Phytochemical Content, Antibacterial Activity, and Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Cytotoxic Effects of Traditional Medicinal Plants against Respiratory Tract Bacterial Pathogens.

Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are frequent ailments among humans and are a high burden on public health. This study aimed to determine the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic effects of indigenous medicinal plants used in the treatment of RTIs, namely, , , , and . Dried leaves were extracted using various organic solvents.

COVID-19 Is a Multi-Organ Aggressor: Epigenetic and Clinical Marks.

The progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), resulting from a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, may be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Several viruses hijack the host genome machinery for their own advantage and survival, and similar phenomena might occur upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Severe cases of COVID-19 may be driven by metabolic and epigenetic driven mechanisms, including DNA methylation and histone/chromatin alterations.

Intracellular Accumulation of Novel and Clinically Used TB Drugs Potentiates Intracellular Synergy.

The therapeutic repertoire for tuberculosis (TB) remains limited despite the existence of many TB drugs that are highly active in models and possess clinical utility. Underlying the lack of efficacy is the inability of TB drugs to penetrate microenvironments inhabited by the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including host alveolar macrophages. Here, we determined the ability of the phenoxazine PhX1 previously shown to be active against M.

Cobalamin Biosynthesis, Transport, and Assimilation and Cobalamin-Mediated Regulation of Methionine Biosynthesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Cobalamin is an essential cofactor in all domains of life, yet its biosynthesis is restricted to some bacteria and archaea. , an environmental saprophyte frequently used as surrogate for the obligate human pathogen , carries approximately 30 genes predicted to be involved in cobalamin biosynthesis. also encodes multiple cobalamin-dependent enzymes, including MetH, a methionine synthase that catalyzes the final reaction in methionine biosynthesis.

Metabolism.

is the cause of tuberculosis (TB), a disease which continues to overwhelm health systems in endemic regions despite the existence of effective combination chemotherapy and the widespread use of a neonatal anti-TB vaccine. For a professional pathogen, retains a surprisingly large proportion of the metabolic repertoire found in nonpathogenic mycobacteria with very different lifestyles. Moreover, evidence that additional functions were acquired during the early evolution of the complex suggests the organism has adapted (and augmented) the metabolic pathways of its environmental ancestor to persistence and propagation within its obligate human host.

Structure of the Ergothioneine-Biosynthesis Amidohydrolase EgtC.

The ubiquitous sulfur metabolite ergothioneine is biosynthesized by oxidative attachment of a sulfur atom to the imidazole ring of Nα-trimethylhistidine. Most actinobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use γ-glutamyl cysteine as a sulfur donor. In subsequent steps the carbon scaffold of γ-glutamyl cysteine is removed by the glutamine amidohydrolase EgtC and the β-lyase EgtE.

Substrate specificity of an oxygen dependent sulfoxide synthase in ovothiol biosynthesis.

OvoA is an iron(II) dependent sulfoxide synthase which catalyzes the first step in ovothiol A biosynthesis. This enzyme sulphurizes the C5 position of the imidazole side chain of L-histidine. We report the substrate specificity profile of this catalyst and present data which indicate that OvoA catalysis follows an thiol-ene type mechanism.