Theoretical Study of Sphingomyelinases from and Sheds Light on the Evolution of Enzymes Needed for Survival and Colonization.

The path to survival for pathogenic organisms is not straightforward. Pathogens require a set of enzymes for tissue damage generation and to obtain nourishment, as well as a toolbox full of alternatives to bypass host defense mechanisms. Our group has shown that the parasitic protist encodes for 14 sphingomyelinases (SMases); one of them (acid sphingomyelinase 6, aSMase6) is involved in repairing membrane damage and exhibits hemolytic activity.

Dual Loading of Trans-Cinnamaldehyde and Either Paclitaxel or Curcumin in Chitosan Nanoparticles: Physicochemical Characterization and Biological Evaluation Against MDCK and HeLa Cells.

Biopolymer chitosan sub-micron particles (CSMPs) were prepared by the ionic gelation technique crosslinked with sodium tripolyphosphate co-loaded with trans-cinnamaldehyde (TCIN), and either curcumin (CUR) or paclitaxel (PTX). The size of the spherical CSMPs increased from 118 nm to 136 nm and 170 nm after the loading of TCIN and CUR, whereas the loading of PTX led to a slight decrease (114 nm). Polydispersity indexes of all the samples were smaller than 0.

Avirulent UG10 Entamoeba histolytica mutant derived from HM-1:IMSS strain shows limited genome variability and aberrant 5-methyl cytosine genomic distribution.

Entamoeba histolytica, an intestinal parasite of global significance, poses substantial health risks with its associated high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite the current repertoire of molecular tools for the study of gene function in, the regulatory mechanisms governing its pathogenicity remain largely unexplored. This knowledge gap underscores the need to elucidate key genetic determinants orchestrating cellular functions critical to its virulence.

The inorganic pyrophosphatases of microorganisms: a structural and functional review.

Pyrophosphatases (PPases) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate (PPi), a byproduct of the synthesis and degradation of diverse biomolecules. The accumulation of PPi in the cell can result in cell death. Although the substrate is the same, there are variations in the catalysis and features of these enzymes.

High-Throughput Screening Method Using Keio Mutants for Assessing Primary Damage Mechanism of Antimicrobials.

The Keio mutant collection has been a tool for assessing the role of specific genes and determining their role in physiology and uncovering novel functions. In this work, specific mutants in the DNA repair pathways and oxidative stress response were evaluated to identify the primary targets of silver nanoparticles (NPs) and their mechanism of action. The results presented in this work suggest that NPs mainly target DNA via double-strand breaks and base modifications since the , and mutants rendered the most susceptible phenotype, rather than involving the oxidative stress response.