ComFB, a new widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins.

Cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) is a widespread bacterial second messenger that controls a variety of cellular functions, including protein and polysaccharide secretion, motility, cell division, cell development, and biofilm formation, and contributes to the virulence of some important bacterial pathogens. While the genes for diguanylate cyclases and c-di-GMP hydrolases (active or mutated) can be easily identified in microbial genomes, the list of c-di-GMP receptor domains is quite limited, and only two of them, PliZ and MshEN, are found across multiple bacterial phyla. Recently, a new c-di-GMP receptor protein, named CdgR or ComFB, has been identified in cyanobacteria and shown to regulate their cell size and, more recently, natural competence.

Design, synthesis, and and biological evaluation of triazolopyrimidine hybrids as multitarget directed anticancer agents.

In response to the urgent need for new anti-proliferative agents, four novel series of triazolopyrimidine compounds (7a-e, 9a-d, 11a-f, and 13a-e) were synthesized and evaluated for anticancer efficacy against HCT116, HeLa, and MCF-7 cell lines. Compound 13c emerged as the most potent, with IC values of 6.10, 10.

Advancing IBDV diagnostics: a one-step multiplex real-time qRT-PCR for discriminating between vvIBDV and non-vvIBDV viruses, including the newly emerged IBDV variant.

The very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) induces an acute, highly contagious and immunosuppressive disease in younger chicken causing massive economic losses globally. A major challenge in the field's clinical diagnosis is distinguishing gross lesions caused by vvIBDV from those induced by classic IBDV (cIBDV), commonly used as live attenuated vaccines. This study introduces a one-step multiplex real-time PCR assay designed to distinguish between vvIBDV and non-vvIBDV viruses.

Evaluation of the levels of salivary paxillin in oral potentially malignant disorders and malignant lesions.

Background: The scientific community has been particularly interested in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) because of the cancer's extremely high incidence and fatality rates worldwide. It has been proposed that paxillin is involved in certain malignancies as an oncogene. Additionally, several investigations have assessed paxillin expression and investigated its function in developing distinct human carcinomas, including squamous cell carcinoma.

The role of vitamin D in amelioration of oral lichen planus and its effect on salivary and tissue IFN-γ level: a randomized clinical trial.

Background And Objectives: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common, prevalent, immune-mediated, inflammatory disease affecting both the skin and oral mucosa and is considered one of the potentially malignant diseases. Since OLP is regarded as an immunologically mediated disease, some studies suggest the use of vitamin D (VD) for its management as it exhibits immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, as well as anti-proliferative, pro-differentiative, and anti-angiogenic effects. VD has demonstrated a suppressive effect on TH1 pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-γ while augmenting the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Genetic heterogeneity of chicken anemia virus isolated in selected Egyptian provinces as a preliminary investigation.

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is a widespread and economically significant pathogen in the poultry industry. In this study 110 samples were collected from various poultry farms in selected Egyptian provinces during 2021-2022 and were tested against CAV by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), revealing 22 positive samples with 20% incidence rate. Full sequence analysis of five selected CAV strains revealed genetic variations in VP1, VP2, and VP3 genes.

Emergence of the novel infectious bursal disease virus variant in vaccinated poultry flocks in Egypt.

Since the detection of antigenically atypical very virulent Infectious bursal disease viruses (vvIBDV) in Egypt in 1999, the country has been experiencing recurrent outbreaks with high mortality rates and typical gross lesions associated with typical vvIBDV. However, a significant change occurred in 2023, marked by a notable increase in reported subclinical IBDV cases. To evaluate the field situation, samples from 21 farms in 2023 and 18 farms from 2021 and 2022, all of which had experienced IBD outbreaks based on clinical diagnosis, were collected, and subjected to VP2-HVR sequencing.

PII-like signaling proteins: a new paradigm in orchestrating cellular homeostasis.

Members of the PII superfamily are versatile, multitasking signaling proteins ubiquitously found in all domains of life. They adeptly monitor and synchronize the cell's carbon, nitrogen, energy, redox, and diurnal states, primarily by binding interdependently to adenyl-nucleotides, including charged nucleotides (ATP, ADP, and AMP) and second messengers such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), cyclic di-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP), and S-adenosylmethionine-AMP (SAM-AMP). These proteins also undergo a variety of posttranslational modifications, such as phosphorylation, adenylation, uridylation, carboxylation, and disulfide bond formation, which further provide cues on the metabolic state of the cell.

Development of Paper-Based Fluorescent Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Sensor for Rapid Detection of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus.

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a notifiable viral disease caused by Lumpy Skin Disease virus (LSDV). It is usually associated with high economic losses, including a loss of productivity, infertility, and death. LSDV shares genetic and antigenic similarities with Sheep pox virus (SPV) and Goat pox (GPV) virus.

First Detection and Molecular Characterization of Novel Variant Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (Genotype A2dB1b) in Egypt.

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an immunosuppressive disease causing significant damage to the poultry industry worldwide. Its etiological agent is infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), a highly resistant RNA virus whose genetic variability considerably affects disease manifestation, diagnosis and control, primarily pursued by vaccination. In Egypt, very virulent strains (genotype A3B2), responsible for typical IBD signs and lesions and high mortality, have historically prevailed.

Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza H9N2 Viruses in Morocco: Antigenic and Molecular Evolution from 2021 to 2023.

Avian influenza viruses pose significant threats to both the poultry industry and public health worldwide. Among them, the H9N2 subtype has gained substantial attention due to its high prevalence, especially in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa; its ability to reassort with other influenza viruses; and its potential to infect humans. This study presents a comprehensive phylogenetic and molecular analysis of H9N2 avian influenza viruses circulating in Morocco from 2021 to 2023.

Composting: A biosecurity measure to maximize the benefit of broilers̕ litter.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of composting on the count of spp., , and New Castle virus (NDV) isolated from broilers' litter. Moreover, to verify the impact of compost thermal stress on the expression of thermal genes harbored in the isolated bacteria.

Exploration of antiproliferative potential of modified triazole-benzohydrazone scaffold: Multitarget approach.

A novel series of triazole-benzohydrazone hybrids was efficiently designed and synthesized as antiproliferative agents, targeting different kinases. All compounds were screened via the National Cancer Institute (NCI) against 60 cancer cell lines, where compounds 16, 17, and 18 exhibited growth inhibition percent (GI%) of various leukemia subpanels with values of 70.33%, 64.

Nitroimidazole derivatives potentiated against tumor hypoxia: Design, synthesis, antitumor activity, molecular docking study, and QSAR study.

A hypoxic environment occurs predominantly in tumors. During the growth phase of a tumor, it grows until it exceeds its blood supply, leaving regions of the tumor in which the oxygen pressure is dramatically low. They are virtually absent in normal tissues, thus creating perfect conditions for selective bioreductive therapy of tumors.

Modified Tacrine Derivatives as Multitarget-Directed Ligands for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Modeling Study.

To develop multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) as potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to shed light on the effect of the chromene group in designing these ligands, 35 new tacrine-chromene derivatives were designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated. Compounds and exhibited the most desirable multiple functions for AD; they were strong AChE inhibitors with IC values of 0.44 and 0.

Antioxidant and Anticancer Assessment and Phytochemical Investigation of Three Varieties of Date Fruits.

Date palm ( L.) fruits contain high concentrations of phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids and other micronutrients, which impact human health due to their potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer characteristics. In the present study, the effect of ethyl acetate, hydroethanol, hydromethanol, and aqueous extract from three date palm varieties (i.

Roles of second messengers in the regulation of cyanobacterial physiology: the carbon-concentrating mechanism and beyond.

Second messengers are a fundamental category of small molecules and ions that are involved in the regulation of many processes in all domains of life. Here we focus on cyanobacteria, prokaryotes playing important roles as primary producers in the geochemical cycles due to their capability of oxygenic photosynthesis and carbon and nitrogen fixation. Of particular interest is the inorganic carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM), which allows cyanobacteria to concentrate CO near RubisCO.

From an Hsp90 - binding protein to a peptide drug.

The Lpl proteins represent a class of lipoproteins that was first described in the opportunistic bacterial pathogen , where they contribute to pathogenicity by enhancing F-actin levels of host epithelial cells and thereby increasing internalization. The model Lpl protein, Lpl1 was shown to interact with the human heat shock proteins Hsp90α and Hsp90ß, suggesting that this interaction may trigger all observed activities. Here we synthesized Lpl1-derived peptides of different lengths and identified two overlapping peptides, namely, L13 and L15, which interacted with Hsp90α.

Pleiotropic effects of PipX, PipY, or RelQ overexpression on growth, cell size, photosynthesis, and polyphosphate accumulation in the cyanobacterium PCC7942.

The cyanobacterial protein PipY belongs to the Pyridoxal-phosphate (PLP)-binding proteins (PLPBP/COG0325) family of pyridoxal-phosphate-binding proteins, which are represented in all three domains of life. These proteins share a high degree of sequence conservation, appear to have purely regulatory functions, and are involved in the homeostasis of vitamin B vitamers and amino/keto acids. Intriguingly, the genomic context of the gene in cyanobacteria connects PipY with PipX, a protein involved in signaling the intracellular energy status and carbon-to-nitrogen balance.

Carbon signaling protein SbtB possesses atypical redox-regulated apyrase activity to facilitate regulation of bicarbonate transporter SbtA.

The PII superfamily consists of widespread signal transduction proteins found in all domains of life. In addition to canonical PII proteins involved in C/N sensing, structurally similar PII-like proteins evolved to fulfill diverse, yet poorly understood cellular functions. In cyanobacteria, the bicarbonate transporter SbtA is co-transcribed with the conserved PII-like protein, SbtB, to augment intracellular inorganic carbon levels for efficient CO fixation.

Millet-inspired systems metabolic engineering of NUE in crops.

The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in agriculture has a great ability to increase crop productivity. However, their excessive use has detrimental effects on the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to develop crop varieties with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) that require less N but have substantial yields.

Synthesis, Antitumor Activity, and Drug Design of New Thieno[2,3-]Pyrimidine-4-One Derivatives as Nonclassical Lipophilic Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitors.

Synthesis of a new series of 20 compounds bearing the thieno[2,3-]pyrimidine-4-one scaffold was achieved. The inhibitory activity of these compounds was performed over 60 cell lines of human tumor at single and five dose concentrations. Compounds , , and exhibited potent growth inhibitions toward the majority of the tested NCI 60 cell lines.

First isolation of influenza a subtype H5N8 in ostrich: pathological and genetic characterization.

The incidence of the avian influenza virus in late 2016, different genotypes of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 clade 2.3.4.