Characterization of guanidine carboxylases.

Guanidine metabolism has been an overlooked aspect of the global nitrogen cycle until RNA sensors (riboswitches) were discovered in bacteria that bind the nitrogen-rich compound. The associated genes were initially proposed to detoxify guanidine from the cells. We were intrigued by a genetic organization where the guanidine riboswitch is located upstream of an operon comprising a carboxylase, two putative hydrolases, and an assigned allophanate hydrolase.

N-Linked Fucosylated Glycans Are Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer with a Neuroendocrine and Metastatic Phenotype.

Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a spectrum of pathology and outcomes ranging from indolent to lethal. Although there have been recent advancements in prognostic tissue biomarkers, limitations still exist. We leveraged matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded prostate cancer specimens to determine if N-linked glycans expressed in the extracellular matrix of lethal neuroendocrine prostate cancer were also expressed in conventional prostate adenocarcinomas that were associated with poor outcomes.

Cooperative binding of bivalent ligands yields new insights into the guanidine-II riboswitch.

Riboswitches are involved in regulating the gene expression in bacteria. They are located within the untranslated regions of bacterial messenger RNA and function as switches by adjusting their shape, depending on the presence or absence of specific ligands. To decipher the fundamental aspects of bacterial gene control, it is therefore important to understand the mechanisms that underlie these conformational switches.

Metformin hydrolase is a recently evolved nickel-dependent heteromeric ureohydrolase.

The anti-diabetic drug metformin is one of the most widely prescribed medicines in the world. Together with its degradation product guanylurea, it is a major pharmaceutical pollutant in wastewater treatment plants and surface waters. An operon comprising two genes of the ureohydrolase family in Pseudomonas and Aminobacter species has recently been implicated in metformin degradation.