Biological macromolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids, play a crucial role in biochemical and molecular processes. Thus, the study of the structure-function relationship of biomolecules in presence of ligands is an important aspect of structural biology. The current communication describes the chemico-biological interaction between benzene metabolite para-benzoquinone (BQ) with B-form of nucleic acids (B-DNA) and human serum albumin (HSA). The binding ability of HSA towards bromocresol green (BCG) was significantly suppressed when exposed to increasing concentrations of BQ in the presence of various physiological buffers. Further, the native fluorescence of HSA was drastically reduced and the secondary structures of HSA were significantly compromised with increasing concentrations of BQ. In vitro and in silico studies also revealed that BQ binds to domains I and II of HSA and thus altering the conformation of HSA which may potentially affect plasma osmotic pressure, as well as the binding and transport of numerous endogenous and exogenous molecules. Similarly, BQ interacts directly to the GC region of B-DNA particularly in the minor groove which was also assessed by computational docking studies. Isothermal titration calorimetry data suggest higher binding affinity of BQ towards DNA than HSA. Various spectroscopic observations also suggest that BQ binds to DNA preferably in the minor grooves. Thus, the results revealed that BQ may play a key role in inducing mutagenicity, either by formation of adducts on GC regions or by accelerating oxidative damage to biomacromolecules through chemico-biological interactions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbi.2022.110281 | DOI Listing |
Nucleic Acids Res
December 2024
Binzhou People's Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University/College of Medical Information and Artificial Intelligence, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250117, China.
Recent studies have confirmed that certain circRNAs encode proteins that are integral to various biological functions. In this study, we present CICADA, an algorithm specifically designed to assess the protein-coding potential and coding products of circRNAs at high throughput, which enables the identification of previously unknown circRNA-encoded proteins. By harnessing the potential of this algorithm, we identified a variety of functional, protein-coding circRNAs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and established circRNA translation profiles for diverse types of cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
December 2024
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704 Poznan, Poland.
Although glycosidic bonds in purines typically involve the N9 position, the chemical synthesis of adenosine produces N7-ribofuranosyladenine (7A) as a kinetically favorable ribosylation product. Similarly, in the synthesis of LNA-adenosine (AL), a minor product, N7-LNA-adenosine (7AL), is observed. While extensive research has focused on investigating the properties of N9-regioisomers of adenosine, 7A has been largely overlooked and considered as a side-product.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
December 2024
Junior Research Group RNA Biology of Fungal Infections, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology-Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI), Beutenbergstraße 11A, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Increasing antifungal drug resistance is a major concern associated with human fungal pathogens like Aspergillus fumigatus. Genetic mutation and epimutation mechanisms clearly drive resistance, yet the epitranscriptome remains relatively untested. Here, deletion of the A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Med
December 2024
Department of Hematology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Background: An effective urine-based method for the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM) has not yet been developed. Urine cell-free DNA (cfDNA) carrying cancer-specific genetic and epigenetic aberrations may enable a noninvasive "liquid biopsy" for diagnosis and monitoring of cancer.
Methods: We first identified MM-specific hydroxymethylcytosine signatures by comparing 64 MM patients, 23 amyloidosis (AM) patients and 59 healthy cohort.
Ann Med
December 2025
Department of Breast Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital and Cancer Institute (Provincial Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention & Intervention, National Ministry of Education), Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Background: Quaking (QKI) is a member of the signal transduction and activators of RNA (STAR) family, performing a crucial multifunctional regulatory role in alternative splicing, mRNA precursor processing, mRNA transport and localization, mRNA stabilization, and translation during tumour progression. Abnormal QKI expression or fusion mutations lead to aberrant RNA and protein expression, thereby promoting tumour progression. However, in many types of tumour, QKI played a role as tumour suppressor, the regulatory role of QKI in tumour progression remains ambiguous.
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