Time-resolved fluorescence studies reveal differences in dynamic motion between main proteases of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV.

The main protease (M) is an attractive drug target for inhibiting the coronavirus. Lots of research has focused on the static viewpoint of the M, such as the X-ray crystal structure, inhibitors design, and the transition between monomer and dimer. However, the attention to the dynamical features of M is limited, which is essential for a deeper determination of the properties of the target protein.

Left Ventricular Papillary Muscle: Anatomy, Pathophysiology, and Multimodal Evaluation.

As an integral part of the mitral valve apparatus, the left ventricle papillary muscle (PM) controls mitral valve closure during systole and participates in the ejection process during left ventricular systole. Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most immediate and predominant result when the PM is structurally or functionally abnormal. However, dysfunction of the PM is easily underestimated or overlooked in clinical interventions for MR-related diseases.

Kinetic isotope effect study of N-6 methyladenosine chemical demethylation in bicarbonate-activated peroxide system.

N-6 methyladenosine is the most abundant nucleic acid modification in eukaryotes and plays a crucial role in gene regulation. The AlkB family of alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases is responsible for nucleic acid demethylation. Recent studies have discovered that a chemical demethylation system using hydrogen peroxide and ammonium bicarbonate can effectively demethylate nucleic acids.

Echocardiographic diagnosis of rupture of mitral valve papillary muscle.

Objective: To explore the value of echocardiography in diagnosing papillary muscle rupture (PMR) of the mitral valve, and summarize the characteristic echocardiographic features of different types.

Methods: Echocardiograms of 13 PMR patients confirmed by surgery in Wuhan Union Hospital between January 2009 and December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed and their preoperative transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was compared with surgical findings.

Results: A total of 9020 patients underwent mitral valve repair or replacement surgery during the study period including 13 (0.

Comprehensive Understanding of the Kinetic Behaviors of Main Protease from SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV: New Data and Comparison to Published Parameters.

The main protease (M) is a promising drug target for inhibiting the coronavirus due to its conserved properties and lack of homologous genes in humans. However, previous studies on M's kinetic parameters have been confusing, hindering the selection of accurate inhibitors. Therefore, obtaining a clear view of M's kinetic parameters is necessary.

Deuterium Solvent Kinetic Isotope Effect on Enzymatic Methyl Transfer Catalyzed by Catechol O-methyltransferase.

Introduction: Catechol o-methyltransferase plays a key role in the metabolism of catecholamine neurotransmitters. At present, its catalytic mechanism, overall structure, and kinetic characteristics have been basically clarified, but few people have paid attention to the function of solvents on enzymatic methyl transfer reactions. The influence of solvents on enzymatic reactions has always been a fuzzy hot topic.

Visual P300 as a neurophysiological correlate of symptomatic improvement by a virtual reality-based computer AT system in patients with auditory verbal hallucinations: A Pilot study.

Previous comparative trials showed that virtual reality (VR) therapies achieved larger effects than gold-standard cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on overall auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). However, no trial has examined the corresponding underlying electrophysiological mechanisms. We performed a pilot randomized comparative trial evaluating the efficacy of a virtual reality-based computer AT system (CATS) over CBT for schizophrenia (SCZ) patients with treatment-resistant AVHs and explored these potential electrophysiological changes via the visual P300 component.

Linkage of nanosecond protein motion with enzymatic methyl transfer by nicotinamide N-methyltransferase.

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT), a key cytoplasmic protein in the human body, is accountable to catalyze the nicotinamide (NCA) N-methylation through S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) as a methyl donor, which has been linked to many diseases. Although extensive studies have concerned about the biological aspect, the detailed mechanism study of the enzyme function, especially in the part of protein dynamics is lacking. Here, wild-type nicotinamide N-methyltransferase together with the mutation at position 20 with Y20F, Y20G, and free tryptophan were carried out to explore the connection between protein dynamics and catalysis using time-resolved fluorescence lifetimes.

The F-box protein gene - is a target for reverse engineering enzyme hypersecretion in filamentous fungi.

Carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) are vital for the lignocellulose-based biorefinery. The development of hypersecreting fungal protein production hosts is therefore a major aim for both academia and industry. However, despite advances in our understanding of their regulation, the number of promising candidate genes for targeted strain engineering remains limited.

Construction of a new thermophilic fungus Myceliophthora thermophila platform for enzyme production using a versatile 2A peptide strategy combined with efficient CRISPR-Cas9 system.

Objective: To construct a new thermophilic platform for glucoamylase production through 2A peptide strategy combined with CRISPR-Cas9 system using Myceliophthora thermophila as host, thermophilic filamentous fungus with industrial attractiveness to produce enzymes and chemicals from biomass.

Results: We adapted the viral 2A peptide approach for M. thermophila and constructed a bicistronic vector for co-expressing two heterologous genes MhglaA and egfp.

Upgrading of efficient and scalable CRISPR-Cas-mediated technology for genetic engineering in thermophilic fungus .

Background: Thermophilic filamentous fungus has great capacity for biomass degradation and is an attractive system for direct production of enzymes and chemicals from plant biomass. Its industrial importance inspired us to develop genome editing tools to speed up the genetic engineering of this fungus. First-generation CRISPR-Cas9 technology was developed in 2017 and, since then, some progress has been made in thermophilic fungi genetic engineering, but a number of limitations remain.