Background: Sinorhizobium meliloti is noted for its exceptional capacity to produce unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). Earlier studies have indicated that S. meliloti primarily employs the FabA-FabB pathway for UFA synthesis, however, the mechanisms remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-related myocardial infarction (MI), especially the distal type associated with microvascular dysfunction, is not an uncommon complication of the procedure. Specific lesion features, the echo-attenuated plaques (EA) in particular, are well-established contributors to the pathogenesis of distal-type MI. These plaques are prone to disruption during PCI, leading to microvascular thrombosis and distal embolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF4'-Phosphopantetheinyl transferases (PPTases) play important roles in the posttranslational modifications of bacterial carrier proteins, which are involved in various metabolic pathways. Here, we found that and encoded a functional AcpS-type and Sfp-type PPTase, respectively, in GMI1000, and both are capable of modifying AcpP1, AcpP2, AcpP3, and AcpP5 proteins. is located on the megaplasmid, which does not affect strain growth and fatty acid synthesis but significantly contributes to the virulence of and preferentially participates in secondary metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
October 2024
Expanding the protein fold space beyond linear chains is of fundamental significance, yet remains largely unexplored. Herein, we report the creation of seven topological isoforms (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCognitive dysfunction stands as a prevalent and consequential non-motor manifestation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although dysfunction of the olfactory system has been recognized as an important predictor of cognitive decline, the exact mechanism by which aberrant olfactory circuits contribute to cognitive dysfunction in PD is unclear. Here, we provide the first evidence for abnormal functional connectivity across olfactory bulb (OB) and piriform cortex (PC) or entorhinal cortex (EC) by clinical fMRI, and dysfunction of neural coherence in the olfactory system in PD mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemical topology provides a unique dimension for making therapeutic protein bioconjugates with native structure and intact function, yet the effects of topology remain elusive. Herein, the design, synthesis, and characterization of therapeutic protein bioconjugates in three topologies (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf
July 2024
Background: Immune-inflammatory response is a key element in the occurrence and development of olfactory dysfunction (OD) in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). As one of the core factors in immune-inflammatory responses, interleukin (IL)-6 is closely related to the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. It may also play an important role in OD induced by diseases, such as Sjögren's syndrome and coronavirus disease 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA single-domain protein catenane refers to two mechanically interlocked polypeptide rings that fold synergistically into a compact and integrated structure, which is extremely rare in nature. Here, we report a single-domain protein catenane of dihydrofolate reductase (-DHFR). This design was achieved by rewiring the connectivity between secondary motifs to introduce artificial entanglement and synthesis was readily accomplished through a series of programmed and streamlined post-translational processing events in cells without any additional reactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutoantibodies (AAbs) in the blood of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients have been evaluated for tumor detection. However, it remains uncertain whether these AAbs are specific to tumor-associated antigens. In this study, we explored the IgG and IgM autoantibody repertoires in both the in situ tissue microenvironment and peripheral blood as potential tumor-specific biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
December 2023
A technique combining ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) and supercharging electrospray ionization (ESI) has been demonstrated to differentiate protein chemical topology effectively. Incorporating as many charges as possible into proteins via supercharging ESI allows the protein chains to be largely unfolded and stretched, revealing their hidden chemical topology. Different chemical topologies result in differing geometrical sizes of the unfolded proteins due to constraints in torsional rotations in cyclic domains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomolecular characterization is essential in fields such as drug discovery, glycomics, and cell biology. This feature article focuses on the experimental use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) as a powerful analytical technique to probe biological events ranging from biomacromolecular interactions and conformational changes of biomacromolecules to surface immobilization of biomacromolecules and cell morphological changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study explored the value of the detection of serum methylated septin 9 (mSEPT9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the auxiliary diagnosis, curative effect evaluation, and follow-up monitoring of colorectal cancer (CRC). The diagnosis and treatment data of 208 CRC patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University (China) were collected from March 2019 to December 2019, and these patients were followed up. The correlation between serum CEA, mSEPT9 levels, and tumor location and size were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccumulating evidences reveal that cellular cholesterol deficiency could trigger the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As a key regulator, 24-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR24) controls cellular cholesterol homeostasis, which was found to be downregulated in AD vulnerable regions and involved in AD-related pathological activities. However, DHCR24 as a potential therapeutic target for AD remains to be identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNatural proteins exhibit rich structural diversity based on the folds of an invariably linear chain. Macromolecular catenanes that cooperatively fold into a single domain do not belong to the current protein universe, and their design and synthesis open new territories in chemistry. Here, we report the design, synthesis, and properties of a single-domain green fluorescent protein catenane via rewiring the connectivity of GFP's secondary motifs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt remains challenging to understand the structural evolution of conjugated polymers from single chains to solvated aggregates and film microstructures, although it underpins the performance of optoelectrical devices fabricated via the mainstream solution processing method. With several ensemble visual measurements, here we unravel the morphological evolution process of a model system of isoindigo-based conjugated molecules, including the hidden molecular assembly pathways, the mesoscale network formation, and their unorthodox chain dependence. Short chains show rigid chain conformations forming discrete aggregates in solution, which further grow to form a highly ordered film that exhibits poor electrical performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis (AR)-related olfactory dysfunction (OD) remains unknown. Inhibiting microglial response in olfactory bulb (OB) can ameliorate AR-related OD, but no precise targets have been available. In this study, we established a mouse model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced AR and combined with the application of P2X7 receptor (P2X7R)-specific antagonists and cell culture in conditioned medium to investigate the role and mechanism of OB microglial P2X7R in AR-related OD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Foreign studies have reported that coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with high baseline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) may have a good prognosis, which is called the "cholesterol paradox". This study aimed to examine whether the "cholesterol paradox" also exists in the Chinese population.
Methods: A total of 2,056 patients who underwent the first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between 2014 and 2016 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study and classified into two groups based on baseline LDL-C = 2.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic upper airway immune-inflammation response mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) to allergens and can seriously affect the quality of life and work efficiency. Previous studies have shown that interleukin-1 (IL-1) acts as a key cytokine to participate in and promote the occurrence and development of allergic diseases. It has been proposed that IL-1 may be a potential biomarker of AR.
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