Atypical hyperendemicity of Rift Valley fever in Southwestern Uganda associated with the rapidly evolving lineage C viruses.

Introduction: Recent Rift Valley fever (RVF) epidemiology in eastern Africa region is characterized by widening geographic range and increasing frequency of small disease clusters. Here we conducted studies in southwestern (SW) Uganda region that has since 2016 reported increasing RVF activities.

Methods: A 22-month long hospital-based study in three districts of SW Uganda targeting patients with acute febrile illness (AFI) or unexplained bleeding was followed by a cross-sectional population-based human-animal survey.

Assembly and Annotation of the Tetraploid Salsola tragus (Russian thistle) Genome.

This report presents two phased chromosome-scale genome assemblies of allotetraploid Salsola tragus (2n=4x=36) and fills the current genomics resource gap for this species. Flow cytometry estimated 1C genome size was 1.319 Gbp.

Design and synthesis of cyclic lipidated peptides derived from the C-terminus of Cx43 for hemichannel inhibition and cardiac endothelium targeting.

A peptide segment that is 10 residues long at the C-terminal (CT) region of Cx43 is known to be involved in interactions, both with the Cx43 protein itself and with other proteins, that result in hemichannel (HC) activity regulation. Previously reported mimetic peptides based on this region (, , ) have been revealed to be promising therapeutic agents in the context of cardiovascular diseases. In this work, novel approaches, such as C- and N-terminal modification and cyclization, to improve the proteolytic stability and bioavailability of the peptide are presented.

Complexes of vertebrate TMC1/2 and CIB2/3 proteins form hair-cell mechanotransduction cation channels.

Calcium and integrin-binding protein 2 (CIB2) and CIB3 bind to transmembrane channel-like 1 (TMC1) and TMC2, the pore-forming subunits of the inner-ear mechano-electrical transduction (MET) apparatus. These interactions have been proposed to be functionally relevant across mechanosensory organs and vertebrate species. Here, we show that both CIB2 and CIB3 can form heteromeric complexes with TMC1 and TMC2 and are integral for MET function in mouse cochlea and vestibular end organs as well as in zebrafish inner ear and lateral line.

Protein and DNA Conformational Changes Contribute to Specificity of Cre Recombinase.

Cre, a conservative site-specific tyrosine recombinase, is a powerful gene editing tool in the laboratory. Expanded applications in human health are hindered by lack of understanding of the mechanism by which Cre selectively binds and recombines its cognate sequences. This knowledge is essential for retargeting the enzyme to new sites and for mitigating effects of off-target recombination.