Measuring Protein-Protein Interactions and Quantifying Their Dissociation Constants with Mass Photometry.

Protein-protein interactions underlie most biological processes, and determining the affinity and abundance of binding partners for each interaction is often a challenging task because these interactions often involve multiple ligands and binding sites. Standard methods for determining the affinity of protein interactions often require a large amount of starting material in addition to potentially disruptive labeling or immobilization of the binding partners. Mass photometry is a bioanalytical technique that measures the mass of single biomolecules in solution, quickly and with minimal sample requirements.

New Perspectives on the Sustainable Employment of Chestnut Shells as Active Ingredient against Oral Mucositis: A First Screening.

Oral mucositis (OM), a common side effect of oncological treatment, is an oral mucosal disorder characterized by painful ulcerations and increased risk of infection. The use of natural antioxidants to suppress the redox imbalance responsible for the OM condition has emerged as an interesting approach to prevent/treat OM. This study aims to explore the chestnut () shells as potential active ingredient against OM.

Natural Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Oral Mucositis-A Review.

Cancer, a major world public health problem, is associated with chemotherapy treatments whose administration leads to secondary concerns, such as oral mucositis (OM). The OM disorder is characterized by the presence of ulcers in the oral mucosa that cause pain, bleeding, and difficulty in ingesting fluids and solids, or speaking. Bioactive compounds from natural sources have arisen as an effective approach for OM.

Draft Genome Sequence of a Leptospira kirschneri Serovar Mozdok Type 2 Strain Isolated from a Horse in Portugal.

Leptospira kirschneri is an agent causing leptospirosis in animals and humans. We report the draft genome sequence of Leptospira kirschneri serovar Mozdok type 2 strain Horse 112, comprising 485 contigs and having a genome size of 4,301,784 bp. This genome will facilitate studying important mechanisms for clinical outcomes.

Sex-specific changes in peripheral metabolism in a model of chronic anxiety induced by prenatal stress.

Background: Prenatal stress is associated with increased susceptibility to psychiatric and metabolic disorders later in life. Prenatal exposure to stress mediators may have sex-dependent effects on offspring brain and metabolic function, promoting a sex-specific vulnerability to psychopathology and metabolic alterations at adulthood. In this work, the impact of prenatal stress on glucose homeostasis and peripheral metabolism of male and female offspring was investigated in a chronic anxiety animal model.

Revisiting Ionic Liquid Structure-Property Relationship: A Critical Analysis.

In the last few years, ionic liquids (ILs) have been the focus of extensive studies concerning the relationship between structure and properties and how this impacts their application. Despite a large number of studies, several topics remain controversial or not fully answered, such as: the existence of ion pairs, the concept of free volume and the effect of water and its implications in the modulation of ILs physicochemical properties. In this paper, we present a critical review of state-of-the-art literature regarding structure-property relationship of ILs, we re-examine analytical theories on the structure-property correlations and present new perspectives based on the existing data.

Occupationally Acquired Q Fever in Shepherds and Sheep Milk Cheesemakers.

Q fever is a zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii, and transmission to humans is often associated with contact with ovine and caprine livestock. Those exposed to sheep are particularly at high risk of infection. Recent studies show that Q fever is increasing in sheep farms in Portugal raising alerts on spillover to humans.

Impact on mortality of direct admission versus interhospital transfer in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Introduction: In a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) program, interhospital transfer of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) can increase ischemic time, compared to patients who are admitted directly to a catheterization laboratory.

Objectives: To assess the impact of interhospital transfer in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI, in terms of time to reperfusion and one-year mortality.

Methods: This was an observational, retrospective, longitudinal study of patients with STEMI admitted to Hospital de Braga between June 2011 and May 2016, who were treated successfully within 12 hours of symptom onset.

Prospective Serosurvey of Coxiella burnetii Antibodies in Selected Sheep of Portugal.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii that is highly prevalent across the world. In this study, a prospective serosurvey was performed to study C. burnetii circulation in a population of sheep in the central region of Portugal.

The Post-Dictatorship Memory Politics in Portugal Which Erased Political Violence from the Collective Memory.

Former clandestine militants' voices and stories have been recurrently silenced in the Portuguese "battle over memory", because their activities were linked to events, such as the Revolution of 25 April 1974, which have themselves been politically and socially depreciated in mainstream political narratives. Only recently did the traditional political narratives start to be questioned and debated by Portuguese scholars. Such political narratives took root in the country in the decades that followed the April Revolution, with various scholars and politicians denying the fascist categorisation of Estado Novo and adopting an authoritarian, non-totalitarian and non-fascist perspective, while recurrently depicting the Revolution as highly negative (namely as the source of the economic troubles of the country).

Bifunctionality of a biofilm matrix protein controlled by redox state.

Biofilms are communities of microbial cells that are encapsulated within a self-produced polymeric matrix. The matrix is critical to the success of biofilms in diverse habitats; however, many details of the composition, structure, and function remain enigmatic. Biofilms formed by the Gram-positive bacterium depend on the production of the secreted film-forming protein BslA.

Spermidine promotes biofilm formation by activating expression of the matrix regulator .

Ubiquitous polyamine spermidine is not required for normal planktonic growth of but is essential for robust biofilm formation. However, the structural features of spermidine required for biofilm formation are unknown and so are the molecular mechanisms of spermidine-stimulated biofilm development. We report here that in a spermidine-deficient mutant, the structural analogue norspermidine, but not homospermidine, restored biofilm formation.

Direct detection and differentiation of pathogenic Leptospira species using a multi-gene targeted real time PCR approach.

Leptospirosis is a growing public and veterinary health concern caused by pathogenic species of Leptospira. Rapid and reliable laboratory tests for the direct detection of leptospiral infections in animals are in high demand not only to improve diagnosis but also for understanding the epidemiology of the disease. In this work we describe a novel and simple TaqMan-based multi-gene targeted real-time PCR approach able to detect and differentiate Leptospira interrogans, L.

Genotypic diversity of environmental Cryptococcus neoformans isolates from Northern Portugal.

The Cryptococcus neoformans/C. gattii species complex members are the main agents of systemic cryptococcosis. This disease is believed to be acquired from the environment via fungal cell inhalation.

Alkyl-glycerol rescues plasmalogen levels and pathology of ether-phospholipid deficient mice.

A deficiency of plasmalogens, caused by impaired peroxisomal metabolism affects normal development and multiple organs in adulthood. Treatment options aimed at restoring plasmalogen levels may be relevant for the therapy of peroxisomal and non-peroxisomal disorders. In this study we determined the in vivo efficacy of an alkyl glycerol (AG), namely, 1-O-octadecyl-rac-glycerol, as a therapeutic agent for defects in plasmalogen synthesis.