Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manuel Hotz, Nathaniel H. Thayer, David G. Hendrickson, Elizabeth L. Schinski, Jun Xu, Daniel E. Gottschling
Summary: This study discovered a previously unappreciated relationship between the number of copies of the ribosomal RNA gene and the replicative lifespan in budding yeast. The data suggest that regulatory mechanisms involving ribosomal DNA copy number limit lifespan and changes in rDNA copy number might explain the effects of lifespan-enhancing mutations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lori Frappier
Summary: A protein called EBNA1 from Epstein-Barr virus has been proven to bind to and break human chromosome 11, resulting in genomic instability that might contribute to cancer susceptibility.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Allison M. Murawski, Mark P. Brynildsen
Summary: Genetic mutants have demonstrated the importance of homologous recombination (HR) to fluoroquinolone (FQ) persistence, suggesting that different types of persister subtypes exist, with some proficient in HR. Furthermore, time-lapse microscopy revealed distinct growth dynamics during the post-antibiotic recovery period for persisters from monoploid-enriched and diploid-enriched subpopulations.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ahmed A. A. Amine, Chia-Wei Liao, Po-Chen Hsu, Florica J. G. Opoc, Jun-Yi Leu
Summary: Mitochondria, ancient endosymbiotic organelles in eukaryotic cells, play essential roles and defects can lead to physiological issues or diseases. Mitochondrial genes have been transferred to the nuclear genome during evolution, resulting in complex regulatory mechanisms. Experimental evolution has shown that cells can adapt pathways to maintain functional mitochondria in response to stress, potentially extending replicative lifespan.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chiara Labanti, Jiaying Wu, Jisoo Shin, Saurav Limbu, Sungyoung Yun, Feifei Fang, Song Yi Park, Chul-Joon Heo, Younhee Lim, Taejin Choi, Hyeong-Ju Kim, Hyerim Hong, Byoungki Choi, Kyung-Bae Park, James R. Durrant, Ji-Seon Kim
Summary: This study investigates the light-intensity-dependent photoresponse time of organic photodetectors (OPDs) with two small-molecule donors co-evaporated with C-60 acceptors. The MPTA:C-60 blend shows the fastest response time at high-light intensities, but the slowest response at low-light intensities, potentially due to the presence of deep trap states. The disrupted molecular packing and HOMO level shift caused by C-60 contribute to the energetic inhomogeneity and limit the low-light photoresponse time.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Elena J. Ciesielska, Shalom Kim, Hyacintha-Ghislaine M. Bisimwa, Cody Grier, Md Mostafijur Rahman, Carolyn K. J. Young, Matthew J. Young, Marcos T. Oliveira, Grzegorz L. Ciesielski
Summary: The study showed that the active metabolite of remdesivir, RTP, can impede the synthetic activity of the replicative mitochondrial DNA polymerase Pol gamma. However, there was no evidence of deleterious effects on the mitochondrial genome integrity in human cells treated with remdesivir.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Dameng Sun, Xin Huang, Ruojun Man, Xinjie Jia, Xinluan Song, Sihan Wang, Xingyong Xue, Hongming Liu, Zhen Ma
Summary: A series of Fe(ii) complexes were synthesized using modified terpyridine ligands, and they exhibited high antiproliferation activities against human cancer cell lines with low toxicity to normal cells. The carboxyl-modified complex showed significant selectivity in killing hepatoma cancer cells. These Fe(ii) complexes have potential as anticancer drugs against hepatoma cancer.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yue Wang, Yunchao Huang, Edith Cheng, Xinhua Liu, Yu Zhang, Jianguo Yang, Jordan T. F. Young, Grant W. Brown, Xiaohan Yang, Yongfeng Shang
Summary: This study reveals an unexpected role for lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) in euchromatic origin firing and replication timing, highlighting the importance of epigenetic regulation in the activation of replication origins. The findings support the potential use of selective inhibitors of LSD1 in cancer therapy, while emphasizing the need to maintain an appropriate level of LSD1 to minimize side effects.
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION AND TARGETED THERAPY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lorna C. Waters, Vaclav Veverka, Sarah L. Strong, Frederick W. Muskett, Neesha Dedi, Alastair D. G. Lawson, Christine E. Prosser, Richard J. Taylor, Alistair J. Henry, Mark D. Carr
Summary: IL-17A and IL-17F, as key proinflammatory cytokines, play crucial roles in human inflammatory diseases, forming dimers with striking conformational dynamic differences in binding to IL-17RA, which may contribute to their varying affinities.
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Xiaoqing Peng, Hong-Dong Li, Fang-Xiang Wu, Jianxin Wang
Summary: This study reviews the development of noninvasive diagnostic methods based on cell-free DNAs, focusing on mutation, methylation, and DNA fragmentation patterns to identify tissues-of-origin. The challenges and future directions in this field are also discussed, providing insights for bioinformatics researchers to improve the identification of tissues-of-origin for cfDNAs.
BRIEFINGS IN BIOINFORMATICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Plamen P. Christov, Robyn Richie-Jannetta, Philip J. Kingsley, Anoop Vemulapalli, Kwangho Kim, Gary A. Sulikowski, Carmelo J. Rizzo, Amit Ketkar, Robert L. Eoff, Carol A. Rouzer, Lawrence J. Marnett
Summary: The study shows that the 6-oxo-M(1)dG lesion affects the activity of human polymerase iota, leading to preferential insertion of certain nucleotides during DNA replication, while showing poor acceptance of dATP and dGTP.
CHEMICAL RESEARCH IN TOXICOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fiona Jenkinson, Kang Wei Tan, Barbara Schopf, Miguel M. Santos, Philip Zegerman
Summary: In eukaryotes, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibits helicase loading factors to ensure the exact duplication of the genome. CDK activates origin firing by phosphorylating Sld2 and Sld3, forming a transient intermediate called the pre-initiation complex (pre-IC). In yeast, the CDK phosphorylations of Sld3 and Sld2 are rapidly turned over by the phosphatases PP2A and PP4 during S phase. This dephosphorylation is important for genome-wide origin firing, pre-IC formation, and maintaining Sld3 dephosphorylation in G1 phase. PP2ARts1 specifically targets Sld3 and its dephosphorylation is critical for replication and cell viability.
Article
Cell Biology
Linchang Dai, Xue Xiao, Lu Pan, Liuxin Shi, Ning Xu, Zhuqiang Zhang, Xiaoli Feng, Lu Ma, Shuoxing Dou, Pengye Wang, Bing Zhu, Wei Li, Zheng Zhou
Summary: The study revealed that the N-terminal 1-135 residues of yeast SWR1 complex protein 2 and Swc2-ZN residues play crucial roles in the disassembly/reassembly process of H2A nucleosomes. These residues facilitate the disassembly of H2A nucleosomes and function in the SWR1-catalyzed replacement of H2A with H2A.Z.
Article
Microbiology
Wenyue Hu, Yuli Wang, Bingxu Yang, Chen Lin, Hao Yu, Guang Liu, Zixin Deng, Hong-Yu Ou, Xinyi He
Summary: SRAP is an ancient protein superfamily found in various domains of life. YedK has a high affinity to DNA duplex with single strand segments. Mutants of YedK in Escherichia coli do not show differences in response to UV and DNA damaging reagents, indicating its non-essentiality or redundancy in E. coli.
MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
J. Jonathan Nue-Martinez, David Cisneros, Maria del Valle Moreno-Blazquez, Cristina Fonseca-Berzal, Jose Ignacio Manzano, Damien Kraeutler, Marzuq A. Ungogo, Maha A. Aloraini, Hamza A. A. Elati, Alexandra Ibanez-Escribano, Laura Lagartera, Tomas Herraiz, Francisco Gamarro, Harry P. de Koning, Alicia Gomez-Barrio, Christophe Dardonville
Summary: In this study, we synthesized a series of analogues and conducted antiprotozoal screening and SAR studies of kDNA binders for trypanosomatid parasites. We found that compound 3a exhibited good activity and selectivity against all three parasites, making it a promising candidate for in vivo studies.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Kevin J. Hart, Jenna Oberstaller, Michael P. Walker, Allen M. Minns, Mark F. Kennedy, Ian Padykula, John H. Adams, Scott E. Lindner
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michael P. Walker, Scott E. Lindner
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Scott E. Lindner, Kristian E. Swearingen, Melanie J. Shears, Michael P. Walker, Erin N. Vrana, Kevin J. Hart, Allen M. Minns, Photini Sinnis, Robert L. Moritz, Stefan H. I. Kappe
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Natalia Y. Kochanova, Tamas Schauer, Grusha Primal Mathias, Andrea Lukacs, Andreas Schmidt, Andrew Flatley, Aloys Schepers, Andreas W. Thomae, Axel Imhof
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2020)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Laura M. Bowman, Logan E. Finger, Kevin J. Hart, Scott E. Lindner
Article
Biology
Nina Kirstein, Alexander Buschle, Xia Wu, Stefan Krebs, Helmut Blum, Elisabeth Kremmer, Ina M. Vorberg, Wolfgang Hammerschmidt, Laurent Lacroix, Olivier Hyrien, Benjamin Audit, Aloys Schepers
Summary: The study found that the origin recognition complex and the minichromosome maintenance complex are depleted from transcribed genes, enriched at gene promoters, and more abundant in early-replicating domains. While ORC/MCM density correlates with replication timing, it does not solely regulate the probability of replication initiation. Additionally, a histone modification proposed to facilitate late origin licensing was enriched in late-replicating initiation zones and gene deserts of stochastic replication.
Article
Ecology
Christina S. Kang-Yun, Xujun Liang, Philip Dershwitz, Wenyu Gu, Aloys Schepers, Andrew Flatley, Josef Lichtmannegger, Hans Zischka, Lijie Zhang, Xia Lu, Baohua Gu, Joshua C. Ledesma, Daly J. Pelger, Alan A. DiSpirito, Jeremy D. Semrau
Summary: Aerobic methanotrophy is strongly regulated by copper, with different methanotrophs utilizing various mechanisms for copper uptake, including secreting methanobactin or utilizing proteins like MopE. Certain methanotrophs are able to steal methanobactin from others, enhancing their ability to degrade methylmercury. Understanding these strategies may help manipulate methanotrophic communities to reduce methane emissions and enhance mercury detoxification.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Scott E. Lindner, Kristian E. Swearingen, Melanie J. Shears, Aswathy Sebastian, Michael P. Walker, Erin N. Vrana, Kevin J. Hart, Allen M. Minns, Istvan Albert, Photini Sinnis, Robert L. Moritz, Stefan H. I. Kappe
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Kelly T. Rios, Taylor M. Dickson, Scott E. Lindner
Summary: In this study, we have identified a significant problem in the conduct of many studies on the sexual stages of rodent malaria parasites. The routine method of isolating gametocytes in rodent-infectious malaria models through drug treatment with sulfadiazine not only kills asexual blood-stage parasites but also has a substantial impact on host-to-vector transmission.
Article
Cell Biology
Stefan Preisendoerfer, Yoshihiro Ishikawa, Elisabeth Hennen, Stephan Winklmeier, Jonas C. Schupp, Larissa Knueppel, Isis E. Fernandez, Leonhard Binzenhofer, Andrew Flatley, Brenda M. Juan-Guardela, Clemens Ruppert, Andreas Guenther, Marion Frankenberger, Rudolf A. Hatz, Nikolaus Kneidinger, Jurgen Behr, Regina Feederle, Aloys Schepers, Anne Hilgendorff, Naftali Kaminski, Edgar Meinl, Hans Peter Baechinger, Oliver Eickelberg, Claudia A. Staab-Weijnitz
Summary: The study reveals that FKBP11 plays an important role in plasma cells, is regulated by XBP1, and sheds light on the important mechanisms involved in antibody production and folding.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rebecca L. Clements, Alexander A. Morano, Francesca M. Navarro, James P. McGee, Esrah W. Du, Vincent A. Streva, Scott E. Lindner, Jeffrey D. Dvorin
Summary: This study identifies a basal complex protein, PfBLEB, as a key player in gametocytogenesis. Parasites lacking PfBLEB are unable to form mature gametocytes, highlighting the importance of PfBLEB. The study also provides a potential molecular target for the eradication of malaria transmission.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Adam C. O'Neill, Fatma Uzbas, Giulia Antognolli, Florencia Merino, Kalina Draganova, Alex Jaeck, Sirui Zhang, Giorgia Pedini, Julia P. Schessner, Kimberly Cramer, Aloys Schepers, Fabian Metzger, Miriam Esgleas, Pawel Smialowski, Renzo Guerrini, Sven Falk, Regina Feederle, Saskia Freytag, Zefeng Wang, Melanie Bahlo, Ralf Jungmann, Claudia Bagni, Georg H. H. Borner, Stephen P. Robertson, Stefanie M. Hauck, Magdalena Goetz
Summary: The centrosome serves as an anchor for the cytoskeleton and plays a crucial role in cell division, migration, and cilia formation. By using spatial proteomics, researchers have uncovered protein interaction networks specific to the centrosome in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells and neurons. These cell type-specific centrosome interactomes explain how genetic variants in widespread proteins can lead to brain-specific phenotypes.
Article
Immunology
Luisa Kreft, Aloys Schepers, Miriam Hils, Kyra Swiontek, Andrew Flatley, Robert Janowski, Mohammadali Khan Mirzaei, Michael Dittmar, Neera Chakrapani, Mahesh S. Desai, Stefanie Eyerich, Li Deng, Dierk Niessing, Konrad Fischer, Regina Feederle, Simon Blank, Carsten B. Schmidt-Weber, Christiane Hilger, Tilo Biedermann, Caspar Ohnmacht
Summary: The alpha-Gal epitope plays a determining role in allergic reactions and rejections in xenotransplantation. Humans lack this carbohydrate due to evolutionary loss of the enzyme GGTA1. Although commensal bacteria have been suggested as a causal factor for the induction of anti-alpha-Gal antibodies, it is unclear whether they actually express the native alpha-Gal epitope.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ian M. Lamb, Kelly T. Rios, Anurag Shukla, Avantika Ahiya, Joanne Morrisey, Joshua C. Mell, Scott E. Lindner, Michael W. Mather, Akhil B. Vaidya
Summary: Despite efforts to control malaria infection, progress in reducing deaths and infections has stalled due to the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. Identifying novel protein drug targets is crucial for overcoming this challenge and developing new antimalarial drugs.
Article
Microbiology
James P. McGee, Jean-Paul Armache, Scott E. Lindner