Epigallocatechin gallate, an active green tea compound inhibits the Zika virus entry into host cells via binding the envelope protein.

Emerging infections of Zika virus (ZIKV) are associated with serious consequences like microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. It leads to a situation of global health emergency and demand an intensive research investigation to develop safe and effective therapeutics. Various efforts have been made to reduce the pathological pressure of ZIKV, but no effective drug has been introduced against ZIKV infections.

The gut bacterium and pathobiont Bacteroides vulgatus activates NF-κB in a human gut epithelial cell line in a strain and growth phase dependent manner.

The gut microbiota is increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) although the identity of the bacteria that underpin these diseases has remained elusive. The pathobiont Bacteroides vulgatus has been associated with both diseases although relatively little is known about how its growth and functional activity might drive the host inflammatory response. We identified an ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) export system and lipoprotein in B.

Therapeutic Interventions of Cancers Using Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as Drug Targets: c-Myc as Model System.

The concept of protein intrinsic disorder has taken the driving seat to understand regulatory proteins in general. Reports suggest that in mammals nearly 75% of signalling proteins contain long disordered regions with greater than 30 amino acid residues. Therefore, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have been implicated in several human diseases and should be considered as potential novel drug targets.

Copper-Catalyzed Dicarbofunctionalization of Unactivated Olefins by Tandem Cyclization/Cross-Coupling.

We present a strategy that difunctionalizes unactivated olefins in 1,2-positions with two carbon-based entities. This method utilizes alkyl/arylzinc reagents derived from olefin-tethered alkyl/aryl halides that undergo radical cyclization to generate C(sp)-Cu complexes in situ, which are intercepted with aryl and heteroaryl iodides. A variety of (arylmethyl)carbo- and heterocycles (N, O) can be synthesized with this new method.

Pd-Catalyzed Regioselective 1,2-Dicarbofunctionalization of Unactivated Olefins by a Heck Reaction/Enolate Cyclization Cascade.

We disclose a Pd-catalyzed reaction protocol that regioselectively difunctionalizes unactivated olefins with aryl iodides and tethered enolates. The current method allows the rapid synthesis of a variety of 1,3,4-trisubstituted pyrrolidinones from simple and readily available amides. We further demonstrate this new method's application by postsynthetically modifying the arylacetic acid side chains of two commercial nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indomethacin and tolmetin, to highly decorated 4-benzylpyrrolidinone frameworks.

Cholesterol-Induced Structural Changes in Saturated Phospholipid Model Membranes Revealed through X-ray Scattering Technique.

Lateral and out-of-plane organization of cholesterol and its effect on regulating the physicochemical properties of zwitterionic phospholipid model membranes have been investigated by a pressure-area isotherm study from the Langmuir monolayer, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements from supported binary monolayer films. The systematic isotherm studies on the Langmuir monolayer of phospholipids and the subsequent extraction of excess Gibbs free energy (ΔG) revealed the mechanism of cholesterol interaction and the molecular cooperativeness for different arrangements in the phospholipid model membranes. We have found a critical cholesterol molar concentration (χ) up to which the lipid-cholesterol miscibility gradually increases and then further increase in the concentration leads to an inhomogeneous structure formation similar to raft structures.

Mutational Pressure in Zika Virus: Local ADAR-Editing Areas Associated with Pauses in Translation and Replication.

Zika virus (ZIKV) spread led to the recent medical health emergency of international concern. Understanding the variations in virus system is of utmost need. Using available complete sequences of ZIKV we estimated directions of mutational pressure along the length of consensus sequences of three lineages of the virus.

Induction of Bex genes by curcumin is associated with apoptosis and activation of p53 in N2a neuroblastoma cells.

Brain expressed X-linked (Bex) genes are newer group of pro-apoptotic genes. Role of any Bex gene in neuroblastoma and Bex4 and Bex6 in any cancer is completely unknown. Re-expression of all endogenous Bex genes by any nutraceutical is also unknown.

X-ray Reflectivity Study of the Interaction of an Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid with a Soft Supported Lipid Membrane.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are important for their antimicrobial activity and are found to be toxic to some microorganisms. To shed light on the mechanism of their activities, the interaction of an imidazolium-based IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrfluoroborate ([BMIM][BF]) with E. coli bacteria and cell-membrane-mimicking lipid mono- and bilayers has been studied.

Influence of dynamic coupled hydro-bio-mechanical processes on response of municipal solid waste and liner system in bioreactor landfills.

A two-dimensional (2-D) mathematical model is presented to predict the response of municipal solid waste (MSW) of conventional as well as bioreactor landfills undergoing coupled hydro-bio-mechanical processes. The newly developed and validated 2-D coupled mathematical modeling framework combines and simultaneously solves a two-phase flow model based on the unsaturated Richard's equation, a plain-strain formulation of Mohr-Coulomb mechanical model and first-order decay kinetics biodegradation model. The performance of both conventional and bioreactor landfill was investigated holistically, by evaluating the mechanical settlement, extent of waste degradation with subsequent changes in geotechnical properties, landfill slope stability, and in-plane shear behavior (shear stress-displacement) of composite liner system and final cover system.

Intrinsically Disordered Side of the Zika Virus Proteome.

Over the last few decades, concepts of protein intrinsic disorder have been implicated in different biological processes. Recent studies have suggested that intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) provide structural plasticity and functional diversity to viral proteins that are involved in rapid replication and immune evasion in host cells. In case of Zika virus, the roles of protein intrinsic disorder in mechanisms of pathogenesis are not completely understood.

Incidence of endotracheal tube colonization with the use of PneuX endotracheal tubes in patients following cardiac surgery.

Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) develops in up to 25% of patients following cardiac surgery. Colonization of the endotracheal tube (ETT) contributes to VAP. The PneuX ETT has been shown to halve VAP in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

The copper-catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of alkylboron reagents: disproportionation of anionic (alkyl)(alkoxy)borates to anionic dialkylborates prior to transmetalation.

We report the first example of Cu(I)-catalysed coupling of alkylboron reagents with aryl and heteroaryl iodides that affords products in good to excellent yields. Preliminary mechanistic studies with alkylborates indicate that the anionic (alkoxy)(alkyl)borates, generated from alkyllithium and alkoxyboron reagents, undergo disproportionation to anionic dialkylborates and that both anionic alkylborates are active for transmetalation to a Cu(I)-catalyst. Results from a radical clock experiment and the Hammett plot imply that the reaction likely proceeds via a non-radical pathway.

Towards a structural biology of the hydrophobic effect in protein folding.

The hydrophobic effect is a major driving force in protein folding. A complete understanding of this effect requires the description of the conformational states of water and protein molecules at different temperatures. Towards this goal, we characterise the cold and hot denatured states of a protein by modelling NMR chemical shifts using restrained molecular dynamics simulations.

Spindle-E cycling between nuage and cytoplasm is controlled by Qin and PIWI proteins.

Transposable elements (TEs) are silenced in germ cells by a mechanism in which PIWI proteins generate and use PIWI-interacting ribonucleic acid (piRNA) to repress expression of TE genes. piRNA biogenesis occurs by an amplification cycle in microscopic organelles called nuage granules, which are localized to the outer face of the nuclear envelope. One cofactor required for amplification is the helicase Spindle-E (Spn-E).

MicroRNA-130b functions as a tumor suppressor by regulating RUNX3 in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical significance of microRNA (miR)-130b-Runt domain transcription factor (RUNX3) axis and its effects on oncogenic phenotypes of human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: QRT-PCR was performed to detect the expression of miR-130b and RUNX3 mRNA in 100 EOC and 20 normal ovarian tissues. The associations between miR-130b and/or RUNX3 expression and various clinicopathological features of EOC patients were statistically analyzed.

MicroRNA function in Drosophila melanogaster.

Over the last decade, microRNAs have emerged as critical regulators in the expression and function of animal genomes. This review article discusses the relationship between microRNA-mediated regulation and the biology of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. We focus on the roles that microRNAs play in tissue growth, germ cell development, hormone action, and the development and activity of the central nervous system.

Molecular Recognition by Templated Folding of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein.

Intrinsically disordered proteins often become structured upon interacting with their partners. The mechanism of this 'folding upon binding' process, however, has not been fully characterised yet. Here we present a study of the folding of the intrinsically disordered transactivation domain of c-Myb (c-Myb) upon binding its partner KIX.

General Copper-Catalyzed Coupling of Alkyl-, Aryl-, and Alkynylaluminum Reagents with Organohalides.

We report the first example of a very general Cu-catalyzed cross-coupling of organoaluminum reagents with organohalides. The reactions proceed for the couplings of alkyl-, aryl-, and alkynylaluminum reagents with aryl and heteroaryl halides and vinyl bromides, affording the cross-coupled products in good to excellent yields. Both primary and secondary alkylaluminum reagents can be utilized as organometallic coupling partners.

Copper-catalyzed arylation of alkyl halides with arylaluminum reagents.

We report a Cu-catalyzed coupling between triarylaluminum reagents and alkyl halides to form arylalkanes. The reaction proceeds in the presence of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-o-phenylenediamine (NN-1) as a ligand in combination with CuI as a catalyst. This catalyst system enables the coupling of primary alkyl iodides and bromides with electron-neutral and electron-rich triarylaluminum reagents and affords the cross-coupled products in good to excellent yields.

Optical signaling in biofluids: a nondenaturing photostable molecular probe for serum albumins.

The systematic investigation of the interaction of a new class of molecular materials with proteins through structure-optical signaling relationship studies has led to the development of efficient fluorescent probes that can detect and quantify serum albumins in biofluids without causing any denaturation.

Mechanism of cAMP Partial Agonism in Protein Kinase G (PKG).

Protein kinase G (PKG) is a major receptor of cGMP and controls signaling pathways often distinct from those regulated by cAMP. Hence, the selective activation of PKG by cGMP versus cAMP is critical. However, the mechanism of cGMP-versus-cAMP selectivity is only limitedly understood.

SUMO-Enriched Proteome for Drosophila Innate Immune Response.

Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) modification modulates the expression of defense genes in Drosophila, activated by the Toll/nuclear factor-κB and immune-deficient/nuclear factor-κB signaling networks. We have, however, limited understanding of the SUMO-modulated regulation of the immune response and lack information on SUMO targets in the immune system. In this study, we measured the changes to the SUMO proteome in S2 cells in response to a lipopolysaccharide challenge and identified 1619 unique proteins in SUMO-enriched lysates.

Ligand-Free Copper-Catalyzed Negishi Coupling of Alkyl-, Aryl-, and Alkynylzinc Reagents with Heteroaryl Iodides.

Reported herein is an unprecedented ligand-free copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of alkyl-, aryl-, and alkynylzinc reagents with heteroaryl iodides. The reaction proceeds at room temperature for the coupling of primary, secondary, and tertiary alkylzinc reagents with heteroaryl iodides without rearrangement. An elevated temperature (100 °C) is required for aryl-heteroaryl and alkynyl-heteroaryl couplings.