The structure and function of deubiquitinases: lessons from budding yeast.

Protein ubiquitination is a key post-translational modification that regulates diverse cellular processes in eukaryotic cells. The specificity of ubiquitin (Ub) signalling for different bioprocesses and pathways is dictated by the large variety of mono-ubiquitination and polyubiquitination events, including many possible chain architectures. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) reverse or edit Ub signals with high sophistication and specificity, forming an integral arm of the Ub signalling machinery, thus impinging on fundamental cellular processes including DNA damage repair, gene expression, protein quality control and organellar integrity.

Yeast Two-Hybrid Analysis for Ubiquitin Variant Inhibitors of Human Deubiquitinases.

We applied a yeast-two-hybrid (Y2H) analysis to screen for ubiquitin variant (UbV) inhibitors of a human deubiquitinase (DUB), ubiquitin-specific protease 2 (USP2). The Y2H screen used USP2 as the bait and a prey library consisting of UbVs randomized at four specific positions, which were known to interact with USP2 from phage display analysis. The screen yielded numerous UbVs that bound to USP2 both as a Y2H interaction in vivo and as purified proteins in vitro.

Cardiothoracic surgical site phaeohyphomycosis caused by Bipolaris mould, multiple US states, 2008-2013: a clinical description.

Bipolaris mould surgical site infections (SSIs) are exceedingly rare. We describe 21 cases of Bipolaris SSIs in pediatric and adult cardiothoracic surgery patients at ten hospitals in Texas, Arkansas, and Florida during 2008-2013. Median case-patient age was 55 years (range: 3 days-82 years), and 19 (90%) were male.

Development of a Multilocus Sequence Typing System for Medically Relevant Bipolaris Species.

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is the gold standard genotyping technique for many microorganisms. This classification approach satisfies the requirements for a high-resolution, standardized, and archivable taxonomic system. Here, we describe the development of a novel MLST system to assist with the investigation of an unusual cluster of surgical site infections caused by Bipolaris spp.