Impact of a training program on hospital pharmacists' patient-centered communication attitudes and behaviors.

Background: Effective communication that integrates the value of patient-centered care is important in healthcare encounters. Communication skills training (CST) has been indicated as effective in improving patient-centered communication behaviors. However, there is a paucity of studies on the impact of CST among Malaysian hospital pharmacists.

ATG4B and pS383/392-ATG4B serve as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets of colorectal cancer.

Background: Autophagy related protease 4B (ATG4B) is a protease required for autophagy processing, which is strongly implicated in cancer progression.  Phosphorylation of ATG4B is crucial for activation of its protease activity.  However, little is known about the relationship of ATG4B and its phosphorylated form at Ser 383 and 392 sites (pS383/392-ATG4B), with clinical outcomes, particularly in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Helical structure motifs made searchable for functional peptide design.

The systematic design of functional peptides has technological and therapeutic applications. However, there is a need for pattern-based search engines that help locate desired functional motifs in primary sequences regardless of their evolutionary conservation. Existing databases such as The Protein Secondary Structure database (PSS) no longer serves the community, while the Dictionary of Protein Secondary Structure (DSSP) annotates the secondary structures when tertiary structures of proteins are provided.

Through the magnifying glass: Exploring aggregations of COVID-19 datasets by county, state, and taxonomies of U.S. regions.

In this preliminary study, we investigate the case of COVID-19 United States confirmed cases datasets, and perform experiments with aggregations of data by county, state, and different taxonomies for U.S. regions.

The ligand-mediated affinity of brain-type fatty acid-binding protein for membranes determines the directionality of lipophilic cargo transport.

The intracellular transport of lipophilic cargoes is a highly dynamic process. In eukaryotic cells, the uptake and release of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) are executed by fatty-acid binding proteins. However, how these carriers control the directionality of cargo trafficking remains unclear.

A clamp-like orientation of basic residues set in a parallelogram is essential for heparin binding.

While the majority of studies have focused on the biological roles of heparin-binding proteins, relatively little is known about their key residues and structural elements responsible for heparin interaction. In this study, we employed the IgG-binding domain B1 of Streptococcal protein G as a miniature scaffold to investigate how certain positively charged residues within the β-sheet conformation become favorable for heparin binding. By performing a series of arginine substitution mutations followed by gain-of-heparin-binding analysis, we deduced that a clamp-like orientation with discontinuous basic residues separated by ~ 5 Å with ~ 100° interior angle is advantageous for high heparin affinity.

Enhancement of irradiation effects on cancer cells by cross-linked dextran-coated iron oxide (CLIO) nanoparticles.

We investigated iron oxide nanoparticles with two different surface modifications, dextran coating and cross-linked dextran coating, showing that their different internalization affects their capability to enhance radiation damage to cancer cells. The internalization was monitored with an ultrahigh resolution transmission x-ray microscope (TXM), indicating that the differences in the particle surface charge play an essential role and dominate the particle-cell interaction. We found that dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles cannot be internalized by HeLa and EMT-6 cells without being functionalized with amino groups (the cross-linked dextran coating) that modify the surface potential from -18 mV to 13.

Modulation of phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and adhesion of neutrophils by areca nut extracts.

Background: A higher prevalence of periodontal diseases among areca chewers than non-areca chewers has been demonstrated. Neutrophils, representing the first line of the host defense mechanism against microbial infection, play important roles in maintaining periodontal health. This study determined the possible effects of areca nut on phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and adhesion of human neutrophils.

Inhibitory effects of areca nut extracts on phagocytosis of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans ATCC 33384 by neutrophils.

Background: Areca quid chewers have a higher prevalence of periodontal disease than non-chewers. Little is known about the influence of areca quid on the immune system. This study was to determine the possible effects of the areca nut on phagocytic activity of human neutrophils.

Requirements for the upregulation of interleukin-6 by herpes simplex virus-infected gingival fibroblasts.

Interleukin (IL)-6 is an important proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokine expressed by various cells. This study examined the production of IL-6 by human gingival keratinocytes and gingival fibroblasts following herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. Virus-cell interactions responsible for IL-6 induction by HSV-1 were determined.

Direct binding of herpes simplex virus type 1 virions to complement C3.

Glycoprotein C (gC) of type 1 herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) binds the human complement C3 as purified proteins, or when expressed on the surface of infected cells. However, it is not clear whether the purified HSV virion binds directly to C3. In this study, direct binding of purified virions, HSV-1(KOS) or HSV-1(hrR3), to C3-coated plate was demonstrated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).