Publications by authors named "Marc Farag"
Article Synopsis
- XIAP is a protein that helps regulate cell survival and inflammation, and targeting it could benefit diseases like Crohn's disease and sarcoidosis.
- Researchers developed selective inhibitors for a specific part of XIAP (XIAP-BIR2) to disrupt its interaction with RIPK2, which is relevant to inflammatory diseases.
- They created a library of small synthetic molecules, identifying compound 20c, which effectively blocks the NOD1/2 signaling pathway in cells and holds potential as an anti-inflammatory treatment.
G-quadruplexes (G4) are helical structures found in guanine-rich DNA or RNA sequences. Generally, their formalism is based on a few dozen structures, which can produce some inconsistencies or incompleteness. Using the website ASC-G4, we analyzed the structures of 333 intramolecular G4s, of all types, which allowed us to clarify some key concepts and present new information.
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- XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibits caspases, which are essential for cell death, and its overexpression in cancers allows tumor cells to avoid apoptosis, making it a target for cancer therapy.
- The study focuses on developing selective antagonists that inhibit XIAP's function without affecting cIAP1-2, as existing inhibitors cause undesirable side effects.
- By using molecular dynamics simulations and pharmacophore modeling, the researchers identified crucial residues for binding and suggested three residues (Lys297, Thr308, Asp309) that could enhance the specificity of XIAP-BIR3 antagonists.
ASC-G4 is an algorithm for the calculation of the advanced structural characteristics of G-quadruplexes (G4). It allows the unambiguous determination of the intramolecular G4 topology, based on the oriented strand numbering. It also resolves the ambiguity in the determination of the guanine glycosidic configuration.
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