Publications by authors named "D Vargas-Diaz"

Article Synopsis
  • Coralsnakes from the genus Micrurus, which includes over 80 species across the Americas, have highly toxic venoms that can cause severe respiratory issues and potentially death.
  • Their venom primarily consists of three-finger toxins (3FTx) and group I phospholipase A (PLA) proteins, with different species showing varying dominance of these toxins, possibly linked to their evolutionary history.
  • A new study used a top-down proteomics approach on venoms from five Costa Rican Micrurus species, revealing common venom proteoforms and offering deeper understanding of venom complexity and the 3FTx/PLA protein balance.
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A high-throughput method was developed for the automated enrichment of newly synthesized proteins (NSPs), which are labeled metabolically by substituting methionine with the "click-able" analogue azidohomoalanine (AHA). A suitable conjugate containing a dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO) group allows the specific selection of NSPs by a fast 1 h click chemistry-based reaction with AHA. Through an automated pipetting platform, the samples are loaded into streptavidin cartridges for the selective binding of the NSPs by means of a biotin bait contained in the conjugate.

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γδT cells are key players in cancer immune surveillance because of their ability to recognize malignant transformed cells, which makes them promising therapeutic tools in the treatment of cancer. However, the biological mechanisms of how γδT-cell receptors (TCRs) interact with their ligands are poorly understood. Within this context, we describe the novel allo-HLA-restricted and CD8α-dependent Vγ5Vδ1TCR.

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