Characterization of a novel natural tetracenomycin reveals crucial role of 4-hydroxy group in ribosome binding.

The aromatic polyketides tetracenomycins were recently found to be potent inhibitors of protein synthesis. Their binding site is located in a unique locus within the tunnel of the large ribosomal subunit. Here we report the isolation and structure elucidation of a novel natural tetracenomycin congener - O-Me-tetracenomycin C (O-Me-TcmC).

Structure-Uptake Relationship Studies of Oxazolidinones in Gram-Negative ESKAPE Pathogens.

The clinical success of linezolid for treating Gram-positive infections paired with the high conservation of bacterial ribosomes predicts that if oxazolidinones were engineered to accumulate in Gram-negative bacteria, then this pharmacological class would find broad utility in eradicating infections. Here, we report an investigative study of a strategically designed library of oxazolidinones to determine the effects of molecular structure on accumulation and biological activity. , , and strains with varying degrees of compromise (in efflux and outer membrane) were used to identify motifs that hinder permeation across the outer membrane and/or enhance efflux susceptibility broadly and specifically between species.

Valorization of agro-industrial wastes into polyhydroxyalkanoates-rich single-cell proteins to enable a circular waste-to-feed economy.

Recovering and converting carbon and nutrients from waste streams into healthy single-cell proteins (SCPs) can be an effective strategy to address costly waste management and support the increasing animal feed demand for the global food supply. Recently, SCPs rich in polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) have been identified as an effective biocontrol healthy feed to replace conventional antibiotics-supplemented aquaculture feed. PHB, an intercellular polymer of short-chain-length (SCL) hydroxy-fatty acids, is a common type of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) that can be microbially produced from various organics, including agro-industrial wastes.

Estimation of fine particulate matter in an arid area from visibility based on machine learning.

Background: The absence of air pollution monitoring networks makes it difficult to assess historical fine particulate matter (PM) exposures for countries in the areas, such as Kuwait, which are severe impacted by desert dust and anthropogenic pollution.

Objective: We constructed an ensemble machine learning model to predict daily PM concentrations for regions lack of PM observations.

Methods: The model was constructed based on daily PM, visibility, and other meteorological data collected at two sites in Kuwait.

Computational Evaluation of Potential Molecular Catalysts for Nitrous Oxide Decomposition.

Nitrous oxide (NO) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with limited use as a mild anesthetic and underdeveloped reactivity. Nitrous oxide splitting (decomposition) is critical to its mitigation as a GHG. Although heterogeneous catalysts for NO decomposition have been developed, highly efficient, long-lived solid catalysts are still needed, and the details of the catalytic pathways are not well understood.

Brain-wide mapping of c-Fos expression with fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography in a chronic sleep deprivation mouse model.

Chronic sleep deprivation (SD) is a common problem for humans and can lead to many deleterious effects, including depression, anxiety, stroke, permanent cognitive deficits, stress, and other physiological diseases. It is vital to acquire information about the relevant neural activities at the whole-brain level to systematically explore the mechanisms of brain dysfunction related to SD. Expression of the immediate-early gene (IEG) in the mouse brain has been widely used as a functional marker of brain activity in the field of neuroscience.

Camel milk microbiota: A culture-independent assessment.

Camel milk is renowned for its nutritional value and its therapeutic properties. It is considered a promising alternative to bovine milk due to its higher nutritional benefits, hypoallergenic characteristics and greater digestibility in the human gastrointestinal system. This study reports camel milk's bacterial and fungal microbiota, and the effect of geographical location and season on its bacterial community.

Imidazole Derivative As a Novel Translation Inhibitor.

Searching for novel compounds with antibiotic activity and understanding their mechanism of action is extremely important. The ribosome is one of the main targets for antibiotics in bacterial cells. Even if the molecule does not suit the clinical application for whatever reasons, an investigation of its mechanism of action can deepen our understanding of the ribosome function.

Effect of high pressure processing on structural and functional properties of canned aquafaba.

Aquafaba is chickpea cooking water. It has great functional properties since it consists of starch and protein. High pressure processing (HPP) is proven to modify the functionality of starch by keeping its integrity.

Identification of metabolic correlates of mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and machine learning.

Objective: To investigate metabolic changes of mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI) using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (H-MRSI).

Methods: Sixteen healthy controls (HC), 26 cognitively normal Parkinson's disease (PD-CN) patients, and 34 PD-MCI patients were scanned in this prospective study. Neuropsychological tests were performed, and three-dimensional H-MRSI was obtained at 3 T.

Dataset of 16S rRNA and alkB genes in hydrocarbon polluted soils of Kuwait as revealed by Pyrosequencing.

The data in this article was generated by high throughput sequencing of moderately hydrocarbon polluted sites (S1 and S2) and a heavily polluted site (S3) in Kuwait. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extracted from each site was subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification employing conserved primers of 16S rRNA and alkB genes. Unique Molecular Identifiers (MID) tags were added to individual samples prior to pooling and sequencing on a Roche GS FLX platform using Pyrosequencing Titanium Chemistry.

Molecular Details of DNA Integration by CRISPR-Associated Proteins During Adaptation in Bacteria and Archaea.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins constitute an adaptive immune system in bacteria and archaea, where immunological memory is retained in the CRISPR locus as short pieces of the intruding nucleic acid, termed spacers. The adaptation to new infections occurs through the integration of a new spacer into the CRISPR array. For immune protection, spacers are transcribed into CRISPR RNAs (crRNA) that are used to guide the effector nuclease of the system in sequence-dependent target cleavage.

Major Molecular Factors Related to Pathogenicity.

Leishmaniasis is a major health problem with 600k - 1M new cases worldwide and 1 billion at risk. It involves a wide range of clinical forms ranging from self-healing cutaneous lesions to systemic diseases that are fatal if not treated, depending on the species of sp. are digenetic parasites that have two different morphological stages.

Effects From Dietary Addition of sp., sp., or sp. Powder on Immune Status in Broiler Chickens.

Algae are innovative and significant nutrient sources with various health benefits when used as additives in animal feed. The study aims to examine the effect of different inclusions of three algae species, sp., sp.

CT-based radiomics nomogram may predict local recurrence-free survival in esophageal cancer patients receiving definitive chemoradiation or radiotherapy: A multicenter study.

Background And Purpose: To establish and validate a contrast-enhanced computed tomography-based hybrid radiomics nomogram for prediction of local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) patients receiving definitive (chemo)radiotherapy in a multicenter setting.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 302 ESCC patients from Xijing Hospital receiving definitive (chemo)radiotherapy, which were randomly assigned to the training (n = 201) and internal validation sets (n = 101). And 74 and 21 ESCC patients from the other two centers were used as the external validation set (n = 95).

Operon Protects Strain from Colicin E3 Toxin.

In the bid to survive and thrive in an environmental setting, bacterial species constantly interact and compete for resources and space in the microbial ecosystem. Thus, they have adapted to use various antibiotics and toxins to fight their rivals. Simultaneously, they have evolved an ability to withstand weapons that are directed against them.

Thermal, structural, antimicrobial, and physicochemical characterisation of thyme essential oil encapsulated in β- and γ-cyclodextrin.

The present work aimed to encapsulate the thyme essential oil (TEO) in β-cyclodextrin (BCD) and γ-cyclodextrin (GCD) complexes in two selected cyclodextrin (CD) to TEO ratios (85/15 and 80/20 w/w) and compare the physicochemical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of the encapsulated powders. The inclusion complexes between CD and TEO were prepared by blending aqueous CD and TEO in ethanol followed by freeze-drying. The powder properties were assessed by measuring particle size and microstructure using SEM, FTIR, and XRD.

Tolypocladamides A-G: Cytotoxic Peptaibols from .

Seven new peptaibols named tolypocladamides A-G have been isolated from an extract of the fungus , which inhibits the interaction between Raf and oncogenic Ras in a cell-based high-throughput screening assay. Each peptaibol contains 11 amino acid residues, an octanoyl or decanoyl fatty acid chain at the N-terminus, and a leucinol moiety at the C-terminus. The peptaibol sequences were elucidated on the basis of 2D NMR and mass spectral fragmentation analyses.

Universal Flu mRNA Vaccine: Promises, Prospects, and Problems.

The seasonal flu vaccine is, essentially, the only known way to prevent influenza epidemics. However, this approach has limited efficacy due to the high diversity of influenza viruses. Several techniques could potentially overcome this obstacle.

Exploring the Diversity and Antibacterial Potentiality of Cultivable Actinobacteria from the Soil of the Saxaul Forest in Southern Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Saxaul () is the most widespread plant community in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, which plays important roles in wind control, sand fixation and water conservation. Investigations of soil-derived actinobacteria inhabiting in the saxaul forest in Gobi Desert in Mongolia have been scarce. In this study, biodiversity of culturable actinobacteria isolated from soil of the saxaul forest in Southern Gobi Aimak (Southern Gobi Province) of Mongolia was characterized and their potential to produce compounds with antibacterial activities was assessed.

Air Pollution and Respiratory Hospital Admissions in Kuwait: The Epidemiological Applicability of Predicted PM in Arid Regions.

Dust is a major component of fine particulate matter (PM) in arid regions; therefore, concentrations of this pollutant in countries such as Kuwait exceed air quality standards. There is limited understanding on the impact and burden of high PM concentrations on morbidity in these countries. In this study, we explore the association of PM and the risk of respiratory hospital admissions in Kuwait.

Modulating the Growth, Antioxidant Activity, and Immunoexpression of Proinflammatory Cytokines and Apoptotic Proteins in Broiler Chickens by Adding Dietary Phycocyanin.

This study investigated the dietary effect of phycocyanin (SPC) on growth performance (body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR)) at starter, grower, and finisher stages, intestinal histomorphology, serum biochemical parameters, inflammatory and antioxidant indices, and proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α and caspase-3) immune expression in broiler chickens. In total, 250 one-day-old chicks (Ross 308 broiler) were randomly allotted to five experimental groups (5 replicates/group, 10 chicks/replicate) and fed basal diets supplemented with five levels of SPC (0, 0.25, 0.

Dynamic hydrographic and water-quality variations in the northwestern Arabian Gulf, a sinking zone of reverse estuarine circulation.

Continuous measurements of hydrographic, hydrodynamic, and water quality showed marked diurnal, tidal, and seasonal variabilities in Kuwait Bay, a stressed coastal system in the northwestern Arabian/Persian Gulf. Advection of water masses and seasonality in vertical mixing regulated the Bay's hydrographic and water quality properties. Intensive stratification in summer had substantial implications on the Bay environment.

Dietary Supplementation of Fructooligosaccharides Enhanced Antioxidant Activity and Cellular Immune Response in Broiler Chickens.

This study investigated the impact of various concentrations of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) prebiotic on the production performance, antioxidant status, and immune response of broiler chicken. The FOS was used at 0, 0.3, 0.