The mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes in protein length are poorly understood. Protein domains are lost and gained between species and must have arisen first as within-species polymorphisms. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster population genomic data combined with between species divergence information to understand the evolutionary forces that generate and maintain polymorphisms causing changes in protein length in D. melanogaster. Specifically, we looked for protein length variations resulting from premature termination codons (PTCs) and stop codon losses (SCLs). We discovered that 438 genes contained polymorphisms resulting in truncation of the translated region (PTCs) and 119 genes contained polymorphisms predicted to lengthen the translated region (SCLs). Stop codon polymorphisms (SCPs) (especially PTCs) appear to be more deleterious than other polymorphisms, including protein amino acid changes. Genes harboring SCPs are in general less selectively constrained, more narrowly expressed, and enriched for dispensable biological functions. However, we also observed exceptional cases such as genes that have multiple independent SCPs, alleles that are shared between D. melanogaster and Drosophila simulans, and high-frequency alleles that cause extreme changes in gene length. SCPs likely have an important role in the evolution of these genes.
The enzyme N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) plays an important role in metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotics, including carcinogens and medications. We aimed to assess the contribution of the NAT2 polymorphism to susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the Polish population. The study involved 101 IBD patients and 100 healthy controls.
Low temperature is the main strategy to preserve fruit quality post-harvest, in the supply chain. Low temperatures reduce the respiration, ethylene emission, and enzymatic activities associated with senescence. Unfortunately, peaches are sensitive to low temperatures if exposed for long periods, resulting in physiological disorders that can compromise commercial quality.
Conventional two-dimensional (2D) cardiomyocyte differentiation protocols create cells with limited maturity, which impairs their predictive capacity and has driven interest in three-dimensional (3D) engineered cardiac tissue models of varying maturity and scalability. Cardiac spheroids are attractive high-throughput models that have demonstrated improved functional and transcriptional maturity over conventional 2D differentiations. However, these 3D models still tend to have limited contractile and electrical maturity compared to highly engineered cardiac tissues; hence, we incorporated a library of conductive polymer microfibers in cardiac spheroids to determine if fiber properties could accelerate maturation.
Non-invasive glucose monitoring is crucial for diabetes management. This study explores the use of photoacoustic (PA) signals based on optical rotation estimation at multiple depths for detection of glucose concentrations. Experiments were performed with glucose samples mixed in bovine serum albumin with different polarization incidences-vertical (V), 45° linear (P), and right circular (R) polarization.
Background: Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is uniquely positioned in the immune regulation of teleosts. Modifying the IL-10 pathway changes the teleost's disease susceptibility; however, there is no data on its post-transcriptional regulation. Trachinotus blochii is a high-value mariculture species.
