Communication Skills in Toddlers Exposed to Maternal SARS-CoV-2 during Pregnancy.

Studies about the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on pregnant women and children born to positive women are controversial with regard to possible inner ear-related damage but most of them do not detect the involvement of this virus in auditory function. However, only a few studies on long-term effects on language development are currently available because of the recent onset of the pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on perceptual and expressive abilities and the emerging development of communication in young children.

CYP116B5: a new class VII catalytically self-sufficient cytochrome P450 from Acinetobacter radioresistens that enables growth on alkanes.

A gene coding for a class VII cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP116B5) was identified from Acinetobacter radioresistens S13 growing on media with medium (C14, C16) and long (C24, C36) chain alkanes as the sole energy source. Phylogenetic analysis of its N- and C-terminal domains suggests an evolutionary model involving a plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer from the donor Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 to the receiving A. radioresistens S13.

Electrochemical detection of human cytochrome P450 2A6 inhibition: a step toward reducing dependence on smoking.

Inhibition of human cytochrome P450 2A6 has been demonstrated to play an important role in nicotine metabolism and consequent smoking habits. Here, the "molecular Lego" approach was used to achieve the first reported electrochemical signal of human CYP2A6 and to improve its catalytic efficiency on electrode surfaces. The enzyme was fused at the genetic level to flavodoxin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris (FLD) to create the chimeric CYP2A6-FLD.

Dynamics and flexibility of human aromatase probed by FTIR and time resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.

Human aromatase (CYP19A1) is a steroidogenic cytochrome P450 converting androgens into estrogens. No ligand-free crystal structure of the enzyme is available to date. The crystal structure in complex with the substrate androstenedione and the steroidal inhibitor exemestane shows a very compact conformation of the enzyme, leaving unanswered questions on the conformational changes that must occur to allow access of the ligand to the active site.

The oncogenic transcription factor PAX3-FKHR can convert fibroblasts into contractile myotubes.

PAX3-FKHR, the product of a rearrangement of PAX3 with FKHR is the pathogenetic marker for alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. In this work we show that PAX3-FKHR, which is a stronger transcriptional activator relative to PAX3, can lead to two apparently irreconcilable outcomes: transformation and terminal myogenic differentiation. Fibroblasts (10T1/2, NIH3T3, and a newly established murine line named 'Plus') transduced by PAX3-FKHR acquire transformed features such as anchorage independence and loss of contact inhibition and concomitantly undergo various degrees of myogenic conversion depending on the host cells, including, in the case of the Plus line, terminal differentiation into contractile myotubes.

Validation of met as a therapeutic target in alveolar and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly malignant soft-tissue tumor of childhood deriving from skeletal muscle cells. RMS can be classified in two major histologic subtypes: embryonal (ERMS) and alveolar (ARMS), the latter being characterized by the PAX3/7-FKHR translocation. Here we first investigated whether the Met receptor, a transcriptional target of PAX3 and PAX7, has a role in PAX3-FKHR-mediated transformation.