Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Juneina Omeiri, Lydie Martin, Anthony Usclat, Mickael V. Cherrier, Yvain Nicolet
Summary: [FeFe]-hydrogenases efficiently catalyze the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen, thanks to the intricate H-cluster in their active site. The synthesis of this active site involves the assembly of multiple proteins. Despite the instability of complex B, a biomimetic analogue has been used to study its structure. By encapsulating and stabilizing the complex B product generated by HydG, the structure of complex B has been successfully determined, highlighting the transient interaction between HydG and HydE.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rongrong Huang, Ning Zhi, Lu Yu, Yaoyang Li, Xiangyu Wu, Jiale He, Hongji Zhu, Jianjun Qiao, Xiaohong Liu, Changlin Tian, Jiangyun Wang, Min Dong
Summary: The study demonstrates that the photosensitizer protein PSP2 can efficiently reduce the [4Fe-4S] cluster of radical SAM enzymes, facilitating their activity. Moreover, PSP2 is shown to reduce the [4Fe-4S] cluster of a noncanonical radical SAM enzyme Dph2 and assist in substrate modification. Therefore, PSP2 serves as a powerful tool for studying radical SAM enzymes with clusters of low reduction potential.
Review
Microbiology
Kaleb Boswinkle, Justin McKinney, Kylie D. Allen
Summary: Radical SAM enzymes play important roles in methanogenic archaea, which produce a significant amount of methane and encode many unknown functions of radical SAM enzymes. Understanding these enzymes can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Bing Yang, Chenyun Xu, Yuting Cheng, Ting Jia, Xueyun Hu
Summary: Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are ancient protein cofactors that exist ubiquitously in organisms and play important roles in various life processes. Plastids, semi-autonomous organelles believed to originate from cyanobacterial endosymbionts, have a Fe-S cluster biosynthesis and delivery pathway similar to cyanobacteria. Fe-S clusters are crucial for the normal functioning of downstream Fe-S proteins in plastids. Recent research has made significant progress in understanding this pathway and this review summarizes these findings as well as the remaining scientific challenges.
PLANT CELL REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dafne Suraci, Giovanni Saudino, Veronica Nasta, Simone Ciofi-Baffoni, Lucia Banci
Summary: The study reveals the coordinated mechanism of ISCA1, ISCA2, and NFU1 in the maturation process of mitochondrial [4Fe-4S] proteins. ISCA1 plays a key role in promoting the interaction between NFU1 and ISCA2, leading to the formation of a transient ISCA1-ISCA2-NFU1 ternary complex. This mechanism ensures the safe transfer of [4Fe-4S] clusters from the assembly site on the ISCA1-ISCA2 complex to NFU1, making them available for mitochondrial apo proteins that require NFU1.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Isabelle Fix, Lorenz Heidinger, Thorsten Friedrich, Gunhild Layer
Summary: In archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria, heme is synthesized via the siroheme-dependent pathway. The Radical SAM enzyme AhbD catalyzes the last step of this pathway, converting iron-coproporphyrin III into heme. Amino acid sequence analysis and structural modeling suggested that some AhbD proteins may contain two auxiliary iron-sulfur clusters. Study on AhbD from Methanosarcina barkeri confirmed the presence of two auxiliary [4Fe-4S] clusters, and the clusters likely participate in the heme synthase activity.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francesca Camponeschi, Mario Piccioli, Lucia Banci
Summary: Despite limited knowledge about the mechanism of mitoNEET protein, its link to cancer suggests that targeting mitoNEET and its Fe-S clusters could inhibit cancer cell proliferation. Spectroscopic techniques, such as NMR, have been used to study mitoNEET and understand the differences in cluster stability and reactivity, as well as its cellular function. NMR assignment and characterization of the first coordination sphere can aid in drug design to interfere with cellular processes or participate in redox reactions or protein-protein recognition mechanisms.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jianqiang Feng, Sason Shaik, Binju Wang
Summary: By using MD simulations and QM/MM calculations, the electronic state-dependent reactivity of the [4Fe-4S] cluster in the enzyme Dph2 involved in diphthamide biosynthesis was unveiled. The reactivity of the S-C-(gamma) bond cleavage is highly influenced by the net spin of Fe4 atom ligated to SAM, resulting in exchange-enhanced reaction in the lower-energy group compared to the higher-energy group. This spin-regulated electron transfer provides mechanistic insights into the reactivities of [4Fe-4S] cluster in RS enzymes.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jing Du, Zhaoyang Huang, Yanchun Li, Xueying Ren, Chaoting Zhou, Ruolan Liu, Ping Zhang, Guojie Lei, Jianxin Lyu, Jianghui Li, Guoqiang Tan
Summary: Copper is a necessary mineral nutrient but excess copper is cytotoxic. Wilson's disease is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease characterized by pathological copper accumulation in organs. The molecular mechanism of Wilson's disease is not fully understood and further research is needed to develop therapeutic strategies.
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jing Zhang, Zechen Bai, Min Ouyang, Xiumei Xu, Haibo Xiong, Qiang Wang, Bernhard Grimm, Jean-David Rochaix, Lixin Zhang
Summary: Fe-S clusters are ancient and important for life processes. The biogenesis of Fe-S clusters involves iron acquisition, sulfur mobilization, and cluster formation. Two Arabidopsis DnaJ proteins, DJA6 and DJA5, play a crucial role in facilitating iron incorporation into Fe-S clusters during chloroplast Fe-S cluster biogenesis. Loss of these proteins leads to defects in chloroplast Fe-S protein accumulation and photosynthesis dysfunction. Evolutionary analysis shows that DJA6 and DJA5 are highly conserved in photosynthetic organisms and have a strong evolutionary relationship with SUFE1, SUFC, and SUFD.
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Jason C. Crack, Nick E. Le Brun
Summary: Iron-sulfur (FeS) clusters are protein cofactors essential for various biological functions such as electron transfer, catalysis, and gene regulation. Recent progress in using mass spectrometry has provided new insights into FeS cluster assembly and chemistry, particularly in transcriptional regulators coordinating cellular responses to changing conditions.
COORDINATION CHEMISTRY REVIEWS
(2021)
Review
Oncology
Jaewang Lee, Jong-Lyel Roh
Summary: Iron dysregulation is a characteristic of cancer, characterized by increased expression of genes involved in iron metabolism and iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) biogenesis. Dysregulated iron homeostasis leads to elevated intracellular labile iron, which can result in the formation of excessive cytotoxic radicals and susceptibility to regulated cell death, including ferroptosis. Various strategies, such as redox operations, iron chelation, and replacement of iron with redox-inert metals, can destabilize or restrict ISC formation and function, providing potential therapeutic approaches for cancer treatment. Targeting ISCs to induce ferroptosis shows promise in cancer therapy. This review provides a comprehensive overview of iron metabolism, ferroptosis, and the role of ISC modulation in cancer cells, as well as the potential of targeting ISCs for ferroptosis induction in cancer treatment. Further research and clinical trials are needed to validate these strategies for various cancers, with the goal of developing novel and effective cancer treatments.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Niklas B. Thompson, Gil Namkoong, Brighton A. Skeel, Daniel L. M. Suess
Summary: Nature uses weak-field metalloclusters to support various biological processes. The most common metalloclusters are cuboidal Fe-S clusters, which consist of Fe sites with locally high-spin electronic configurations. These clusters have enhanced ligand exchange rates and structural plasticity that play functional roles. In this study, isotope tracing experiments show that synthetic [Fe4S4] and [MoFe3S4] clusters can exchange their Fe atoms with Fe2+ ions in solution by cleaving and reforming Fe-S bonds. This exchange occurs rapidly and is documented for a range of cluster core oxidation states and terminal ligation patterns. Additionally, the results demonstrate a method for isotopically labeling pre-formed clusters.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Congqiang Zhang, Stella Amelia Sultan, T. Rehka, Xixian Chen
Summary: Methylation is a crucial transformation in the biosynthesis of natural products, and recent advancements in identifying novel methyltransferases, enzyme engineering strategies, and co-factor regeneration methods have contributed to enhancing bioactivity and yield of these products. Promiscuous methyltransferases have shown versatility in accepting multiple structurally similar substrates, allowing for the design of pathways to produce molecules not found in nature, expanding the range of biosynthesized functional molecules.
BIORESOURCES AND BIOPROCESSING
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Naoki Shigi
Summary: Sulfur-containing biomolecules play crucial roles in cells, including enzyme cofactors, RNA composition, and regulation of gene translation efficiency. Modulating sulfur modification allows cells to adapt to different environments. Mutations in related genes can lead to diseases.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Clement Madru, Markel Martinez-Carranza, Sebastien Laurent, Alessandra C. Alberti, Maelenn Chevreuil, Bertrand Raynal, Ahmed Haouz, Remy A. Le Meur, Marc Delarue, Ghislaine Henneke, Didier Flament, Mart Krupovic, Pierre Legrand, Ludovic Sauguet
Summary: Using an integrative approach, the authors characterized the structure of RPA in Archaea, revealing shared features with eukaryotes, as well as the formation of a tetrameric supercomplex in the absence of DNA. This supercomplex provides protection for ssDNA during replication. These findings contribute to our understanding of the evolution of replication factors in eukaryotes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Cindy Vallieres, Marie-Pierre Golinelli-Cohen, Olivier Guittet, Michel Lepoivre, Meng-Er Huang, Laurence Vernis
Summary: Redox homeostasis is a crucial process that maintains a balance between reducing and oxidizing reactions within cells. Imbalanced redox homeostasis can lead to various diseases, including cancer and inflammation. Disrupting redox balance has been used as a strategy for cancer treatment, while maintaining selectivity between cancer and normal cells is important to avoid toxicity. Redox-based approaches are also employed in tackling infectious diseases with limited impacts on host cells. This review focuses on recent advances in redox-based strategies to fight eukaryotic pathogens, particularly fungi and eukaryotic parasites.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Emmanouil Tsochatzis, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The safety of the recycling process using Vacurema Prime technology by Creative Recycling World Company has been assessed by the EFSA Panel. The critical steps in the process that determine its decontamination efficiency are examined. It has been demonstrated that the recycled PET obtained from this process is safe for use in materials and articles that come into contact with various types of foodstuffs.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The EFSA Panel has assessed the safety of the recycling process Zhenjiang Ceville, which utilizes the EREMA Basic technology. The process involves using hot washed and dried PET flakes from post-consumer PET containers as input material. The Panel concluded that the reactor in step 2 is crucial in determining the decontamination efficiency, and the operating parameters for this step include temperature, pressure, and residence time. The recycled PET obtained from this process is considered safe for contact with all types of foodstuffs at up to 100% usage, as long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill.
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Remy Abergel, Mehdi Boussaa, Sylvain Durand, Yves-Michel Frapart
Summary: This work focuses on reconstructing two and three dimensional images of paramagnetic species concentration using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements. A direct operator is derived to model the relationship between the measurements and the paramagnetic sample, taking into account the physical phenomena during acquisition. The direct operator is then discretized to provide an explicit link between the measurements and the discrete image for reconstruction. A variational inverse problem with total variation regularization and an efficient resolvant scheme are formulated. The importance of normalization factors is studied to facilitate parameter setting. Additionally, an a contrario algorithm is proposed to determine the optimal resolution for data acquisition. Experimental study with real EPR datasets demonstrates the potential and limitations of the image reconstruction model.
IMAGE PROCESSING ON LINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Osvaldo Burastero, George Draper-Barr, Bertrand Raynal, Maelenn Chevreuil, Patrick England, Maria Garcia Alai
Summary: Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is widely used in assessing particle homogeneity and size distribution in samples. Raynals, a user-friendly software utilizing Tikhonov-Phillips regularization, is introduced for analyzing single-angle DLS data. The software's performance is evaluated on simulated and experimental data from various DLS instruments. It helps understand the limitations and resolution of DLS measurements and is particularly useful in quality control and aggregate detection in biological sample preparation. Raynals also offers flexible data presentation and allows export of publication-quality figures, and is available for free academic use online.
ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Evgenia Lampi, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Yrjo Roos, Silvia Peluso, Magdalena Andryszkiewicz, Kyriaki Apergi, Giulio di Piazza, Yi Liu, Andrew Chesson
Summary: This article introduces the production and assessment of a food enzyme, alpha-amylase. The enzyme is produced using a non-genetically modified microorganism and used in various food manufacturing processes. The assessment concludes that under the intended conditions of use, the enzyme does not pose safety concerns, except for a low risk of allergic reactions upon dietary exposure.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel EFSA Panel Food Contact Materials, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Emmanouil Tsochatzis, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The EFSA Panel assessed the safety of Poly Recycling, a recycling process that uses Vacurema Prime technology. The process was found to effectively remove potential contaminants, making the recycled PET safe for use in materials and articles for contact with various foodstuffs, but not suitable for use in microwave and conventional ovens.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Alexandros Lioupis, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids assessed the safety of a recycling process for PET, concluding that the process can ensure the safety of the recycled PET under certain usage conditions.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Remigio Marano, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The EFSA Panel evaluated the safety of the recycling process Arcoplastica and concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is safe for use in materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs, except for microwave and conventional oven applications.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Emmanouil Tsochatzis, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The safety of the recycling process of PET using Vacurema Prime technology was assessed. The study concluded that the process effectively removes potential contaminants and ensures that the migration of unknown contaminants into food is below a conservative level. However, the recycled PET material is not suitable for use in high-temperature environments such as microwave ovens.
Article
Microbiology
Chiara Scribani Rossi, Kelly Eckartt, Elisabetta Scarchilli, Simone Angeli, Alexa Price-Whelan, Adele Di Matteo, Maelenn Chevreuil, Bertrand Raynal, Alessandro Arcovito, Noah Giacon, Francesco Fiorentino, Dante Rotili, Antonello Mai, Manuel Espinosa-Urgel, Francesca Cutruzzola, Lars E. P. Dietrich, Alessio Paone, Alessandro Paiardini, Serena Rinaldo
Summary: The ability of bacteria to form biofilms contributes to their resilience and makes infections more difficult to treat. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a pathogenic bacterium, counteracts the redox imbalance in hypoxic biofilm subzones by producing redox-active electron shuttles and secreting extracellular matrix. The regulation of matrix production is controlled by a second messenger called c-di-GMP in response to different environmental cues.
MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Evgenia Lampi, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Lieve Herman, Yrjo Roos, Magdalena Andryszkiewicz, Yi Liu, Simone Lunardi, Giulio di Piazza, Andrew Chesson
Summary: This article describes the production and use of a food enzyme, which is genetically modified and does not pose a safety concern. It can be used in various food manufacturing processes and is considered safe under the intended conditions of use.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Evgenia Lampi, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Lieve Herman, Jaime Aguilera, Magdalena Andryszkiewicz, Cristina Fernandez-Fraguas, Yi Liu, Giulio diPiazza, Andrew Chesson
Summary: This study assessed the safety of a food enzyme produced by a non-genetically modified strain and used in seven food production processes. The results showed that the food enzyme does not pose safety concerns under the intended conditions of use. Although there is a low risk of allergic reactions from dietary exposure, it is unlikely.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Claude Lambre, Jose Manuel Barat Baviera, Claudia Bolognesi, Andrew Chesson, Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Riccardo Crebelli, David Michael Gott, Konrad Grob, Marcel Mengelers, Alicja Mortensen, Gilles Riviere, Inger-Lise Steffensen, Christina Tlustos, Henk Van Loveren, Laurence Vernis, Holger Zorn, Vincent Dudler, Maria Rosaria Milana, Constantine Papaspyrides, Maria de Fatima Tavares Pocas, Daniele Comandella, Evgenia Lampi
Summary: The EFSA Panel evaluated the safety of a recycling process that uses Gneuss 2 technology to process washed and dried PET flakes. The evaluation found that the process can reduce the migration of potential unknown contaminants into food and can be used for manufacturing materials and articles that come into contact with various types of food.
