Surpassing protein specificity in biomimetics of bacterial amyloids.

In nature, nontoxic protein amyloids serve as dynamic, protein-specific depots, exemplified by both bacterial inclusion bodies and secretory granules from the endocrine system. Inspired by these systems, chemically defined and regulatory-compliant artificial protein microgranules have been developed for clinical applications as endocrine-like protein repositories. This has been achieved by exploiting the reversible coordination between histidine residues and divalent cations such as Zn, that promotes protein-protein interactions.

Biomarkers.

Background: Bilingualism can stimulate brain plasticity (Jafari et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2021;1505(1):8-22) and is also associated with better executive function (Grundy.

Initial Carbonation of Ni(111) Surfaces.

Understanding the carbon formation on Ni surfaces is critical for the controlled Ni-based nanofabrication and heterogeneous catalysis. Due to the high solubility of carbon in nickel and the complicated migrations of carbon in the near-surface area, achieving a fundamental understanding of the initial carbonation of a Ni surface at an atomic level is experimentally challenging. Herein, the initial formation of surface carbon adsorbates on Ni(111) from the Boudouard reaction (2CO ↔ CO + C) is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Public Health.

Background: Cognitive resilience research in African Americans (AA) shows that higher educational attainment (EA) can mitigate the impact of Alzheimer disease pathology (ADP). However, this mitigating effect is less pronounced in APOEε4 carriers. This finding suggests a disparity in resilience influenced by an interplay of educational and genetic factors.

Biomarkers.

Background: The risk of Alzheimer Disease (AD) conferred by APOE and other genetic factors differ across populations. The Cuban American (CA) population is 3-way admixed (European, African, and Amerindian) and vastly underrepresented in genetic studies. Previous genetic studies in this population have solely focused on APOE in AD and shown conflicting results regarding its effects.