Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yuta Hiragori, Hiro Takahashi, Taihei Karino, Atsushi Kaido, Noriya Hayashi, Shun Sasaki, Kodai Nakao, Taichiro Motomura, Yui Yamashita, Satoshi Naito, Hitoshi Onouchi
Summary: This study identified four novel non-AUG-initiated upstream open reading frames (uORFs) with evolutionarily conserved sequences in Arabidopsis and elucidated the mechanism by which a non-AUG-initiated uORF promotes the translation of the main open reading frame (mORF). Through a combination of bioinformatics and experimental analysis, regulatory non-AUG uORFs that are physiologically important were identified and their effects on mORF expression were examined. These findings provide insights into the mechanisms that enable non-AUG uORFs to play regulatory roles despite their low translation initiation efficiencies.
PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elena Menichelli, Bianca J. Lam, Yu Wang, Vivian S. Wang, Jennifer Shaffer, Katrina F. Tjhung, Badry Bursulaya, Truc Ngoc Nguyen, Todd Vo, Phillip B. Alper, Christopher S. McAllister, David H. Jones, Glen Spraggon, Pierre-Yves Michellys, John Joslin, Gerald F. Joyce, Jeff Rogers
Summary: There is growing interest in using small molecules to target disease-relevant RNAs in therapeutic intervention. However, the understanding of structure-activity relationships in pursuing RNA targets is limited. This study identified several unique compounds through high-throughput screening that bind to a well-studied RNA structure, the theophylline aptamer, with significantly higher affinity than theophylline itself. The atomic-resolution X-ray crystal structures of these compounds revealed the rigidity of the RNA binding pocket and the potential for other ligands to bind more tightly. These findings suggest that the same approaches used for protein drug discovery can also be applied to RNA.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jingjing Jin, Lijun Meng, Kai Chen, Yalong Xu, Peng Lu, Zhaowu Li, Jiemeng Tao, Zefeng Li, Chen Wang, Xiaonian Yang, Shizhou Yu, Zhixiao Yang, Linggai Cao, Peijian Cao
Summary: This study identified 302 novel small ORF-encoded peptides (SEPs) derived from tobacco lncRNAs, of which 61 showed differential expression after Spodoptera litura attack. Further characterization and analysis of these peptides provided new insights into the mechanisms of plant defense against herbivore attack.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xuchen Feng, Jun Ge, Hui Fu, Lin Miao, Feng Zhao, Jingyu Wang, Yujiao Sun, Yingpeng Li, Yunfei Li
Summary: Small molecules directly downregulating β-catenin have the potential to be more effective in combating cancer stem cells compared to targeting downstream components of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. However, clinically effective β-catenin suppressors are lacking, creating a significant gap in medical solutions. In this study, we discovered DSS-C12 and DSS-B8, ester-based drugs derived from DSS, which effectively downregulate β-catenin and improve overall survival in post-surgery mice. Furthermore, combining these drugs with PD-L1 checkpoint blockade stimulates enhanced systemic immune responses and suppresses primary tumor growth.
BIOORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Flavio Quintana, Agustina Gomez-Laich, Richard M. Gunner, Fabian Gabelli, Giacomo Dell Omo, Carlos Duarte, Martin Brogger, Rory P. Wilson
Summary: Researchers have found that penguins adopt a movement strategy that saves time, distance, and energy by selecting the shortest route to their destination and quickly returning to their nest. This strategy allows them to enhance their navigational capacities in challenging environments where vision is compromised.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Junwang Xu, Junyi Hu, Shaquia Idlett-Ali, Liping Zhang, Karly Caples, Satyamaheshwar Peddibhotla, Morgan Reeves, Carlos Zgheib, Siobhan Malany, Kenneth W. Liechty
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential of small molecule CXCR4 agonists like UCUF-728 as novel therapies for impaired wound healing in diabetes. By reducing overexpression of miRNA-15b and miRNA-29a in diabetic fibroblasts, UCUF-728 promotes angiogenesis and type I collagen production, accelerating wound closure and tissue repair in diabetic mice.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Tatiana Lobato-de Magalhaes, Kevin Murphy, Andrey Efremov, Thomas A. Davidson, Eugenio Molina-Navarro, Kevin A. Wood, Julissa Tapia-Grimaldo, Deborah Hofstra, Hui Fu, Ileana Ortegon-Aznar
Summary: This study examined the distributional drivers of 3,499 macrophyte species on a global scale. It found that most species are endemic to a single ecozone and lack adaptations for long-distance dispersal. Natural factors such as climate and migratory birds influence native species, while introduced species are influenced by climate and longitude. Ancient vicariance events and recent climate change also affect a few species.
Article
Plant Sciences
Andrea Laura Venturuzzi, Maria Cecilia Rodriguez, Gabriela Conti, Melisa Leone, Maria Del Pilar Caro, Juan Francisco Montecchia, Diego Zavallo, Sebastian Asurmendi
Summary: The study highlights the importance of the salicylic acid (SA) immune pathway in influencing the long-distance transport of Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), through negative regulation of NPR1 and TGA10 factors. Furthermore, the stabilization of DELLA proteins by the capsid protein (CP) also plays a role in promoting the systemic movement of TMV.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Samar Sayedyahossein, Jessica Smith, Elena Barnaeva, Zhigang Li, Jun Choe, Michael Ronzetti, Christopher Dextras, Xin Hu, Juan Marugan, Noel Southall, Bolormaa Baljinnyam, Louise Thines, Andy D. Tran, Marc Ferrer, David B. Sacks
Summary: Small molecules that inhibit the binding between Cdc42 and IQGAP1 have been identified, which could potentially lead to the development of chemotherapeutic agents.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Seref Gul, Yasemin Kubra Akyel, Zeynep Melis Gul, Safak Isin, Onur Ozcan, Tuba Korkmaz, Saba Selvi, Ibrahim Danis, Ozgecan Savlug Ipek, Fatih Aygenli, Ali Cihan Taskin, Busra Aytul Akarlar, Nurhan Ozlu, Nuri Ozturk, Narin Ozturk, Durisehvar Ozer Unal, Mustafa Guzel, Metin Turkay, Alper Okyar, Ibrahim Halil Kavakli
Summary: This study identifies a molecule called M47 that destabilizes Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) and increases the circadian period length. M47 also enhances the degradation of CRY1 in the nucleus and promotes apoptosis in p53 mutated cells. The findings suggest that M47 holds promise as a potential treatment for p53 mutation-dependent cancers.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Selva Nataraja, Henry Yu, Joie Guner, Stephen Palmer
Summary: The passage discusses two oral follicle-stimulating hormone receptor allosteric agonists that show promising pharmacology and safety profiles for treating infertility in women. These compounds offer a more convenient treatment option and have demonstrated efficacy in preclinical studies.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
John R. Poulsen, Christopher Beirne, Colin Rundel, Melissa Baldino, Seokmin Kim, Julia Knorr, Taylor Minich, Lingrong Jin, Chase L. Nunez, Shuyun Xiao, Walter Mbamy, Guichard Ndzeng Obiang, Juliana Masseloux, Tanguy Nkoghe, Medard Obiang Ebanega, Connie J. Clark, Michael J. Fay, Pete Morkel, Joseph Okouyi, Lee J. T. White, Justin P. Wright
Summary: This study found that large, fruit-eating animals influence plant population spread and community dynamics through seed dispersal, with dispersal distances being influenced by both environmental and individual-level variables. Elephants disperse seeds through gut passage time and movement, with gender and behavioral traits playing a role in dispersal distances.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Prasenjit Mondal, Ping Bai, Ashley Gomm, Grisilda Bakiasi, Chih-Chung Jerry Lin, Yanli Wang, Se Hoon Choi, Rudolph E. Tanzi, Changning Wang, Can Zhang
Summary: This study aims to investigate the pathological accumulation of HDAC6 in Alzheimer's disease and its relationship with amyloid pathogenesis and pathophysiological alterations. The results indicate that HDAC6 plays key roles in the pathophysiology of AD, making it a potential pharmacological target for AD drug discovery.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Tianyu Wang, Shi Cai, Yao Cheng, Wanheng Zhang, Minmin Wang, Huiyong Sun, Binghua Guo, Zheng Li, Yibei Xiao, Sheng Jiang
Summary: Compound 17 is a bifunctional inhibitor that can block the interactions between PD-1 and PD-L1, promoting internalization and degradation of PD-L1. It effectively suppresses tumor growth in vivo by activating antitumor immunity.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Rongyan Zhao, Leilei Fu, Zhaoxin Yuan, Yi Liu, Kai Zhang, Yanmei Chen, Leiming Wang, Dejuan Sun, Lixia Chen, Bo Liu, Lan Zhang
Summary: A new small-molecule inhibitor, 3r, of Fam20C was obtained through combining in silico high-throughput screening with chemical synthesis methods, which exhibited desired antiproliferative activities against MDA-MB-231 cells and also inhibited migration. This inhibitor was found to induce apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway in MDA-MB-231 cells as well as to inhibit cell migration, showing good therapeutic potential on TNBC.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Virology
Y. Li, P. Shang, D. Shyu, C. Carrillo, P. Naraghi-Arani, Crystal J. Jaing, G. J. Renukaradhya, A. E. Firth, E. J. Snijder, Y. Fang
Article
Virology
Eleni Kleanthous, Ingrida Olendraite, Nina I. Lukhovitskaya, Andrew E. Firth
ARCHIVES OF VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Virology
Jermilia Charles, Chandra S. Tangudu, Stefanie L. Hurt, Charlotte Tumescheit, Andrew E. Firth, Julian E. Garcia-Rejon, Carlos Machain-Williams, Bradley J. Blitvich
ARCHIVES OF VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hazel Stewart, Allan Olspert, Benjamin G. Butt, Andrew E. Firth
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jermilia Charles, Chandra S. Tangudu, Stefanie L. Hurt, Charlotte Tumescheit, Andrew E. Firth, Julian E. Garcia-Rejon, Carlos Machain-Williams, Bradley J. Blitvich
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
(2018)
Article
Microbiology
Valeria Lulla, Adam M. Dinan, Myra Hosmillo, Yasmin Chaudhry, Lee Sherry, Nerea Irigoyen, Komal M. Nayak, Nicola J. Stonehouse, Matthias Zilbauer, Ian Goodfellow, Andrew E. Firth
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Katherine Brown, Ingrida Olendraite, Steven M. Valles, Andrew E. Firth, Yanping Chen, Diego M. A. Guerin, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, Salvador Herrero, Joachim R. de Miranda, Eugene Ryabov, Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Andrew J. Davison, Stuart G. Siddell, Peter Simmonds, Sead Sabanadzovic, Donald B. Smith, Richard J. Orton, Nick J. Knowles
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Ingrida Olendraite, Katherine Brown, Steven M. Valles, Andrew E. Firth, Yanping Chen, Diego M. A. Guerin, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, Salvador Herrero, Joachim R. de Miranda, Eugene Ryabov, Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Andrew J. Davison, Stuart G. Siddell, Peter Simmonds, Sead Sabanadzovic, Donald B. Smith, Richard J. Orton, Nick J. Knowles
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sezen Meydan, James Marks, Dorota Klepacki, Virag Sharma, Pavel V. Baranov, Andrew E. Firth, Tonu Margus, Amira Kefi, Nora Vazquez-Laslop, Alexander S. Mankin
Article
Virology
Adam M. Dina, Sarah Keep, Erica Bickerton, Paul Britton, Andrew E. Firth, Ian Brierley
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Virology
Yanhua Li, Andrew E. Firth, Ian Brierley, Yingyun Cai, Sawsan Napthine, Tao Wang, Xingyu Yan, Jens H. Kuhn, Ying Fang
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sawsan Napthine, Susanne Bell, Chris H. Hill, Ian Brierley, Andrew E. Firth
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shreekara Gopalakrishna, Sarah F. Pearce, Adam M. Dinan, Florian A. Schober, Miriam Cipullo, Henrik Spahr, Anas Khawaja, Camilla Maffezzini, Christoph Freyer, Anna Wredenberg, Ilian Atanassov, Andrew E. Firth, Joanna Rorbach
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2019)
Article
Virology
Mattia Ficarelli, Irati Antzin-Anduetza, Rupert Hugh-White, Andrew E. Firth, Helin Sertkaya, Harry Wilson, Stuart J. D. Neil, Reiner Schulz, Chad M. Swanson
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biology
Valeria Lulla, Andrew E. Firth