G., Helenius, T. O., Lähdeniemi, I. A. K., Alam, C., Fortelius, L. E., Holmsten, R. O., & Toivola, D. M. (2015). The amount of keratins matters for stress protection of the colonic epithelium. PLOS ONE, 10(5), Article e0127436. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0127436

Keratins (K) are important for epithelial stress protection as evidenced by keratin mutations predisposing to human liver diseases and possibly inflammatory bowel diseases. A role for K8 in the colon is supported by the ulcerative colitis-phenotype w... Read More about The amount of keratins matters for stress protection of the colonic epithelium.

Peritoneal cavity is a route for gut-derived microbial signals to promote autoimmunity in non-obese diabetic mice (2015)
Journal Article
Emani, R., Alam, C., Pekkala, S., Zafar, S., Emani, M., & Hänninen, A. (2015). Peritoneal cavity is a route for gut-derived microbial signals to promote autoimmunity in non-obese diabetic mice. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, 81(2), 102-109. https://doi.org/10.1111/sji.12253

Macrophages play a crucial role in innate immune reactions, and peritoneal macrophages (PMs) guard the sterility of this compartment mainly against microbial threat from the gut. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which gut microbiota... Read More about Peritoneal cavity is a route for gut-derived microbial signals to promote autoimmunity in non-obese diabetic mice.

Keratins in health and disease (2015)
Journal Article
Toivola, D. M., Boor, P., Alam, C., & Strnad, P. (2015). Keratins in health and disease. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 32, 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2014.12.008

The cytoprotective keratins (K) compose the intermediate filaments of epithelial cells and their inherited and spontaneous mutations give rise to keratinopathies. For example, mutations in K1/K5/K10/K14 cause epidermal skin diseases whereas simple ep... Read More about Keratins in health and disease.

Morphological and mechanical characterisation of the hindwing nodus from the Libellulidae family of dragonfly (Indonesia) (2014)
Journal Article
Fauziyah, S., Alam, C., Soesilohadi, R., Retnoaji, B., & Alam, P. (2014). Morphological and mechanical characterisation of the hindwing nodus from the Libellulidae family of dragonfly (Indonesia). Arthropod Structure and Development, 43(5), 415-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2014.06.004

In this communication, the morphologies and mechanical characteristics of nodi from the hindwings of seven Indonesian Libellulidae dragonfly species are identified. Geometrical analyses reveal that in all species, the shape of dorsal face resilin is... Read More about Morphological and mechanical characterisation of the hindwing nodus from the Libellulidae family of dragonfly (Indonesia).

In vivo imaging of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in murine colitis (2014)
Journal Article
Asghar, M. N., Emani, R., Alam, C., Helenius, T. O., Grönroos, T. J., Sareila, O., Din, M. U., Holmdahl, R., Hänninen, A., & Toivola, D. M. (2014). In vivo imaging of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in murine colitis. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 20(8), 1435-1447. https://doi.org/10.1097/mib.0000000000000118

Traditional techniques analyzing mouse colitis are invasive, laborious, or indirect. Development of in vivo imaging techniques for specific colitis processes would be useful for monitoring disease progression and/or treatment effectiveness. The aim w... Read More about In vivo imaging of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in murine colitis.

On the non-linear attachment characteristics of blood to bacterial cellulose/kaolin biomaterials (2014)
Journal Article
Véliz, D. S., Alam, C., Toivola, D. M., Toivakka, M., & Alam, P. (2014). On the non-linear attachment characteristics of blood to bacterial cellulose/kaolin biomaterials. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 116, 176-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2013.12.038

In this communication, we report a non-linear variation in the strength of blood attachment to bacterial cellulose/kaolin biomaterials as the fractions of bacterial cellulose to kaolin are increased. The changes observed for attachment strength are e... Read More about On the non-linear attachment characteristics of blood to bacterial cellulose/kaolin biomaterials.

Keratin 8 modulates β-cell stress responses and normoglycaemia (2013)
Journal Article
Alam, C. M., Silvander, J. S., Daniel, E. N., Tao, G.-Z., Kvarnström, S. M., Alam, P., Omary, M. B., Hänninen, A., & Toivola, D. M. (2013). Keratin 8 modulates β-cell stress responses and normoglycaemia. Journal of Cell Science, 126(24), 5635-5644. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.132795

Keratin intermediate filament (IF) proteins are epithelial cell cytoskeletal components that provide structural stability and protection from cell stress, among other cellular and tissue-specific functions. Numerous human diseases are associated with... Read More about Keratin 8 modulates β-cell stress responses and normoglycaemia.

Effects of a germ-free environment on gut immune regulation and diabetes progression in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice (2011)
Journal Article
Alam, C., Bittoun, E., Bhagwat, D., Valkonen, S., Saari, A., Jaakkola, U., Eerola, E., Huovinen, P., & Hänninen, A. (2011). Effects of a germ-free environment on gut immune regulation and diabetes progression in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Diabetologia, 54, 1398-1406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-011-2097-5

Aims/hypothesis
Microbial factors influence the development of diabetes in NOD mice. Studies in germ-free animals have revealed important roles of microbiota in the regulation of Th17 and forkhead box P3 (FOXP3)(+) T regulatory (Treg) activation in... Read More about Effects of a germ-free environment on gut immune regulation and diabetes progression in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice.

Ly6C supports preferential homing of central memory CD8+ T cells into lymph nodes (2011)
Journal Article
Hänninen, A., Maksimow, M., Alam, C., Morgan, D. J., & Jalkanen, S. (2011). Ly6C supports preferential homing of central memory CD8+ T cells into lymph nodes. European Journal of Immunology, 41(3), 634-644. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.201040760

Ly6C is a murine cell-surface antigen expressed by plasma cells, subsets of myeloid cells and many T cells, including memory T cells. We previously documented that Ly6C crosslinking induces LFA-1 clustering on naïve CD8(+) T cells. Here, we show that... Read More about Ly6C supports preferential homing of central memory CD8+ T cells into lymph nodes.

Inflammatory tendencies and overproduction of IL-17 in the colon of young NOD mice are counteracted with diet change (2010)
Journal Article
Alam, C., Valkonen, S., Palagani, V., Jalava, J., Eerola, E., & Hänninen, A. (2010). Inflammatory tendencies and overproduction of IL-17 in the colon of young NOD mice are counteracted with diet change. Diabetes, 59(9), 2237—2246. https://doi.org/10.2337/db10-0147

Objective
Dietary factors influence diabetes development in the NOD mouse. Diet affects the composition of microbiota in the distal intestine, which may subsequently influence intestinal immune homeostasis. However, the specific effects of antidiabe... Read More about Inflammatory tendencies and overproduction of IL-17 in the colon of young NOD mice are counteracted with diet change.

Enhanced trafficking to the pancreatic lymph nodes and auto-antigen presentation capacity distinguishes peritoneal B lymphocytes in non-obese diabetic mice (2009)
Journal Article
Alam, C., Valkonen, S., Ohls, S., Törnqvist, K., & Hänninen, A. (2010). Enhanced trafficking to the pancreatic lymph nodes and auto-antigen presentation capacity distinguishes peritoneal B lymphocytes in non-obese diabetic mice. Diabetologia, 53, 346-355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-009-1599-x

<h4>Aims/hypothesis</h4>NOD.Igmicro ( null ) mice lacking mature B cells are highly resistant to diabetes and display poor CD4 T cell responses to autoantigens. Nevertheless, the degree to which different B cell subsets contribute to diabetes in NOD... Read More about Enhanced trafficking to the pancreatic lymph nodes and auto-antigen presentation capacity distinguishes peritoneal B lymphocytes in non-obese diabetic mice.