Engineering and Bio/Nanotechnological Applications of Virus Particles.

Virus particles (VPs) are naturally evolved nanomachines. Their outstanding molecular structures, physical and chemical properties, and biological activities make them potentially useful for many biomedical or technological applications. Natural VPs such as virions or capsids must, however, be modified by genetic and/or chemical engineering in order to become adequate for many specific uses.

A RNA Dodecahedral Cage Inside a Human Virus Plays a Dual Biological Role in Virion Assembly and Genome Release Control.

Human rhinoviruses (RV) are among the most frequent human pathogens. As major causative agents of common colds they originate serious socioeconomic problems and huge expenditure every year, and they also exacerbate severe respiratory diseases. No anti-rhinoviral drugs or vaccines are available so far.

Structural Basis for Alternative Self-Assembly Pathways Leading to Different Human Immunodeficiency Virus Capsid-Like Nanoparticles.

The mechanisms that underlie the spontaneous and faithful assembly of virus particles are guiding the design of self-assembling protein-based nanostructures for biomedical or nanotechnological uses. In this study, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) capsid was used as a model to investigate what molecular feature(s) may determine whether a protein nanoparticle with the intended architecture, instead of an aberrant particle, will be self-assembled . Attempts of using the HIV-1 capsid protein CA for achieving the self-assembly of cone-shaped nanoparticles that contain CA hexamers and pentamers, similar to authentic viral capsids, had typically yielded hexamer-only tubular particles.

Dual diagnosis of TBI and SCI: an epidemiological study in the pediatric population.

Introduction: Dual diagnosis (DD) with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) poses clinical and rehabilitation challenges. While comorbid TBI is common among adults with SCI, little is known about the epidemiology in the pediatric population. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of TBI among children in the United States hospitalized with SCI.

Single-Molecule Analysis of Genome Uncoating from Individual Human Rhinovirus Particles, and Modulation by Antiviral Drugs.

Infection of humans by many viruses is typically initiated by the internalization of a single virion in each of a few susceptible cells. Thus, the outcome of the infection process may depend on stochastic single-molecule events. A crucial process for viral infection, and thus a target for developing antiviral drugs, is the uncoating of the viral genome.

Survival in stomach cancer: analysis of a national cancer information system and a population-based cancer registry in Colombia.

Background: Stomach cancer is among the most frequent, is a leading cause of mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Assessing its survival is important to guide evidence-based health policies.

Aims: To estimate stomach cancer survival in Colombia (2014-2019) with data from the National Cancer Information System (NCIS) and in Cali with data from the Cali Population Cancer Registry (RPCC) (1998-2017).

Electrostatic Screening, Acidic pH and Macromolecular Crowding Increase the Self-Assembly Efficiency of the Minute Virus of Mice Capsid In Vitro.

The hollow protein capsids from a number of different viruses are being considered for multiple biomedical or nanotechnological applications. In order to improve the applied potential of a given viral capsid as a nanocarrier or nanocontainer, specific conditions must be found for achieving its faithful and efficient assembly in vitro. The small size, adequate physical properties and specialized biological functions of the capsids of parvoviruses such as the minute virus of mice (MVM) make them excellent choices as nanocarriers and nanocontainers.

A comprehensive health effects assessment of the use of sanitizers and disinfectants during COVID-19 pandemic: a global survey.

COVID-19 has affected all aspects of human life so far. From the outset of the pandemic, preventing the spread of COVID-19 through the observance of health protocols, especially the use of sanitizers and disinfectants was given more attention. Despite the effectiveness of disinfection chemicals in controlling and preventing COVID-19, there are critical concerns about their adverse effects on human health.

Equilibrium Dynamics of a Biomolecular Complex Analyzed at Single-amino Acid Resolution by Cryo-electron Microscopy.

The biological function of macromolecular complexes depends not only on large-scale transitions between conformations, but also on small-scale conformational fluctuations at equilibrium. Information on the equilibrium dynamics of biomolecular complexes could, in principle, be obtained from local resolution (LR) data in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) maps. However, this possibility had not been validated by comparing, for a same biomolecular complex, LR data with quantitative information on equilibrium dynamics obtained by an established solution technique.

Metamorphism in TDP-43 prion-like domain determines chaperone recognition.

The RNA binding protein TDP-43 forms cytoplasmic inclusions via its C-terminal prion-like domain in several neurodegenerative diseases. Aberrant TDP-43 aggregation arises upon phase de-mixing and transitions from liquid to solid states, following still unknown structural conversions which are primed by oxidative stress and chaperone inhibition. Despite the well-established protective roles for molecular chaperones against protein aggregation pathologies, knowledge on the determinants of chaperone recognition in disease-related prions is scarce.

Molecular Determinants of Human Rhinovirus Infection, Assembly, and Conformational Stability at Capsid Protein Interfaces.

Human rhinovirus (HRV), one of the most frequent human pathogens, is the major causative agent of common colds. HRVs also cause or exacerbate severe respiratory diseases, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Despite the biomedical and socioeconomic importance of this virus, no anti-HRV vaccines or drugs are available yet.

Antiviral compounds modulate elasticity, strength and material fatigue of a virus capsid framework.

This study investigates whether the biochemical and antiviral effects of organic compounds that bind different sites in the mature human immunodeficiency virus capsid may be related to the modulation of different mechanical properties of the protein lattice from which the capsid is built. Mechanical force was used as a probe to quantify, in atomic force microscopy experiments at physiological pH and ionic strength, ligand-mediated changes in capsid lattice elasticity, breathing, strength against local dislocation by mechanical stress, and resistance to material fatigue. The results indicate that the effects of the tested compounds on assembly or biochemical stability can be linked, from a physics-based perspective, to their interference with the mechanical behavior of the viral capsid framework.

A Genetically Engineered, Chain Mail-Like Nanostructured Protein Material with Increased Fatigue Resistance and Enhanced Self-Healing.

Protein-based nanostructured materials are being developed for many biomedical and nanotechnological applications. Despite their many desirable features, protein materials are highly susceptible to disruption by mechanical stress and fatigue. This study is aimed to increase fatigue resistance and enhance self-healing of a natural protein-based supramolecular nanomaterial through permanent genetic modification.

Patterns of breast, prostate and cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Colombia: an administrative registry data analysis.

Background: Cancer is widely recognized as a global public health problem. Breast, prostate, and cervical cancer are among the most frequent types in developing countries. Assessing their incidence and mortality by regions and municipalities is important to guide evidence-based health policy.

Primary prophylaxis was associated with lower arthropathy in Colombian men with haemophilia B: A longitudinal analysis (2015-2019).

Introduction: The risk of chronic haemophilic arthropathy (CHA) is related to severity. Evidence suggests that primary prophylaxis (PPr) could reduce CHA incidence and its impact on quality of life.

Aim: To evaluate the association between PPr and CHA in Colombian males with haemophilia B (HB) during 2015 to 2019.

Visualization of Single Molecules Building a Viral Capsid Protein Lattice through Stochastic Pathways.

Direct visualization of pathways followed by single molecules while they spontaneously self-assemble into supramolecular biological machines may provide fundamental knowledge to guide molecular therapeutics and the bottom-up design of nanomaterials and nanodevices. Here, high-speed atomic force microscopy is used to visualize self-assembly of the bidimensional lattice of protein molecules that constitutes the framework of the mature human immunodeficiency virus capsid. By real-time imaging of the assembly reaction, individual transient intermediates and reaction pathways followed by single molecules could be revealed.

Resistant tuberculosis in children under 15 years of age, Colombia 2010-2015.

Introduction: Tuberculosis in children is a recent transmission reflection in the community. It is estimated that every year one million children get sick in the world because of this. In Colombia, 291 cases were notified in 2015.

Nanomechanics of tip-link cadherins.

Hearing and balance rely on the transduction of mechanical stimuli arising from sound waves or head movements into electrochemical signals. This archetypal mechanoelectrical transduction process occurs in the hair-cell stereocilia of the inner ear, which experience continuous oscillations driven by undulations in the endolymph in which they are immersed. The filamentous structures called tip links, formed by an intertwined thread composed of an heterotypic complex of cadherin 23 and protocadherin 15 ectodomain dimers, connect each stereocilium to the tip of the lower sterocilium, and must maintain their integrity against continuous stimulatory deflections.

Structural determinants of mechanical resistance against breakage of a virus-based protein nanoparticle at a resolution of single amino acids.

Virus particles and other protein-based supramolecular complexes have a vast nanotechnological potential. However, protein nanostructures are "soft" materials prone to disruption by force. Whereas some non-biological nanoparticles (NPs) may be stronger, for certain applications protein- and virus-based NPs have potential advantages related to their structure, self-assembly, production, engineering, and/or inbuilt functions.

Thermostability of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Capsid Is Modulated by Lethal and Viability-Restoring Compensatory Amino Acid Substitutions.

Infection by viruses depends on a balance between capsid stability and dynamics. This study investigated biologically and biotechnologically relevant aspects of the relationship in foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) between capsid structure and thermostability and between thermostability and infectivity. In the FMDV capsid, a substantial number of amino acid side chains at the interfaces between pentameric subunits are charged at neutral pH.

Mycobacterioses identified in the National Reference Laboratory of Colombia from 2012 to 2016.

Introduction: In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of mycobacterioses caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria, which are considered as emerging pathogens. Their presence depends on several factors such as the clinical history, the health status of the affected person, and the presence of these microorganisms in the water, the soil, and the animals, among others. Objective: To describe the mycobacteria and the etiological agent identified in isolates received at the Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia de Micobacterias of the Instituto Nacional de Salud between 2012 and 2016.

Mechanical stiffening of human rhinovirus by cavity-filling antiviral drugs.

Emerging studies at the nanoscale on the relationships between the structure, mechanical properties and infectivity of virus particles are revealing important physics-based foundations of virus biology that may have biomedical and nanotechnological applications. Human rhinovirus (HRV) is the major causative agent of common colds leading to important economic losses, and is also associated with more severe diseases. There is renewed interest in developing effective anti-HRV drugs, but none have been approved so far.

Corrigendum: Conformational rearrangements in the transmembrane domain of CNGA1 channels revealed by single-molecule force spectroscopy.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8093.

Structural basis for biologically relevant mechanical stiffening of a virus capsid by cavity-creating or spacefilling mutations.

Recent studies reveal that the mechanical properties of virus particles may have been shaped by evolution to facilitate virus survival. Manipulation of the mechanical behavior of virus capsids is leading to a better understanding of viral infection, and to the development of virus-based nanoparticles with improved mechanical properties for nanotechnological applications. In the minute virus of mice (MVM), deleterious mutations around capsid pores involved in infection-related translocation events invariably increased local mechanical stiffness and interfered with pore-associated dynamics.