Illuminating the mechanism and allosteric behavior of NanoLuc luciferase.

NanoLuc, a superior β-barrel fold luciferase, was engineered 10 years ago but the nature of its catalysis remains puzzling. Here experimental and computational techniques are combined, revealing that imidazopyrazinone luciferins bind to an intra-barrel catalytic site but also to an allosteric site shaped on the enzyme surface. Structurally, binding to the allosteric site prevents simultaneous binding to the catalytic site, and vice versa, through concerted conformational changes.

Domino-like effect of C112R mutation on ApoE4 aggregation and its reduction by Alzheimer's Disease drug candidate.

Background: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 genotype is the most prevalent risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Although ApoE4 differs from its non-pathological ApoE3 isoform only by the C112R mutation, the molecular mechanism of its proteinopathy is unknown.

Methods: Here, we reveal the molecular mechanism of ApoE4 aggregation using a combination of experimental and computational techniques, including X-ray crystallography, site-directed mutagenesis, hydrogen-deuterium mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), static light scattering and molecular dynamics simulations.

Using a biological indicator to detect potential sources of cross-contamination in the dental operatory.

The authors conducted a study using surveillance monitoring methodology to identify operatory contamination and to evaluate the effectiveness of infection control procedures. Viridans streptococci were evaluated as biological indicators of oral contamination. Viridans streptococci, abundant in human saliva, were detected on operatory surfaces after dental treatments were finished and surfaces were disinfected.

The effect of solvent and extraction methods on the bacterial mutagenicity of sidestream cigarette smoke.

The mutagenic activity of sidestream cigarette smoke particles was estimated by testing sidestream cigarette smoke particles which had been collected under controlled burning conditions in the laboratory. Two different extraction methods (Soxhlet and ultrasonic agitation) and 3 different solvents (dichloromethane, methanol, and acetone) were compared for their efficiencies in the extraction of compounds from sidestream cigarette smoke particles which are mutagenic in the Ames test. The mutagenic activity of the sidestream smoke particles was estimated to be 15,000-20,000 revertants per cigarette in TA98 with metabolic activation and 12,000-17,000 revertants per cigarette in TA100 without metabolic activation.