Publications by authors named "Motti Hakim"

Background: Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. However, considering the limited success of immunotherapy to only some cancer types and patient cohorts, there is an unmet need for developing new treatments that will result in higher response rates in patients with cancer. Immunoglobulin-like transcript 2 (ILT2), a LILRB family member, is an inhibitory receptor expressed on a variety of immune cells including T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and different myeloid cells.

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  • - The study reveals that the RNA editing protein ADAR1 is down-regulated during the metastatic transition of melanoma, which increases melanoma cell growth and tumor characteristics.
  • - Knockdown of ADAR1 in melanoma cells leads to resistance against tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, indicating a significant role for ADAR1 in melanoma immune resistance through its effect on miR-222 and ICAM1 expression.
  • - Higher levels of miR-222 in melanoma tissues correlate with poor clinical response to the drug ipilimumab, suggesting miR-222 could serve as a biomarker to predict treatment outcomes and inform personalized therapy.
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  • The mimivirus genome features numerous ORFan genes that lack homologs in existing databases and include unique structural segments fused with known protein families.
  • Research on the mimivirus enzyme R596 reveals that its ORFan region forms a stable, novel folded domain, reflecting the potential for undiscovered protein innovations within large DNA viruses.
  • Additionally, the study uncovers a unique redox-active site in the R596 dimer that suggests a specific intermolecular dithiol/disulfide relay, marking an important discovery in viral enzyme function.
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Genomes of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) encode enzymes that catalyze the formation of disulfide bonds between cysteine amino acid residues in proteins, a function essential for the proper assembly and propagation of NCLDV virions. Recently, a catalyst of disulfide formation was identified in baculoviruses, a group of large double-stranded DNA viruses considered phylogenetically distinct from NCLDVs. The NCLDV and baculovirus disulfide catalysts are flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-binding sulfhydryl oxidases related to the cellular Erv enzyme family, but the baculovirus enzyme, the product of the Ac92 gene in Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), is highly divergent at the amino acid sequence level.

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Proteins that have evolved to contain stabilizing disulfide bonds generally fold in a membrane-delimited compartment in the cell [i.e., the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS)].

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Large double-stranded DNA viruses, including poxviruses and mimiviruses, encode enzymes to catalyze the formation of disulfide bonds in viral proteins produced in the cell cytosol, an atypical location for oxidative protein folding. These viral disulfide catalysts belong to a family of sulfhydryl oxidases that are dimers of a small five-helix fold containing a Cys-X-X-Cys motif juxtaposed to a flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor. We report that the sulfhydryl oxidase pB119L from African swine fever virus (ASFV) uses for self-assembly surface different from that observed in homologs from mammals, plants, and fungi.

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