Analysis of Activity of Human Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein (STARD1) Expressed in Escherichia coli Cells.

One of the main obstacles to the successful use of Escherichia coli cells for steroid transformation in biotechnological processes is inefficient transport of steroid substrates into the cells. Here, we tested the possibility of using human cholesterol transfer protein STARD1 (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein) to increase the efficiency of steroid uptake by bacterial cells. Genetic constructs were obtained for the synthesis in E.

Using a viral 2A peptide-based strategy to reconstruct the bovine P450scc steroidogenic system in S. cerevisiae: Bovine P450scc system expression using 2A peptides.

Cytochrome P450scc system performs the first rate-limiting stage of steroidogenesis in mammals. The bovine P450scc system was reconstructed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using a foot-and-mouth disease virus 2A peptide (F2A)-based construct, to co-express cytochrome P450scc, adrenodoxin (Adx), and adrenodoxin reductase (AdR). During the translation of the self-processing fusion protein P450scc-F2A-Adx-F2A-AdR, the first and the second linkers are cleaved with different efficiencies (96 % and 11 %, respectively), resulting in the unbalanced expression of individual proteins.

New 20-hydroxycholesterol-like compounds with fluorescent NBD or alkyne labels: Synthesis, in silico interactions with proteins and uptake by yeast cells.

20-hydroxycholesterol is a signaling oxysterol with immunomodulating functions and, thus, structural analogues with reporter capabilities could be useful for studying and modulating the cellular processes concerned. We have synthesized three new 20-hydroxycholesterol-like pregn-5-en-3β-ol derivatives with fluorescent 7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD) or Raman-sensitive alkyne labels in their side-chains. In silico computations demonstrated the compounds possess good membrane permeability and can bind within active sites of known 20-hydroxycholesterol targets (e.

Profiles of Little-Known Medicinal Polypores: Haploporus odorus (Agaricomycetes).

The purpose of this study was to compile a comprehensive characterization of little-known polypores, which have recently been found to possess anticancer activity and thus can also be used in cancer target therapy. Haploporus odorus is a polypore of Holarctic distribution and has been found by harvesters working in taiga floodlands and broadleaf forests of the Northern Hemisphere. A substance known as haploporic acid A was determined in methylene chloride extract from the dried basidiomata of H.

Modeling heat transport in crystals and glasses from a unified lattice-dynamical approach.

We introduce a novel approach to model heat transport in solids, based on the Green-Kubo theory of linear response. It naturally bridges the Boltzmann kinetic approach in crystals and the Allen-Feldman model in glasses, leveraging interatomic force constants and normal-mode linewidths computed at mechanical equilibrium. At variance with molecular dynamics, our approach naturally and easily accounts for quantum mechanical effects in energy transport.