Prognostic Implications of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Coronary Thrombi of Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Aims:  The mechanisms of coronary thrombosis can influence prognosis after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and allow for different treatment groups to be identified; an association between neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and unfavorable clinical outcomes has been suggested. Our aim was to determine the role played by NETs in coronary thrombosis and their influence on prognosis. The role of other histological features in prognosis and the association between NETs and bacteria in the coronary thrombi were also explored.

Magnetic Bead-Based Immunoassay Allows Rapid, Inexpensive, and Quantitative Detection of Human SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies.

Immunological methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in humans are important to track COVID-19 cases and the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 infections and immunization to future vaccines. The aim of this work was to develop a simple chromogenic magnetic bead-based immunoassay which allows rapid, inexpensive, and quantitative detection of human antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in serum, plasma, or blood. Recombinant 6xHis-tagged SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid protein was mobilized on the surface of Ni magnetic beads and challenged with serum or blood samples obtained from controls or COVID-19 cases.

The Protein-Protein Interaction Network Reveals a Novel Role of the Signal Transduction Protein PII in the Control of c-di-GMP Homeostasis in Azospirillum brasilense.

The PII family comprises a group of widely distributed signal transduction proteins ubiquitous in prokaryotes and in the chloroplasts of plants. PII proteins sense the levels of key metabolites ATP, ADP, and 2-oxoglutarate, which affect the PII protein structure and thereby the ability of PII to interact with a range of target proteins. Here, we performed multiple ligand fishing assays with the PII protein orthologue GlnZ from the plant growth-promoting nitrogen-fixing bacterium to identify 37 proteins that are likely to be part of the PII protein-protein interaction network.

The NADP-dependent malic enzyme MaeB is a central metabolic hub controlled by the acetyl-CoA to CoASH ratio.

Malic enzymes participate in key metabolic processes, the MaeB-like malic enzymes carry a catalytic inactive phosphotransacetylase domain whose function remains elusive. Here we show that acetyl-CoA directly binds and inhibits MaeB-like enzymes with a saturable profile under physiological relevant acetyl-CoA concentrations. A MaeB-like enzyme from the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense, namely AbMaeB1, binds both acetyl-CoA and unesterified CoASH in a way that inhibition of AbMaeB1 by acetyl-CoA is relieved by increasing CoASH concentrations.

NAD biosynthesis in bacteria is controlled by global carbon/nitrogen levels via PII signaling.

NAD is a central metabolite participating in core metabolic redox reactions. The prokaryotic NAD synthetase enzyme NadE catalyzes the last step of NAD biosynthesis, converting nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide (NaAD) to NAD Some members of the NadE family use l-glutamine as a nitrogen donor and are named NadE Previous gene neighborhood analysis has indicated that the bacterial gene is frequently clustered with the gene encoding the regulatory signal transduction protein PII, suggesting a functional relationship between these proteins in response to the nutritional status and the carbon/nitrogen ratio of the bacterial cell. Here, using affinity chromatography, bioinformatics analyses, NAD synthetase activity, and biolayer interferometry assays, we show that PII and NadE physically interact , that this complex relieves NadE negative feedback inhibition by NAD This mechanism is conserved in distantly related bacteria.

Kinetics and structural features of dimeric glutamine-dependent bacterial NAD synthetases suggest evolutionary adaptation to available metabolites.

NADH (NAD) and its reduced form NADH serve as cofactors for a variety of oxidoreductases that participate in many metabolic pathways. NAD also is used as substrate by ADP-ribosyl transferases and by sirtuins. NAD biosynthesis is one of the most fundamental biochemical pathways in nature, and the ubiquitous NAD synthetase (NadE) catalyzes the final step in this biosynthetic route.

Labeled Azospirillum brasilense wild type and excretion-ammonium strains in association with barley roots.

Soil bacteria colonization in plants is a complex process, which involves interaction between many bacterial characters and plant responses. In this work, we labeled Azospirillum brasilense FP2 (wild type) and HM053 (excretion-ammonium) strains by insertion of the reporter gene gusA-kanamycin into the dinitrogenase reductase coding gene, nifH, and evaluated bacteria colonization in barley (Hordeum vulgare). In addition, we determined inoculation effect based on growth promotion parameters.

In vitro characterization of the NAD+ synthetase NadE1 from Herbaspirillum seropedicae.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide synthetase enzyme (NadE) catalyzes the amination of nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide (NaAD) to form NAD(+). This reaction represents the last step in the majority of the NAD(+) biosynthetic routes described to date. NadE enzymes typically use either glutamine or ammonium as amine nitrogen donor, and the reaction is energetically driven by ATP hydrolysis.

TGFβ induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition of thyroid cancer cells by both the BRAF/MEK/ERK and Src/FAK pathways.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial process in tumour progression, by which epithelial cells acquire a mesenchymal phenotype, increasing its motility and the ability to invade distant sites. Here, we describe the molecular mechanisms by which BRAF, TGFβ and the Src/FAK complex cooperatively regulate EMT induction and cell motility of anaplastic thyroid cancer cells. Analysis of EMT marker levels reveals a positive correlation between TGFβ and Snail expression, with a concomitant downregulation of E-cadherin, accompanied by an increase of cell migration and invasion.