Publications by authors named "F A Forouhar"

With current treatments addressing only a fraction of pathogens and new viral threats constantly evolving, there is a critical need to expand our existing therapeutic arsenal. To speed the rate of discovery and better prepare against future threats, we establish a high-throughput platform capable of screening compounds against 40 diverse viral proteases simultaneously. This multiplex approach is enabled by using cellular biosensors of viral protease activity combined with DNA-barcoding technology, as well as several design innovations that increase assay sensitivity and correct for plate-to-plate variation.

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Variants of SARS-CoV-2 have continued to emerge across the world and cause hundreds of deaths each week. Due to the limited efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and resistance to current therapies, additional anti-viral therapeutics with pan-coronavirus activity are of high interest. Here, we screen 2.

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A primary precursor of jasmonates, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA), is an autonomous hormone signal that activates and fine-tunes plant defense responses, as well as growth and development. However, the architecture of its signaling circuits remains largely elusive. Here we describe that OPDA signaling drives photosynthetic reductant powers toward sulfur assimilation in the chloroplasts, incorporating sulfide into cysteine.

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The myocyte enhancer factor 2B (MEF2B) transcription factor is frequently mutated in germinal center (GC)-derived B-cell lymphomas. Its ammino (N)-terminal mutations drive lymphomagenesis by escaping interaction with transcriptional repressors, while the function of carboxy (C)-terminal mutations remains to be elucidated. Here, we show that MEF2B C-tail is physiologically phosphorylated at specific residues and phosphorylation at serine (S)324 is impaired by lymphoma-associated mutations.

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Key Clinical Message: When a person has both HS and beta-thalassemia, their clinical symptoms tend to be less severe. This is because these two conditions have contrasting features. If the clinical symptoms and laboratory results cannot be solely attributed to hemolytic anemia, it is important to consider the possibility of another form of hemolytic anemia coexisting.

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