Article
Microbiology
Jinxin Ge, Zhe Zhang, Yuan Li, Zhihong Hu, Bin He, Yongkai Li, Bin Zeng, Chunmiao Jiang
Summary: A gene called AoAur1, which encodes IPC synthase, was found to be involved in hyphal growth and adaptation to temperature stress in Aspergillus oryzae. Inhibiting the expression of AoAur1 resulted in faster mycelial growth, increased hyphal fusion, and enhanced resistance to high-temperature stress. The downregulation of AoAur1 led to a decrease in IPC content and an increase in dihydroceramide and galactosylceramide, promoting mycelial growth and spore formation. Additionally, the inhibition of AoAur1 induced the expression of genes related to hyphal fusion, enhancing the ability of cells to adapt to temperature stress.
ARCHIVES OF MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Qi Gao, Ann E. Cleves, Xiao Wang, Yizhou Liu, Sean Bowen, Robert Thomas Williamson, Ajay N. Jain, Edward Sherer, Mikhail Reibarkh
Summary: This study presents the high-resolution 3D structure of the cis-Pro conformer of aureobasidin A for the first time, and validates the biological relevance of both the cis-Pro and trans-Pro conformers. This is important for a better understanding of the structure of aureobasidin A and the design of future therapeutic drugs.
JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shizuka Fukuda, Yushi Kono, Yohei Ishibashi, Mitsuaki Tabuchi, Motohiro Tani
Summary: Complex sphingolipids and sterols play coordinated roles in cellular functions, such as lipid microdomain formation. In budding yeast, impaired biosynthesis of ergosterol confers resistance to the antifungal drug Aureobasidin A (AbA). Deletion of ERG6 reduces the effectiveness of AbA by suppressing the reduction in complex sphingolipids and accumulation of ceramides on AbA treatment. The abnormal ergosterol biosynthesis confers resistance to AbA in a PDR16-dependent manner, indicating a novel functional relationship between complex sphingolipids and ergosterol.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Samuel J. Bose, Matthew J. Read, Emily Akerman, Rebecca A. Capel, Thamali Ayagama, Angela Russell, Derek A. Terrar, Manuela Zaccolo, Rebecca A. B. Burton
Summary: Atrial arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, are a major risk for mortality and stroke. This study found that AC1 is involved in the response of atrial tissue and cells to alpha-adrenoceptor stimulation and IP3R calcium release.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Adeline W. W. Chang, Scot E. E. Dowd, Gordon Brackee, Joe A. A. Fralick, Govindsamy Vediyappan
Summary: Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause various infections, including severe diseases such as pneumonia and sepsis. It can form biofilms on different surfaces and has an innate resistance to antibiotics and host defenses. Infections associated with biofilms can result in longer hospitalizations, surgeries, and even death. A small cyclic peptide called gurmarin, identified from a plant source, has been found to inhibit the formation of S. aureus biofilms in vitro and in vivo without affecting bacterial viability. The peptide shows potential for therapeutic use.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Natsuki Nambu, Huei-Fung Tsai, Yun C. Chang, K. J. Kwon-Chung, Tomoki Yoshida, Nobutada Tanaka, Hiroshi Tomoda, Yutaka Ebizuka, Isao Fujii
Summary: The study investigated the biosynthetic pathway and key genes involved in the production of 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene melanin in Aspergillus fumigatus, revealing the roles of Alb1p and Ayg1p in different steps of the synthesis process. A novel angular naphthopyrone YWA3 was discovered, potentially linking to the characteristic bluish-green conidial pigmentation of A. fumigatus.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiaoya Xu, Nan Jiang, Shangming Liu, Yang Jin, Yuhan Cheng, Tong Xu, Xin Wang, Yuanhua Liu, Mingwan Zhang, Shuhu Du, Junting Fan, Aixia Zhang
Summary: This study demonstrated that the cyclopeptide moroidin can inhibit microtubule polymerization and decrease levels of beta-tubulin protein, leading to cytotoxic effects on various cancer cells, particularly A549 lung cancer cells. Furthermore, moroidin can arrest A549 cells in the G2/M phase and induce cell apoptosis. It also has the ability to inhibit migration and invasion of A549 cells.
JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Jason C. Casler, Natalie Johnson, Adam H. Krahn, Areti Pantazopoulou, Kasey J. Day, Benjamin S. Glick
Summary: Through studying yeast, it was found that the AP-1 and Ent5 clathrin adaptors cooperate in the recycling of Golgi transmembrane proteins. Removal of these proteins leads to the diversion of Golgi proteins into an alternative recycling loop involving traffic to the plasma membrane and endocytosis.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Ryan Moreira, Scott D. Taylor
Summary: A54145 factor D (A5D) is a cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic that is not strongly inhibited by lung surfactant. The interaction with phosphatidylglycerol (PG) is the main reason for the antagonism of these peptides by lung surfactant.
ACS INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Huanyu Tao, Qilong Wu, Xuejun Zhao, Peicong Lin, Sheng-You Huang
Summary: MODPEP2.0 is an efficient tool for sampling cyclic peptide structures, which can quickly generate conformations of cyclic peptides with considerable accuracy and computational efficiency compared to other sampling algorithms.
JOURNAL OF CHEMINFORMATICS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Rodrigo Rollin-Pinheiro, Daniel Clemente de Moraes, Brayan Bayona-Pacheco, Jose Alexandre da Rocha Curvelo, Giulia Maria Pires dos Santos-Freitas, Mariana Ingrid Dutra da Silva Xisto, Luana Pereira Borba-Santos, Sonia Rozental, Antonio Ferreira-Pereira, Eliana Barreto-Bergter
Summary: Candida species are important pathogens causing fungal infections in humans. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of aureobasidin A in combination with fluconazole against Candida biofilms and its protective effect in an animal infection model. Treatment with aureobasidin A leads to increased oxidative stress, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and chitin content, altered morphology, enhanced DNA leakage, and greater susceptibility to sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). It also seems to inhibit the efflux pump CaCdr2p.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ji Hye Yoon, Won Young Jang, Sang Hee Park, Han Gyung Kim, Youn Young Shim, Martin J. T. Reaney, Jae Youl Cho
Summary: This study investigated the inhibitory effects of cyclic peptides Linosorbs (Los) from flaxseed oil on melanogenesis, and found that LOMIX and LO could suppress melanin synthesis by downregulating the CREB-dependent signaling pathways, suggesting their potential application in treating hyperpigmentation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Pankhuri Narula, Sankar Kiruthika, Shruti Chowdhari, Perumal Vivekanandan, Archana Chugh
Summary: We investigate the role of Tachyplesin (Tpl), a marine antimicrobial cell-penetrating peptide, as an anti-HBV agent. Our findings demonstrate the internalization of FITC-Tpl in both Huh7 and HepG2 cell lines. Tpl inhibits the expression of HBV proteins and reduces levels of HBV pre-core RNA and HBV pregenomic RNA, suggesting its potential as an effective therapeutic peptide against HBV.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mahdieh Mozaffari Majd, Hossein Farrokhpour, Alireza Najafi Chermahini, Hossein A. Dabbagh
Summary: This study investigated the chiral discrimination ability of different cyclic peptides towards enantiomers of phenylalanine theoretically, and found that 8mcyc and 9mcyc exhibited the highest discrimination ability in the gas phase and water, respectively. Additionally, natural bonding orbital calculations were performed to determine the presence and strength of hydrogen bonds between enantiomers and cyclic peptides.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Ya Yan, Lei Wu, Ye Yuan, Haiwei Wang, Hongyan Yin, Minjie Li, Lvye Chai, Ruiying Liang, Yanjie Liu, Dongming Zhao, Junji Xing, Pingwei Li, Xin Li
Summary: This study found that the protease 3C of seneca valley virus (SVV) disrupts mitochondrial DNA-mediated immune sensing by cleaving porcine cGAS (pcGAS) in a species-specific manner. SVV 3C cleaves a specific W/Q motif within the N-terminal domain of pcGAS, which is not present in human and mouse cGAS. This research reveals a novel mechanism by which RNA viruses evade cGAS-mediated immune response.