N-acetylglucosamine supplementation fails to bypass the critical acetylation of glucosamine-6-phosphate required for Toxoplasma gondii replication and invasion.

The cell surface of Toxoplasma gondii is rich in glycoconjugates which hold diverse and vital functions in the lytic cycle of this obligate intracellular parasite. Additionally, the cyst wall of bradyzoites, that shields the persistent form responsible for chronic infection from the immune system, is heavily glycosylated. Formation of glycoconjugates relies on activated sugar nucleotides, such as uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc).

Beyond the MEP Pathway: A novel kinase required for prenol utilization by malaria parasites.

A proposed treatment for malaria is a combination of fosmidomycin and clindamycin. Both compounds inhibit the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, the parasitic source of farnesyl and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (FPP and GGPP, respectively). Both FPP and GGPP are crucial for the biosynthesis of several essential metabolites such as ubiquinone and dolichol, as well as for protein prenylation.

Cholesterol sensing by CD81 is important for hepatitis C virus entry.

CD81 plays a central role in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Recent structural analysis of CD81 indicates that it contains an intramembrane cholesterol-binding pocket and that interaction with cholesterol may regulate a conformational switch in the large extracellular domain of CD81. Therefore, CD81 possesses a potential cholesterol-sensing mechanism; however, its relevance for protein function is thus far unknown.

Single-nucleotide variants in human CD81 influence hepatitis C virus infection of hepatoma cells.

An estimated number of 71 million people are living with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection worldwide and 400,000 annual deaths are related to the infection. HCV entry into the hepatocytes is complex and involves several host factors. The tetraspanin human CD81 (hCD81) is one of the four essential entry factors and is composed of one large extracellular loop, one small extracellular loop, four transmembrane domains, one intracellular loop and two intracellular tails.

Blood Lactate Concentrations Before and After Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatments in Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death: A Case Report From Italy.

A 20-minute hands-off period with isoelectric electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring is currently required for the declaration of cardiac death in Italy, thus prolonging the warm ischemia time (WIT) during donation after circulatory death (DCD). Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) can be a valid tool to optimize organ perfusion as a bridge to donation. A 62-year-old woman with catastrophic brain injury due to massive intracranial hemorrage, not fulfilling brain death criteria, underwent controlled DCD after withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WLST).