Background: Perinatal depression (PND) is often under-treated and under-recognized. It has a negative impact on infant development and mother-child interactions. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of PND during pregnancy and in the postpartum period and the effect of sociodemographic factors, psychosocial stressors, and obstetric and neonatal factors on PND.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeteorin (Metrn) and Meteorin-like (Metrnl) are homologous secreted proteins involved in neural development and metabolic regulation. In this study, we have performed structure prediction and analysis of both Metrn and Metrnl using Alphafold2 (AF2) and RoseTTAfold (RF). Based on the domain and structural homology analysis of the predicted structures, we have identified that these proteins are composed of two functional domains, a CUB domain and an NTR domain, connected by a hinge/loop region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHomologs of the protein Get3 have been identified in all domains yet remain to be fully characterized. In the eukaryotic cytoplasm, Get3 delivers tail-anchored (TA) integral membrane proteins, defined by a single transmembrane helix at their C terminus, to the endoplasmic reticulum. While most eukaryotes have a single Get3 gene, plants are notable for having multiple Get3 paralogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Insight is awareness of one's symptoms, illness, and need for treatment. In bipolar disorder, insight is better in bipolar depression and nonpsychotic depression when compared with mania and psychotic depression. Insight impacts on medication adherence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI) is a diverse group of cornification diseases associated with severe clinical complications and decreased quality of life. Germline mutations in the TGM1 gene, which encodes the enzyme TGM1, are the predominant cause of ARCI. These TGM1 mutations trigger the abnormal epidermal differentiation and impaired cutaneous barrier function observed in patients with ARCI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Physiol Biochem
November 2020
Sugar will eventually be exported transporters (SWEETs), a novel family of sugar transporters found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, facilitate sugar flux across the cell membrane. Although these transporters were first discovered in plants, their homologs have been reported in different organisms. SWEETs have critical roles in various developmental processes, including phloem loading, nectar secretion, and pathogen nutrition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prevalence of substrate cross-reactivity between AHL acylases and β-lactam acylases provides a glimpse of probable links between quorum sensing and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Both these enzyme classes belong to the N-terminal nucleophile (Ntn)-hydrolase superfamily. Penicillin V acylases alongside bile salt hydrolases constitute the cholylglycine hydrolase (CGH) group of the Ntn-hydrolase superfamily.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTau aggregation and accumulation is a key event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Inhibition of Tau aggregation is therefore a potential therapeutic strategy to ameliorate the disease. Phytochemicals are being highlighted as potential aggregation inhibitors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnzymes are important tools for various applications. We have studied structural transitions and functional stability of a Kunitz trypsin inhibitor from Chickpea (CaTI2), a potent insect gut-protease inhibitor, under different stress conditions like non-neutral pH, elevated temperature and co-solvent concentrations. CaTI2 was cloned and expressed in an eukaryotic system P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne of the unique characteristic features of the domain archaea, are the lipids that form the hydrophobic core of their cell membrane. These membrane lipids are characterized by distinctive isoprenoid biochemistry and the building blocks are two core lipid structures, sn-2,3- diphytanyl glycerol diether (archaeol) and sn-2,3-dibiphytanyl diglycerol tetraether (caldarchaeol). Archaeol has two phytanyl chains (C20) in a bilayer structure connected to the glycerol moiety by an ether bond.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by protein misfolding, aggregation and accumulation in the brain. A large number of molecules are being screened against these pathogenic proteins but the focus for therapeutics is shifting towards the natural compounds as aggregation inhibitors, mainly due to their minimum adverse effects. Baicalein is a natural compound belonging to the class of flavonoids isolated from the Chinese herb Scutellaria baicalensis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA generalized method for sorting nanoparticles based on their cores does not exist; it is an immediate necessity, and an approach incorporating cost-effectiveness and biocompatibility is in demand. Therefore, an efficient method for the separation of various mixed core-compositions or dissimilar metallic nanoparticles to their pure forms at the nano-bio interface was developed. Various simple core-combinations of monodispersed nanoparticles with dual cores, including silver plus gold, iron oxide plus gold and platinum plus gold, to the complex three-set core-combinations of platinum plus gold plus silver and platinum plus iron plus gold were sorted using step-gradient centrifugation in a sucrose suspension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Lipid A component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is an integral part of the permeability barrier known as LPS, which actively prevents the uptake of bactericidal compounds. It is clinically very significant, as it is known to elicit a strong immune response in the humans, through the TLR4 complex. The Lipid A species are synthesized through a highly conserved multistep biosynthetic pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe twin-arginine translocase (Tat) pathway transports folded proteins across the plasma membrane and plays a critical role in protein transport in haloarchaea. Computational analysis and previous experimental evidence suggested that the Tat pathway transports almost the entire secretome in haloarchaea. The TatC, receptor component of this pathway shows greater variation in membrane topology in haloarchaea than in other organisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKunitz-type trypsin inhibitors bind to the active pocket of trypsin causing its inhibition. Plant Kunitz-type inhibitors are thought to be important in defense, especially against insect pests. From sequence analysis of various Kunitz-type inhibitors from plants, we identified CaTI2 from chickpea as a unique variant lacking the functionally important arginine residue corresponding to the soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) and having a distinct and unique inhibitory loop organization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTail-anchored (TA) proteins are a special class of membrane proteins that carry out vital functions in all living cells. Targeting mechanisms of TA proteins are investigated as the best example for post-translational protein targeting in yeast. Of the several mechanisms, Guided Entry of Tail-anchored protein (GET) pathway plays a major role in TA protein targeting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLegume Kunitz type trypsin inhibitor (KTI) family is one of the most versatile families of proteins. A typical KTI features a single peptide folded in β-trefoil manner, with the molecular weight about 20-22kDa and two disulphide bonds. The members are known to inhibit a wide range of serpins proteases at the same time many of them possess unique features.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBile Salt Hydrolase (BSH), a member of Cholylglycine hydrolase family, catalyzes the de-conjugation of bile acids and is evolutionarily related to penicillin V acylase (PVA) that hydrolyses a different substrate such as penicillin V. We report the three-dimensional structure of a BSH enzyme from the Gram-positive bacteria Enterococcus faecalis (EfBSH) which has manifold higher hydrolase activity compared to other known BSHs and displays unique allosteric catalytic property. The structural analysis revealed reduced secondary structure content compared to other known BSH structures, particularly devoid of an anti-parallel β-sheet in the assembly loop and part of a β-strand is converted to increase the length of a substrate binding loop 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe twin-arginine translocase (Tat) pathway is involved in the transport of folded proteins in bacteria, and has been implicated in virulence and pathogenesis. A simple but efficient assay based on the quantification of the exopolysaccharide colanic acid was developed as a new means to study Tat function. Colanic acid contains a methylpentose (L-fucose) component, and its production is directly linked to the Tat pathway through the transport of enzymes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe smallest 32 amino acid α-amylase inhibitor from Amaranthus hypochondriacus (AAI) is reported. The complete gene of pre-protein (AhAI) encoding a 26 amino acid (aa) signal peptide followed by the 43 aa region and the previously identified 32 aa peptide was cloned successfully. Three cysteine residues and one disulfide bond conserved within known α-amylase inhibitors were present in AhAI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsian J Psychiatr
February 2017
Objective: Schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders are predominantly studied in young population. However some individuals do develop psychotic disorder for the first time during their old age. The aim of this study is to look at the clinical characteristics of non-affective, non-organic, late onset psychosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirulence pathways in gram-negative pathogenic bacteria are regulated by quorum sensing mechanisms, through the production and sensing of N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) signal molecules. Enzymatic degradation of AHLs leading to attenuation of virulence (quorum quenching) could pave the way for the development of new antibacterials. Penicillin V acylases (PVAs) belong to the Ntn hydrolase superfamily, together with AHL acylases.
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