investigation of riboswitches in fungi: structural and dynamical insights into TPP riboswitches in .

Riboswitches are RNA sensors affecting post-transcriptional processes through their ability to bind to small molecules. Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) riboswitch plays a crucial role in regulating genes involved in synthesizing or transporting thiamine and phosphorylated derivatives in bacteria, archaea, plants, and fungi. Although TPP riboswitch is reasonably well known in bacteria, there is a gap in the knowledge of the fungal TPP riboswitches structure and dynamics, involving mainly sequence variation and TPP interaction with the aptamers.

Computational evaluation of natural compounds as potential inhibitors of human PEPCK-M: an alternative for lung cancer therapy.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Among its subtypes, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common. Recently, the mitochondrial isoform of the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (HsPEPCK-M) was identified as responsible for the metabolic adaptation in the NSCLC allowing tumor growth even under conditions of glucose deficiency.

In silico identification of inhibitors of ribose 5-phosphate isomerase from Trypanosoma cruzi using ligand and structure based approaches.

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, affects approximately seven million people, mainly in Latin America, and causes about 7000 deaths annually. The available treatments are unsatisfactory and search for more effective drugs against this pathogen is critical. In this context, the ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (Rpi) enzyme is a potential drug target mainly due to its function in the pentose phosphate pathway and its essentiality (previously shown in other trypanosomatids).

Functional Analogy in Human Metabolism: Enzymes with Different Biological Roles or Functional Redundancy?

Since enzymes catalyze almost all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms, it is crucial that genes encoding such activities are correctly identified and functionally characterized. Several studies suggest that the fraction of enzymatic activities in which multiple events of independent origin have taken place during evolution is substantial. However, this topic is still poorly explored, and a comprehensive investigation of the occurrence, distribution, and implications of these events has not been done so far.