A conserved human CD4+ T cell subset recognizing the mycobacterial adjuvant, trehalose monomycolate.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes human tuberculosis. As mycobacteria are protected by thick lipid cell wall, humans have developed immune responses against diverse mycobacterial lipids. Most of these immunostimulatory lipids are known as adjuvants acting through innate immune receptors, such as C-type lectin receptors.

Nitrogen signaling factor triggers a respiration-like gene expression program in fission yeast.

Microbes have evolved intricate communication systems that enable individual cells of a population to send and receive signals in response to changes in their immediate environment. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the oxylipin nitrogen signaling factor (NSF) is part of such communication system, which functions to regulate the usage of different nitrogen sources. Yet, the pathways and mechanisms by which NSF acts are poorly understood.

Linkage-Editing of Melibiosamine: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of CH- and CHF-Linked Analogs.

Melibiosamine (Gal-α(1,6)-GlcNH), consisting of galactose and glucosamine linked by an α(1,6)-glycosidic bond, is an artificial disaccharide derivative that selectively inhibits the proliferation of K562 tumor cells relative to HUC-F2 normal cells. In this study, we employed a linkage-editing strategy to synthesize CH- and CHF-linked melibiosamine analogs through chemo- and stereoselective hydrogenation of fluorovinyl--glycoside. ()-CHF-Melibiosamine exhibited more potent antiproliferative activity than -linked melibiosamine, while ()-CHF-melibiosamine was less potent.

Radical C-Glycosylation Using Photoexcitable Unprotected Glycosyl Borate.

We have developed radical C-glycosylation using photoexcitable unprotected glycosyl borate. The direct excitation of glycosyl borate under visible light irradiation enabled the generation of anomeric radical without any photoredox catalysts. The in situ generated anomeric radical was applicable to the radical addition such as Giese-type addition and Minisci-type reaction to introduce alkyl and heteroaryl groups at the anomeric position.