Cell surface β-lactamase recruitment: A facile selection to identify protein-protein interactions.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are central to many cellular processes, and the identification of novel PPIs is a critical step in the discovery of protein therapeutics. Simple methods to identify naturally existing or laboratory evolved PPIs are therefore valuable research tools. We have developed a facile selection that links PPI-dependent β-lactamase recruitment on the surface of Escherichia coli with resistance to ampicillin.

An ex vivo model of medical device-mediated bacterial skin translocation.

The skin is a barrier and part of the immune system that protects us from harmful bacteria. Because indwelling medical devices break this barrier, they greatly increase the risk of infection by microbial pathogens. To study how these infections can be prevented through improved clinical practices and medical device technology, it is important to have preclinical models that replicate the early stages of microbial contamination, ingress, and colonization leading up to infection.

The antimicrobial potential of cannabidiol.

Antimicrobial resistance threatens the viability of modern medicine, which is largely dependent on the successful prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. Unfortunately, there are few new therapeutics in the clinical pipeline, particularly for Gram-negative bacteria. We now present a detailed evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of cannabidiol, the main non-psychoactive component of cannabis.

Structure of HIV TAR in complex with a Lab-Evolved RRM provides insight into duplex RNA recognition and synthesis of a constrained peptide that impairs transcription.

Natural and lab-evolved proteins often recognize their RNA partners with exquisite affinity. Structural analysis of such complexes can offer valuable insight into sequence-selective recognition that can be exploited to alter biological function. Here, we describe the structure of a lab-evolved RNA recognition motif (RRM) bound to the HIV-1 trans-activation response (TAR) RNA element at 1.

An Evolved RNA Recognition Motif That Suppresses HIV-1 Tat/TAR-Dependent Transcription.

Potent and selective recognition and modulation of disease-relevant RNAs remain a daunting challenge. We previously examined the utility of the U1A N-terminal RNA recognition motif as a scaffold for tailoring new RNA hairpin recognition and showed that as few as one or two mutations can result in moderate affinity (low μM dissociation constant) for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) trans-activation response element (TAR) RNA, an RNA hairpin controlling transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genome. Here, we use yeast display and saturation mutagenesis of established RNA-binding regions in U1A to identify new synthetic proteins that potently and selectively bind TAR RNA.

EFFECT OF ZINC AVAILABILITY ON GROWTH, MORPHOLOGY, AND NUTRIENT INCORPORATION IN A COASTAL AND AN OCEANIC DIATOM(1).

We investigated the effect of Zn availability on growth rate (μ), cell morphology, and elemental stoichiometry and incorporation rate in two marine diatoms. For the coastal diatom Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve, the half-saturation constant (KS ) for growth was 4.