Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shahid Banday, Raj K. Pandita, Arjamand Mushtaq, Albino Bacolla, Ulfat Syed Mir, Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Sadaf Jan, Krishna P. Bhat, Clayton R. Hunt, Ganesh Rao, Vijay K. Charaka, John A. Tainer, Tej K. Pandita, Mohammad Altaf
Summary: Vigilin plays a crucial role in DNA damage repair in cells, with its depletion leading to increased sensitivity to cisplatin or ionizing radiation-induced cell death and genomic instability. This depletion also affects the repair process of DNA breaks and the recruitment of DDR proteins RAD51 and BRCA1 to DNA damage sites.
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Mengling Qi, Peter D. Stenson, Edward Ball, John A. Tainer, Albino Bacolla, Hildegard Kehrer-Sawatzki, David N. Cooper, Huiying Zhao
Summary: Microdeletions and gross deletions are important causes of human inherited disease, and their genomic locations are influenced by the DNA sequence environment. This study analyzed the DNA sequences near breakpoint junctions and found correlations between the frequencies of non-B DNA-forming repeats, GC-content, specific sequence motifs, and deletion length. The study also proposed using a deletion length cut-off of 25-30 bp to functionally distinguish microdeletions from gross deletions.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Paula Burkinshaw, Louise D. Bryant, Caroline Magee, Peter Thompson, Lisa Ann Cotterill, Matthew R. Mulvey, Jenny Hewison
Summary: This qualitative study aimed to deepen the understanding of the facilitators and barriers in progressing through the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) training programmes. The study found that the NIHR awards were seen as transformative for research careers, but there were perceptions of a biased playing field and inequalities for certain groups. Short-term awards were also seen as a barrier to continuing an independent research career.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Matthew R. Mulvey, Robert M. West, Lisa Ann Cotterill, Caroline Magee, David E. J. Jones, Helen Harris-Joseph, Peter Thompson, Jenny Hewison
Summary: The objective of this secondary analysis was to investigate the inter-relationships between application characteristics and success rates. The study found that gender does not affect success rates, and institutions with a medical school have higher success rates. Overall, the evaluation of application quality was deemed fair, but there were concerns about variation in the opportunity to submit high-quality applications.
Review
Microbiology
Michael P. Jennings, Christopher J. Day, John M. Atack
Summary: This review provides an update on the advances made in understanding the role of sialic acid in bacteria-host interactions, particularly focusing on molecular mimicry and the role of sialic acid as a receptor for bacterial adhesins and toxins.
Article
Oncology
Xiangliang Yuan, Yimin Duan, Yi Xiao, Kai Sun, Yutao Qi, Yuan Zhang, Zamal Ahmed, Davide Moiani, Jun Yao, Hongzhong Li, Lin Zhang, Arseniy E. Yuzhalin, Ping Li, Chenyu Zhang, Akosua Badu-Nkansah, Yohei Saito, Xianghua Liu, Wen-Ling Kuo, Haoqiang Ying, Shao-Cong Sun, Jenny C. Chang, John A. Tainer, Dihua Yu
Summary: The study found that vitamin E has a significant impact on the survival rate of patients treated with immune checkpoint therapy, enhancing the efficacy of ICT and promoting antigen presentation by inhibiting SHP1 to activate anti-tumor T-cell immunity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fardokht Abulwerdi, Farzad Fatehi, Iain W. Manfield, Stuart F. J. Le Grice, John S. Schneekloth, Reidun Twarock, Peter G. Stockley, Nikesh Patel
Summary: Multiple ssRNA viruses use RNA Packaging Signal (PS)-mediated regulation during assembly to package their genomes, and PS-binding compounds have the potential to be directly-acting antivirals. This study identified over 70 compounds that uniquely bind to the PS of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and tested them for their inhibitory effect on HBV nucleocapsid-like particle (NCP) assembly. The results highlight the importance of PS-mediated assembly and suggest the PS-binding compounds as potential drug targets.
Article
Cell Biology
Alexandra Berroyer, Albino Bacolla, John A. Tainer, Nayun Kim
Summary: Top1 plays a critical role in maintaining stability at G4-forming genomic loci, and its inhibition by anticancer drugs can lead to increased genomic instability. CPT-resistant Top1 mutants enhance G4-induced recombination and synergize with Nsr1 to exacerbate genomic instability, complicating patient treatment.
Article
Microbiology
Lindsey Spiegelman, Adrian Bahn-Suh, Elizabeth Montano, Ling E. Zhang, Greg Hura, Kathryn M. Patras, Amit Kumar, F. Akif M. Tezcan, Victor Nizet, Susan M. Tsutakawa, Partho Ghosh
Summary: Enterococcus faecalis, a bacterium that can cause hospital-acquired infections, has a protein called Esp that strengthens biofilms by forming amyloid-like fibrils in acidic conditions. This protein increases the retention of Enterococcus within biofilms, contributing to the virulence of the bacterium.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Amer Bralic, Muhammad Tehseen, Mohamed A. Sobhy, Chi-Lin Tsai, Lubna Alhudhali, Gang Yi, Jina Yu, Chunli Yan, Ivaylo Ivanov, Susan E. Tsutakawa, John A. Tainer, Samir M. Hamdan
Summary: Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is crucial for removing bulky DNA lesions, and this study reveals that the XPG nuclease plays a dual role in lesion recognition and excision. XPG stimulates TFIIH-dependent dsDNA unwinding and cleavage activity, and this coordination requires a DNA bubble longer than 15 nucleotides.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Valerie S. LeBleu, Jianli Dai, Susan Tsutakawa, Brian A. MacDonald, Joseph L. Alge, Malin Sund, Liang Xie, Hikaru Sugimoto, John Tainer, Leonard I. Zon, Raghu Kalluri
Summary: This study reports on the molecular evolution of type IV collagen genes, finding that the zebrafish a4 non-collagenous (NC1) domain has a cysteine residue and lacks certain residues involved in bond formation between adjacent protomers, potentially affecting its interactions with other chains. The zebrafish a3 NC1 domain exhibits conserved antiangiogenic activity in human endothelial cells despite differences between zebrafish and human versions.
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Greg Tram, Freda E. -C. Jen, Zachary N. Phillips, John F. Lancashire, Jamie Timms, Jessica Poole, Michael P. Jennings, John M. Atack
Summary: This study characterized the ModA phasevarion in H. influenzae biogroup aegyptius, finding ModA13 in non-BPF causing strains and ModA16 unique to BPF causing isolates. Phase variation of ModA13 and ModA16 resulted in genome-wide changes to DNA methylation, leading to altered protein expression. However, these changes did not affect serum resistance in H. influenzae biogroup aegyptius strains.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
John M. Atack, Kenneth L. Brockman, Lauren O. Bakaletz, Michael P. Jennings
Summary: This study presents high-depth coverage RNA-Seq data from prototype NTHi strains 723 and R2866, which encode two of the most common phase-variable ModA alleles found in NTHi strains, ModA2 and ModA10.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Atanu Mondal, Apoorva Bhattacharya, Vipin Singh, Shruti Pandita, Albino Bacolla, Raj K. Pandita, John A. Tainer, Kenneth S. Ramos, Tej K. Pandita, Chandrima Das
Summary: From initiation to progression, cancer cells experience a variety of internal and external stresses, leading to changes in their epigenome and transcriptome. Understanding the stress response pathways of cancer cells is crucial for developing novel anticancer therapies.
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
