Photodynamic treatment increases the lifespan and oxidative stress resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Photodynamic therapy is a noninvasive treatment in which specific photosensitizers and light are used to produce high amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can be employed for targeted tissue destruction in cancer treatment or antimicrobial therapy. However, it remains unknown whether lower amounts of ROS produced by mild photodynamic therapy increase lifespan and stress resistance at the organism level. Here, we introduce a novel photodynamic treatment (PDTr) that uses 20 μM hypericin, a photosensitizer that originates from Hypericum perforatum, and orange light (590 nm, 5.

Schisandrin C improves leaky gut conditions in intestinal cell monolayer, organoid, and nematode models by increasing tight junction protein expression.

Background: Leaky gut symptoms and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are associated with damaged intestinal mucosa, intestinal permeability dysfunction by epithelial cell cytoskeleton contraction, disrupted intercellular tight junction (TJ) protein expression, and abnormal immune responses and are intractable diseases.

Purpose: We evaluated the effects of schisandrin C, a dibenzocyclooctadiene lignan from Schisandra chinensis, on intestinal inflammation and permeability dysfunction in gut mimetic systems: cultured intestinal cells, intestinal organoids, and a Caenorhabditis elegans model.

Methods: Schisandrin C was selected from 9 lignan compounds from S.

Predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among health professions students in Vietnam.

Background: The COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or refusal has actually been a threat to global health. In the current situation, health professions students are at risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection during their internship at healthcare facilities. Furthermore, those future healthcare workers will advise people to accept the COVID-19 vaccination.

Natural photosensitizers from Tripterygium wilfordii and their antimicrobial photodynamic therapeutic effects in a Caenorhabditis elegans model.

Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. is a traditional medicinal plant and has long been used in East Asia to treat many diseases.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of chalcone derivatives as neuroprotective agents against glutamate-induced HT22 mouse hippocampal neuronal cell death.

Seventeen chalcone analogues were synthesized from 7-methoxy-3,4-dihydronaphthalen1(2H)-one and various aromatic aldehydes under basic conditions and their therapeutic properties were studied in mouse hippocampal cell line HT-22 against neuronal cell death induced by glutamate. From this study, we selected an analogue C01 as a active compound which showed significantly high neuroprotection. This compound inhibited Ca influx and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation inside cells.

Solar-powered hearing aids for children with impaired hearing in Vietnam: a pilot study.

Background: Hearing loss is a barrier to speech and social and cognitive development. This can be especially pronounced in children living in low- and middle-income countries with limited resources.

Aim: To determine the feasibility, durability and social impact of ComCare GLW solar-powered hearing aids provided for Vietnamese children with hearing impairment.

Accelerated chromatin biochemistry using DNA-barcoded nucleosome libraries.

Elucidating the molecular details of how chromatin-associated factors deposit, remove and recognize histone post-translational modification (PTM) signatures remains a daunting task in the epigenetics field. We introduce a versatile platform that greatly accelerates biochemical investigations into chromatin recognition and signaling. This technology is based on the streamlined semisynthesis of DNA-barcoded nucleosome libraries with distinct combinations of PTMs.

Rab GTPase prenylation hierarchy and its potential role in choroideremia disease.

Protein prenylation is a widespread post-translational modification in eukaryotes that plays a crucial role in membrane targeting and signal transduction. RabGTPases is the largest group of post-translationally C-terminally geranylgeranylated. All Rabs are processed by Rab geranylgeranyl-transferase and Rab escort protein (REP).

SET1 and p300 act synergistically, through coupled histone modifications, in transcriptional activation by p53.

The H3K4me3 mark in chromatin is closely correlated with actively transcribed genes, although the mechanisms involved in its generation and function are not fully understood. In vitro studies with recombinant chromatin and purified human factors demonstrate a robust SET1 complex (SET1C)-mediated H3K4 trimethylation that is dependent upon p53- and p300-mediated H3 acetylation, a corresponding SET1C-mediated enhancement of p53- and p300-dependent transcription that reflects a primary effect of SET1C through H3K4 trimethylation, and direct SET1C-p53 and SET1C-p300 interactions indicative of a targeted recruitment mechanism. Complementary cell-based assays demonstrate a DNA-damage-induced p53-SET1C interaction, a corresponding enrichment of SET1C and H3K4me3 on a p53 target gene (p21/WAF1), and a corresponding codependency of H3K4 trimethylation and transcription upon p300 and SET1C.

The n-SET domain of Set1 regulates H2B ubiquitylation-dependent H3K4 methylation.

Past studies have documented a crosstalk between H2B ubiquitylation (H2Bub) and H3K4 methylation, but little (if any) direct evidence exists explaining the mechanism underlying H2Bub-dependent H3K4 methylation on chromatin templates. Here, we took advantage of an in vitro histone methyltransferase assay employing a reconstituted yeast Set1 complex (ySet1C) and a recombinant chromatin template containing fully ubiquitylated H2B to gain valuable insights. Combined with genetic analyses, we demonstrate that the n-SET domain within Set1, but not Swd2, is essential for H2Bub-dependent H3K4 methylation.

ASH2L regulates ubiquitylation signaling to MLL: trans-regulation of H3 K4 methylation in higher eukaryotes.

Crosstalk between H2B ubiquitylation (H2Bub) and H3 K4 methylation plays important roles in coordinating functions of diverse cofactors during transcription activation. The underlying mechanism for this trans-tail signaling pathway is poorly defined in higher eukaryotes. Here, we show the following: (1) ASH2L in the MLL complex is essential for H2Bub-dependent H3 K4 methylation.

Quantitative analysis of prenylated RhoA interaction with its chaperone, RhoGDI.

Small GTPases of the Rho family regulate cytoskeleton remodeling, cell polarity, and transcription, as well as the cell cycle, in eukaryotic cells. Membrane delivery and recycling of the Rho GTPases is mediated by Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor (RhoGDI), which forms a stable complex with prenylated Rho GTPases. We analyzed the interaction of RhoGDI with the active and inactive forms of prenylated and unprenylated RhoA.

Flexible and general synthesis of functionalized phosphoisoprenoids for the study of prenylation in vivo and in vitro.

Protein modification with isoprenoid lipids affects hundreds of signaling proteins in eukaryotic cells. Modification of isoprenoids with reporter groups is the main approach for the creation of probes for the analysis of protein prenylation in vitro and in vivo. Here, we describe a new strategy for the synthesis of functionalized phosphoisoprenoids that uses an aminederivatized isoprenoid scaffold as a starting point for the synthesis of functionalized phosphoisoprenoid libraries.

Analysis of protein prenylation in vitro and in vivo using functionalized phosphoisoprenoids.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) expand the number of protein isoforms in eukaryotic proteome by orders of magnitude. Protein modification with isoprenoid lipids is a common PTM affecting hundreds of proteins controlling the transport of information and materials into, through, and out of the eukaryotic cell. In this modification, a soluble phosphoisoprenoid such as farnesyl (C15) or geranylgeranyl (C20) pyrophosphate moiety is recruited by one of three protein prenyltransferases to covalently modify a C-terminal cysteine(s) in a target protein.

Species-independent translational leaders facilitate cell-free expression.

Cell-free protein synthesis enables the rapid production and engineering of recombinant proteins. Existing cell-free systems differ substantially from each other with respect to efficiency, scalability and the ability to produce functional eukaryotic proteins. Here we describe species-independent translational sequences (SITS) that mediate efficient cell-free protein synthesis in multiple prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems, presumably through bypassing the early translation initiation factors.

Analysis of the eukaryotic prenylome by isoprenoid affinity tagging.

Protein prenylation is a widespread phenomenon in eukaryotic cells that affects many important signaling molecules. We describe the structure-guided design of engineered protein prenyltransferases and their universal synthetic substrate, biotin-geranylpyrophosphate. These new tools allowed us to detect femtomolar amounts of prenylatable proteins in cells and organs and to identify their cognate protein prenyltransferases.

Genotyping of recent measles virus strains from Russia and Vietnam by nucleotide-specific multiplex PCR.

The nucleoprotein genes of 49 measles virus (MV) strains circulating in Russia between 2000 and 2006 and in Vietnam in 2003 were analyzed by genotype-specific PCR and the results were compared with their sequences. The sequences revealed the presence of genotypes H1 and H2 in the center (Nha Trang) and the north (Hanoi) of Vietnam, respectively. The relative diversity of the H2 strains suggested an endemic circulation of these viruses in the capital.

Exploiting the substrate tolerance of farnesyltransferase for site-selective protein derivatization.

The site-selective modification of proteins with a functional group is an important biochemical technique, but covalent attachment of a desired group to a chosen site is complicated by the reactivity of other amino acid side chains, often resulting in undesired side reactions. One potential solution to this problem involves exploiting the activity of protein-modifying enzymes that recognize a defined protein sequence. Protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) covalently attaches an isoprenoid moiety to a cysteine unit in the context of a short C-terminal sequence that can be easily grafted onto recombinant proteins.