Distribution and molecular evolution of the anti-CRISPR family AcrIF7.

Anti-clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) are proteins capable of blocking CRISPR-Cas systems and typically their genes are located on mobile genetic elements. Since their discovery, numerous anti-CRISPR families have been identified. However, little is known about the distribution and sequence diversity of members within a family, nor how these traits influence the anti-CRISPR's function and evolution.

A cis-regulatory sequence of the selector gene vestigial drives the evolution of wing scaling in Drosophila species.

Scaling between specific organs and overall body size has long fascinated biologists, being a primary mechanism by which organ shapes evolve. Yet, the genetic mechanisms that underlie the evolution of scaling relationships remain elusive. Here, we compared wing and fore tibia lengths (the latter as a proxy of body size) in Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans, Drosophila ananassae and Drosophila virilis, and show that the first three of these species have roughly a similar wing-to-tibia scaling behavior.

Erratum to: Aqueous extracts from larval and pupal stages inhibit early hepatocarcinogenesis in vivo.

Following an Assessment by the Autonomous University of Hidalgo State and the National Institute of Genomic Medicine, this erratum corrects the authorship of this article by adding Dulce María MORENO-GARCÍA as the first author.

Structural and immunological basis of cross-reactivity between dengue and Zika infections: Implications in serosurveillance in endemic regions.

Dengue and Zika are arthropod-borne viral diseases present in more than 100 countries around the world. In the past decade, Zika emerged causing widespread outbreaks in new regions, where dengue has been endemic-epidemic for a long period. The wide and extensive dissemination of the mosquito vectors, , and , favor the co-existence of both infections in the same regions.

A Novel Chitosan/Nano-Hydroxyapatite Composite for the Adsorptive Removal of Cd(II) from Aqueous Solution.

A novel polymer bio-composite based on nano-hydroxyapatite (n-Hap) and chitosan (CS) (CS/n-Hap) was synthesized to effectively address toxic cadmium ions removal from water. The composition and structure of CS/n-Hap bio-composite were analyzed through different characterization techniques. XRD patterns affirmed that the crystalline structure of n-Hap remained unaltered during CS/n-Hap synthesis, while FT-IR spectrum sustained all the characteristic peaks of both CS and n-Hap, affirming the successful synthesis of CS/n-Hap.

Therapeutic Effects of WT1 Silencing via Respiratory Administration of Neutral DOPC Liposomal-siRNA in a Lung Metastasis Melanoma Murine Model.

The lungs represent a frequent target for metastatic melanoma as they offer a high-oxygen environment for tumor development. The overexpression of the WT1 protein has been associated with the occurrence of melanoma. In this study, we evaluated the effects of silencing the WT1 protein by siRNA in both in vitro in the B16F10 melanoma cell line and in vivo in a murine model of lung metastatic melanoma.

Role of Protein Kinase A Activation in the Immune System with an Emphasis on Lipopolysaccharide-Responsive and Beige-like Anchor Protein in B Cells.

Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) is a ubiquitous enzymatic complex that is involved in a broad spectrum of intracellular receptor signaling. The activity of PKA depends on A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) that attach to PKAs close to their substrates to control signaling. Although the relevance of PKA-AKAP signaling in the immune system is evident in T cells, its relevance in B and other immune cells remains relatively unclear.

CRISPRa-mediated transcriptional activation of the SlPR-1 gene in edited tomato plants.

With the continuous deterioration of arable land due to an ever-growing population, improvement of crops and crop protection have a fundamental role in maintaining and increasing crop productivity. Alternatives to the use of pesticides encompass the use of biological control agents, generation of new resistant crop cultivars, the application of plant activator agrochemicals to enhance plant defenses, and the use of gene editing techniques, like the CRISPR-Cas system. Here, we test the hypothesis that epigenome editing, via CRISPR activation (CRISPRa), activate tomato plant defense genes to confer resistance against pathogen attack.

Towards Decoding Hepatotoxicity of Approved Drugs through Navigation of Multiverse and Consensus Chemical Spaces.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the principal reason for failure in developing drug candidates. It is the most common reason to withdraw from the market after a drug has been approved for clinical use. In this context, data from animal models, liver function tests, and chemical properties could complement each other to understand DILI events better and prevent them.

Polymeric Encapsulate of Mycelium Resistant to Dehydration with Air Flow at Room Temperature.

Encapsulation is one of the technologies applied for the formulation of biological control agents. The function of the encapsulating matrix is to protect the biological material from environmental factors, while dehydration allows for its viability to be prolonged. An advantage of dehydrated encapsulation formulations is that they can be stored for long periods.

Gelatin-Coated Magnetic Nanowires for High-Sensitivity Optical Labels.

The encapsulation of magnetic nickel nanowires (NiNWs) with gelatin is proposed as an alternative for optical label detection. Magnetic nanowires can be detected at very low concentrations using light-scattering methods. This detection capacity could be helpful in applications such as transducers for molecular and biomolecular sensors; however, potential applications require the attachment of specific binding molecules to the nanowire structure.

Role of the Ca2+ channel α2δ-1 auxiliary subunit in proliferation and migration of human glioblastoma cells.

The overexpression of α2δ-1 is related to the development and degree of malignancy of diverse types of cancer. This protein is an auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated Ca2+ (CaV) channels, whose expression favors the trafficking of the main pore-forming subunit of the channel complex (α1) to the plasma membrane, thereby generating an increase in Ca2+ entry. Interestingly, TLR-4, a protein belonging to the family of toll-like receptors that participate in the inflammatory response and the transcription factor Sp1, have been linked to the progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Coupling cell proliferation rates to the duration of recruitment controls final size of the wing.

Organ growth driven by cell proliferation is an exponential process. As a result, even small variations in proliferation rates, when integrated over a relatively long developmental time, will lead to large differences in size. How organs robustly control their final size despite perturbations in cell proliferation rates throughout development is a long-standing question in biology.

Chemoinformatics and artificial intelligence colloquium: progress and challenges in developing bioactive compounds.

We report the main conclusions of the first Chemoinformatics and Artificial Intelligence Colloquium, Mexico City, June 15-17, 2022. Fifteen lectures were presented during a virtual public event with speakers from industry, academia, and non-for-profit organizations. Twelve hundred and ninety students and academics from more than 60 countries.

Candida albicans the main opportunistic pathogenic fungus in humans.

Candida albicans is a commensal of the mammalian microbiome and the primary pathogenic fungus of humans. It becomes a severe health problem in immunocompromised patients and can cause a wide variety of mucosal and systemic infections. The interaction between C.

The ubiquitin E3 ligase Parkin regulates neuronal Ca1.3 channel functional expression.

Neuronal L-type Ca channels of the Ca1.3 subclass are transmembrane protein complexes that contribute to the pacemaker activity in the adult substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons. The altered function of these channels may play a role in the development and progress of neurodegenerative mechanisms implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Amyloid β, Lipid Metabolism, Basal Cholinergic System, and Therapeutics in Alzheimer's Disease.

The presence of insoluble aggregates of amyloid β (Aβ) in the form of neuritic plaques (NPs) is one of the main features that define Alzheimer's disease. Studies have suggested that the accumulation of these peptides in the brain significantly contributes to extensive neuronal loss. Furthermore, the content and distribution of cholesterol in the membrane have been shown to have an important effect on the production and subsequent accumulation of Aβ peptides in the plasma membrane, contributing to dysfunction and neuronal death.

Basics on network theory to analyze biological systems: a hands-on outlook.

Biological processes result from interactions among molecules and cell-to-cell communications. In the last 50 years, network theory has empowered advances in understanding molecular networks' structure and dynamics that regulate biological systems. Adopting a network data analysis point of view at more laboratories might enrich their research capacity to generate forward working hypotheses.

Deep learning applied to analyze patterns from evaporated droplets of Viscum album extracts.

This paper introduces a deep learning based methodology for analyzing the self-assembled, fractal-like structures formed in evaporated droplets. To this end, an extensive image database of such structures of the plant extract Viscum album Quercus [Formula: see text] was used, prepared by three different mixing procedures (turbulent, laminar, and diffusion based). The proposed pattern analysis approach is based on two stages: (1) automatic selection of patches that exhibit rich texture along the database; and (2) clustering of patches in accordance with prevalent texture by means of a Dense Convolutional Neural Network.

Recombinant Attenuated as a Delivery System of Heterologous Molecules in Cancer Therapy.

Over a century ago, bacterial extracts were found to be useful in cancer therapy, but this treatment modality was obviated for decades. Currently, in spite of the development and advances in chemotherapies and radiotherapy, failure of these conventional treatments still represents a major issue in the complete eradication of tumor cells and has led to renewed approaches with bacteria-based tumor therapy as an alternative treatment. In this context, live-attenuated bacteria, particularly , have demonstrated tumor selectivity, intrinsic oncolytic activity, and the ability to induce innate or specific antitumor immune responses.

Expression and Functional Analyses of the Gene Family in Arabidopsis.

The WIP family of transcription factors comprises the A1d subgroup of C2H2 zinc finger proteins. This family has six members in and most of the known functions have been described by analyzing single knockout mutants. However, it has been shown that and its closest paralogs and have a redundant and essential function in root meristems.

Generative models based on eigendecomposition for dense ray tracing.

In this work, we present an algorithm capable of emulating ray trajectories that obey the least action principle. The method is based on spectral decomposition of geometric shapes taken from a set of raypaths. As the proposed work relies on shape analysis, it is agnostic on the underlying physics of raypath generation.

Chemical Multiverse: An Expanded View of Chemical Space.

Technological advances and practical applications of the chemical space concept in drug discovery, natural product research, and other research areas have attracted the scientific community's attention. The large- and ultra-large chemical spaces are associated with the significant increase in the number of compounds that can potentially be made and exist and the increasing number of experimental and calculated descriptors, that are emerging that encode the molecular structure and/or property aspects of the molecules. Due to the importance and continued evolution of compound libraries, herein, we discuss definitions proposed in the literature for chemical space and emphasize the convenience, discussed in the literature to use complementary descriptors to obtain a comprehensive view of the chemical space of compound data sets.