Beta-Barrel Nanopores as Diagnostic Sensors: An Engineering Perspective.

Biological nanopores are ultrasensitive and highly attractive platforms for disease diagnostics, including the sequencing of viral and microbial genes and the detection of biomarkers and pathogens. To utilize biological nanopores as diagnostic sensors, they have been engineered through various methods resulting in the accurate and highly sensitive detection of biomarkers and disease-related biomolecules. Among diverse biological nanopores, the β-barrel-containing nanopores have advantages in nanopore engineering because of their robust structure, making them well-suited for modifications.

Artificial intelligence-based identification of octenidine as a Bcl-xL inhibitor.

Apoptosis plays an essential role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and preventing cancer progression. Bcl-xL, an anti-apoptotic protein, is an important modulator of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and is a promising target for anticancer therapy. In this study, we identified octenidine as a novel Bcl-xL inhibitor through structural feature-based deep learning and molecular docking from a library of approved drugs.

The interaction between ubiquitin and yeast polymerase η C terminus does not require the UBZ domain.

Polymerase η (Polη) is one of the Y-family polymerases that is recruited by monoubiquitinated proliferating cell nuclear antigen (Ub-PCNA) to DNA damage sites during translesion synthesis (TLS). This interaction is mediated by an ubiquitin-binding zinc-finger (UBZ) domain and a PCNA-interacting protein (PIP) box in Polη, which binds to ubiquitin and PCNA, respectively. Here, we show that without the UBZ domain, the PIP box of yeast Polη has a novel binding function with ubiquitin.