Article
Cell Biology
Gregory M. Wright, Joshua C. Black
Summary: Metal homeostasis is crucial for cellular programs and becomes disrupted by exposure to carcinogenic heavy metals. The metal response is regulated by MTF-1, but its binding sites and changes in response to heavy metals like cadmium remain unknown.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Song-Yi Lee, Joleen S. Cheah, Boxuan Zhao, Charles Xu, Heegwang Roh, Christina K. Kim, Kelvin F. Cho, Namrata D. Udeshi, Steven A. Carr, Alice Y. Ting
Summary: The integration of light-responsive domains into proteins allows for control of protein localization, interactions, and function using light. In this study, we incorporated optogenetic control into proximity labeling, a technique for mapping organelles and interactomes in living cells. By introducing a light-sensitive LOV domain into the proximity labeling enzyme TurboID, we were able to control its labeling activity using low-power blue light. This approach, called 'LOV-Turbo', reduces background noise and allows for more precise labeling of proteins. Additionally, LOV-Turbo can be activated by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer from luciferase, enabling interaction-dependent proximity labeling.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhi-Gang Hu, Zhan-Qi Dong, Jiang-Hao Miao, Ke-Jie Li, Jie Wang, Peng Chen, Cheng Lu, Min-Hui Pan
Summary: The key functional domains of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) immediate early protein 1 (IE1) have been identified through sequence analyses and truncation experiments. The C-terminus of IE1 is more conserved than the N-terminus, and specific regions within IE1 are necessary for its localization and transcriptional activation activity. These findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of baculovirus infection and provide potential targets for the development of small molecule IE1 mutants as agonists or antagonists.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chunying Wang, Ziqiang Gao, Yang Shi, Xiaoting Qi
Summary: Molecular, biochemical, and genetic experiments demonstrate that metal-responsive elements (MREs), initially identified in animals, confer the cadmium transcriptional response in Arabidopsis, thus providing deep functional insights of MREs in plants.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Murad Al-Nusaif, Yushan Lin, Tianbai Li, Cheng Cheng, Weidong Le
Summary: Neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in the progression of Parkinson's disease, leading to the death of dopaminergic neurons. Inflammatory response, production of inflammatory mediators, and activation of immune cells are hallmarks of this neuroinflammatory process. Nuclear receptor-related transcription factor 1 (NURR1) plays a key role in the development and maintenance of dopaminergic neurons, and its agonists have been shown to reverse abnormalities in animal models of Parkinson's disease.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Glenn J. Markov, Thach Mai, Surag Nair, Anna Shcherbina, Yu Xin Wang, David M. Burns, Anshul Kundaje, Helen M. Blau
Summary: The AP-1 transcription factor c-Jun plays a critical role in human somatic cell reprogramming by enhancing enhancer accessibility in fibroblasts and repressing OCT4 expression. Through epigenome remodeling, successful reprogramming of human fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells was achieved.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elena Rensen, Florian Mueller, Viviana Scoca, Jyotsana J. Parmar, Philippe Souque, Christophe Zimmer, Francesca Di Nunzio
Summary: Infected macrophages exhibit large nuclear foci of viral DNA and RNA, with clusters forming that do not require chromosomal integration and consist predominantly of incoming genomic RNA. This indicates a different understanding of the early HIV-1 replication cycle and potential implications for addressing viral persistence.
Review
Infectious Diseases
Piwai Terry Gotora, Rencia van der Sluis, Monray Edward Williams
Summary: HIV-1, a global health concern, exhibits complexity in its pathogenesis and prevalence due to factors including subtype variation. Subtype-specific sequence variation in the Tat protein influences Tat-TAR binding affinity, but the specific regions and amino acids involved are unclear. This scoping review synthesized 13 studies on Tat-TAR binding and found that both N-terminal and C-terminal amino acids outside the basic domain may play a role in increasing Tat-TAR binding affinity, substitutions of Lysine and Arginine in the basic domain reduced binding affinity, and subtype-specific variation of Tat has not been investigated. Future studies should use full-length Tat proteins and explore subtype-specific variations to better understand the differential pathogenesis and prevalence among HIV-1 subtypes.
BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Virology
Luis Adrian De Jesus-Gonzalez, Selvin Noe Palacios-Rapalo, Jose Manuel Reyes-Ruiz, Juan Fidel Osuna-Ramos, Carlos Noe Farfan-Morales, Carlos Daniel Cordero-Rivera, Bulmaro Cisneros, Ana Lorena Gutierrez-Escolano, Rosa Maria del Angel
Summary: Recent evidence suggests that nuclear elements play a role in the replication of Flaviviruses, with certain viral proteins being imported into the nucleus. Furthermore, nuclear localization of these proteins has been observed in infected cells. The presence of ZIKV NS3 in the nucleus has been investigated, showing that NS3 is imported into the nucleus via the importin pathway and exported back to the cytoplasm.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Junwon Kim, Mark D. Rose
Summary: In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the p21-activated kinase Cla4p regulates polarized morphogenesis and cytokinesis. Cla4p kinase activity is down-regulated during mating, and this is achieved through phosphorylation of Cla4p at multiple sites, including Cla4p-S186, which reduces its kinase activity. Fus3p counteracts Cla4p kinase activity during mating by phosphorylating Fus2p at different sites to promote nuclear export and block import.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Fabiola Garcia Cortizo, Daniel Pfaff, Angela Wirth, Andrea Schlotterer, Rebekka Medert, Jakob Morgenstern, Tobias Weber, Hans-Peter Hammes, Thomas Fleming, Peter Paul Nawroth, Marc Freichel, Aurelio A. Teleman
Summary: The study demonstrates that post-translational modifications, specifically the phosphorylation of Glo1 at Tyrosine 136, can enhance Glo1 activity for detoxifying MG. However, high glucose levels lead to decreased Glo1 activity, resulting in elevated MG levels and potentially initiating a detrimental positive feedback loop contributing to diabetic complications.
MOLECULAR METABOLISM
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Yuval Yung, Zhong Yao, Tamar Hanoch, Rony Seger
Summary: This study identified a new splice variant of ERK, termed ERK1b, with a molecular weight of 46kDa. ERK1b was found to be the major isoform responding to exogenous stimulation in Ras-transformed cells, possibly due to its differential regulation by MAPK/ERK kinase and phosphatases.
CELL BIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Junqiao Jia, Tarek Hilal, Katherine E. Bohnsack, Aleksandar Chernev, Ning Tsao, Juliane Bethmann, Aruna Arumugam, Lane Parmely, Nicole Holton, Bernhard Loll, Nima Mosammaparast, Markus T. Bohnsack, Henning Urlaub, Markus C. Wahl
Summary: The study reveals that ASCC3, with the assistance of TRIP4 protein, can unwind DNA by threading one strand of the substrate duplex through both helicase units.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marilina Mascaro, Eliana N. Alonso, Exequiel G. Alonso, Ezequiel Lacunza, Alejandro C. Curino, Maria Marta Facchinetti
Summary: Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a detoxifying enzyme that catalyzes heme degradation, and its nuclear translocation may play a role in cancer progression. This enzyme leaves the smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane and migrates to the nucleus, potentially contributing to therapy resistance and metastasis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alicia E. Woock, Jacqueline M. Grible, Amy L. Olex, J. Chuck Harrell, Patricija Zot, Michael Idowu, Charles V. Clevenger
Summary: This study investigates the phosphorylation of STAT5a at serine residues S726, S780, and tyrosine residue Y694 in MCF7 luminal breast cancer cells in response to prolactin, and how these phosphorylation events impact gene expression and functional pathways related to breast cancer. The research shows that mutations at different phospho-sites on STAT5a have distinct effects on clonogenicity and proliferation in breast cancer cells, providing novel insights into the role of STAT5a in breast cancer pathogenesis.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Peter Sander, Simon Clark, Agnese Petrera, Cristina Vilaplana, Michael Meuli, Petra Selchow, Andrea Zelmer, Deepa Mohanan, Nuria Andreu, Emma Rayner, Michael Dal Molin, Gregory J. Bancroft, Pal Johansen, Pere-Joan Cardona, Ann Williams, Erik C. Bottger
Article
Immunology
Soumitra Mohanty, Michael Dal Molin, Geetanjali Ganguli, Avinash Padhi, Prajna Jena, Petra Selchow, Srabasti Sengupta, Michael Meuli, Peter Sander, Avinash Sonawane
Article
Microbiology
Daniel Schafle, Petra Selchow, Barbara Borer, Michael Meuli, Anna Rominski, Bettina Schulthess, Peter Sander
Summary: The study suggests that rifabutin may not be inactivated by Arr in Mycobacterium abscessus, leading to decreased MIC values and potentially enhancing drug efficacy in treating infections.
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Srabasti Sengupta, Barsa Nayak, Michael Meuli, Peter Sander, Snehasish Mishra, Avinash Sonawane
Summary: This study reveals a previously unknown mechanism in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibits autophagy by inducing histone hypermethylation in autophagy-related genes, promoting intracellular bacterial survival.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Ying Waeckerle-Men, Zuzanna K. Kotkowska, Geraldine Bono, Agathe Duda, Isabel Kolm, Eleni M. Varypataki, Beat Amstutz, Michael Meuli, Anders Hogset, Thomas M. Kuendig, Cornelia Halin, Peter Sander, Pal Johansen
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of photochemical internalization (PCI) to improve the immunogenicity of live bacterial vaccines. By combining a photosensitizer with Mycobacterium bovis BCG and activating it with light, stronger CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses were induced. This approach also facilitated antigen presentation and caused local inflammation, enhancing the stimulation of antigen-specific immune responses.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)