Characterization of the host specificity of the SH3 cell wall binding domain of the staphylococcal phage 88 endolysin.

Bacteriophages produce endolysins at the end of the lytic cycle, which are crucial for lysing the host cells and releasing virion progeny. This lytic feature allows endolysins to act as effective antimicrobial alternatives when applied exogenously. Staphylococcal endolysins typically possess a modular structure with one or two enzymatically active N-terminal domains (EADs) and a C-terminal cell wall binding domain (CBD).

sp. nov., isolated from the faecal sample of a zoo animal, .

Strain NoAH (=KACC 23135=JCM 35999), a novel Gram-negative, motile bacterium with a rod-shaped morphology, was isolated from the zoo animal faecal samples, specifically the long-tailed goral species . The novel bacterial strain grew optimally in a nutrient broth medium under the following conditions: 1-2% (w/v) NaCl, pH 7-8 and 30 °C. The strain NoAH exhibited high tolerance to NaCl, with the ability to tolerate up to 7% (w/v) NaCl.

Long-Term Outcome of Chronic Hepatitis B-Histological Score and Viral Genotype Are Important Predictors of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Current guidelines to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are based on risk assessments that include age, sex, and virological and biochemical parameters. The study aim was to investigate the impact of predictive markers on long-term outcomes. The clinical outcomes of 100 patients with chronic hepatitis B were investigated 30 years after a baseline assessment that included liver biopsy.

International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the taxonomy of : minutes of the closed meeting, Zoom meeting, 24 September 2024.

Subcommittee on the taxonomy of : minutes of the closed meeting, Zoom meeting, 24 September 2024.

Urban, formerly incarcerated, black, heterosexual men with substance use disorders: eligible for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) but unaware of their vulnerability to HIV acquisition.

Research on incarcerated men indicates low PrEP access even though HIV disproportionately affects them. Intersecting attributes - urban, incarcerated, Black, heterosexual men with substance use diagnoses (SUDs) - improves the odds of HIV transmission/acquisition. It is crucial to determine, among "key populations," who might be eligible to take PrEP.

Multi-diagnostic chest-worn patch to detect obstructive sleep apnea and cardiac arrhythmias.

Study Objectives: Evaluate the performance of the SANSA device to simultaneously assess obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiac arrhythmias.

Methods: Participants suspected or known to have OSA underwent polysomnography (PSG) while wearing SANSA. SANSA's algorithm was trained using 86 records and tested on 67 to evaluate training bias.

Budget impact analyses of hemoglobin A1c and lipid panel point-of-care testing with Afinion™ 2 in Canada and Italy.

Screening and monitoring of diabetes or dyslipidemia frequently involves a multi-step process requiring patients to obtain test requisitions from their primary care physician (PCP), followed by a laboratory visit and re-consultation. Point-of-care testing (POCT) for hemoglobin A (HbA) and lipid panel can streamline the patient care pathway. This study assessed the budget impact of introducing Afinion™ 2 POCT (Abbott Rapid Diagnostics) from the Canadian and Italian societal perspectives.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated smooth muscle tumor with multiple lesions in a patient with AIDS.

Epstein-Barr virus-associated smooth muscle tumors (EBV-SMTs) represent a rare category of soft tissue tumors that are predominantly seen in individuals with compromised immune systems. Pathologically, EBV-SMT has malignant potential because of its unpredictable nature. These tumors can manifest at various anatomical sites or even multiple lesions in different locations.

Tetraspanins 10 and 15 support Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replication in astrocytoma cells.

Tetraspanins (Tspans) are transmembrane proteins that coordinate life cycle steps of viruses from distinct families. Here, we identify the human Tspan10 and Tspan15, both members of the TspanC8 subfamily, as replication factors for alphavirus Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) in astrocytoma cells. Pharmacological inhibition and siRNA-mediated silencing of TspanC8 interactor a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) reduced VEEV infection.

Performance of Optic Disc Optical Coherence Tomography Normative Database in a Large, Diverse, Real-World Cohort.

Precis: Current optical coherence tomography normative sample data may not represent diverse human optic nerve anatomy to accurately classify all individuals with true glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To compare optic nerve head (ONH) measurements between published values from an optical coherence tomography (OCT) normative database and a more diverse cohort of healthy individuals.

Patients And Methods: ONH parameters from healthy participants of the Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and Eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program and the Topcon Maestro-1 normative cohort were compared.

Passing the Torch: The Mediating Role of Internalization in the Intergenerational Continuity of Catholic Religious Value Transmission in American Parents.

Despite extensive research on the intergenerational transmission of values, the continuity of parenting practices and underlying cognitive processes of transmission have received relatively little attention. We explored the mediating role of introjected and identified internalization on the intergenerational continuity of four parenting practices related to religion (assurance, disapproval/punishment, social involvement, and encouraged skepticism). We focused on Catholicism as an important test case based on its distinctive components amongst other Christian denominations.

With a little help from my friends: importance of protist-protist interactions in structuring marine protistan communities in the San Pedro Channel.

Unlabelled: Marine protists form complex communities that are shaped by environmental and biological ecosystem properties, as well as ecological interactions between organisms. While all of these factors play a role in shaping protistan communities, the specific ways in which these properties and interactions influence protistan communities remain poorly understood. Fourteen years and 9 months of eukaryotic amplicon (18S-V4 rRNA gene) data collected monthly at the San Pedro Ocean Time-series (SPOT) station were used to evaluate the impacts that environmental and biological factors, and protist-protist interactions had on protistan community composition.

Two new enzymes that liberate undecaprenyl-phosphate to replenish the carrier lipid pool during envelope stress.

The 55-carbon isoprenoid, undecaprenyl-phosphate (UndP), is a universal carrier lipid that ferries most glycans and glycopolymers across the cytoplasmic membrane in bacteria. In addition to peptidoglycan precursors, UndP transports O-antigen, capsule, wall teichoic acids, and sugar modifications. How this shared but limited lipid is distributed among competing pathways is just beginning to be elucidated.

Evidence that staphylococcal superantigens promote within-patient bacterial persistence following post-operative surgical site infection.

is a predominant cause of post-operative surgical site infections and persistent bacteremia. Here, we describe a patient who experienced three episodes of infection over a period of 4 months following a total knee arthroplasty. The initial bloodstream isolate (SAB-0429) was a clonal complex 5 (CC5) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA), whereas two subsequent isolates (SAB-0485 and SAB-0495) were CC5 isolates but methicillin-sensitive .

Human-derived microRNA 21 regulates indole and L-tryptophan biosynthesis transcripts in the gut commensal .

Unlabelled: In the gut, microRNAs (miRNAs) produced by intestinal epithelial cells are secreted into the lumen and can shape the composition and function of the gut microbiome. Crosstalk between gut microbes and the host plays a key role in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel diseases, yet little is known about how the miRNA-gut microbiome axis contributes to the pathogenesis of these conditions. Here, we investigate the ability of miR-21, a miRNA that we found decreased in fecal samples from IBS patients, to associate with and regulate gut microbiome function.

Structural analysis of extracellular ATP-independent chaperones of streptococcal species and protein substrate interactions.

Unlabelled: During infection, bacterial pathogens rely on secreted virulence factors to manipulate the host cell. However, in gram-positive bacteria, the molecular mechanisms underlying the folding and activity of these virulence factors after membrane translocation are not clear. Here, we solved the protein structures of two secreted parvulin and two secreted cyclophilin-like peptidyl-prolyl isomerase (PPIase) ATP-independent chaperones found in gram-positive streptococcal species.

Multi-omics analysis reveals distinct gene regulatory mechanisms between primary and organoid-derived human hepatocytes.

Hepatic organoid cultures are a powerful model to study liver development and diseases in vitro. However, hepatocyte-like cells differentiated from these organoids remain immature compared to primary human hepatocytes (PHHs), which are the benchmark in the field. Here, we applied integrative single-cell transcriptome and chromatin accessibility analysis to reveal gene regulatory mechanisms underlying these differences.

Proinflammatory synergy between protease and superantigen streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins.

Streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins (Spe proteins) secreted by (group A , GAS) are responsible for scarlet fever and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Most Spes are superantigens that cause excessive inflammation by activating large numbers of T cells. However, Streptococcal pyogenic exotoxin B (SpeB) is an exception, which is pro-inflammatory through its protease activity.

Two NADPH-dependent 2-ketogluconate reductases involved in 2-ketogluconate assimilation in sp. strain CHM43.

Unlabelled: Incomplete oxidation of glucose by sp. strain CHM43 produces gluconic acid and then 2- or 5-ketogluconic acid. Although 2-keto-D-gluconate (2KG) is a valuable compound, it is sometimes consumed by itself via an unknown metabolic pathway.

Spermidine enhances the heat tolerance of by promoting mitochondrial respiration driven by fatty acid β-oxidation.

Unlabelled: High temperature is an unavoidable environmental stress that generally exerts detrimental effects on organisms and has widespread effects on metabolism. Spermidine is an important member of the polyamines family and is involved in a range of abiotic stress responses in plants. Mitochondria play an essential role in cellular homeostasis and are key components of the stress response.

Carbapenem-resistant uses mucus metabolism to facilitate gastrointestinal colonization.

The emergence and global spread of carbapenem-resistant complex species present a pressing public health challenge. Carbapenem-resistant spp. cause a wide variety of infections, including septic shock fatalities in newborns and immunocompromised adults.

Cells that survive acute SARS-CoV-2 infection contribute to inflammation and lung regeneration in mice.

Unlabelled: Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 involves several organs, but its basis remains poorly understood. Some infected cells in mice survive the acute infection and persist for extended periods in the respiratory tract but not in other tissues. Here, we describe two experimental models of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection to assess the effect of viral virulence on previously infected cells.

Characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing from recreational water in Athens, GA, using an undergraduate laboratory module.

We present a laboratory module that uses isolation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from locally collected stream water samples to introduce undergraduate students to basic microbiological culture-based and molecular techniques. This module also educates them on the global public health threat of antibiotic-resistant organisms. Through eight laboratory sessions, students are involved in quality testing of water sources from their neighborhoods, followed by isolation of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing .

VopX, a novel T3SS effector, modulates host actin dynamics.

Unlabelled: Pathogenic strains cause cholera using different mechanisms. O1 and O139 serogroup strains use the toxin-co-regulated pilus (TCP) and cholera toxin (CT) for intestinal colonization and to promote secretory diarrhea, while non-O1/non-O139 serogroup strains are typically non-toxigenic and use alternate virulence factors to cause a clinically similar disease. An O39 serogroup, TCP/CT-negative strain, named AM-19226, uses a type III secretion system (T3SS) to translocate more than 10 effector proteins into the host cell cytosol.

Pathogen genomic surveillance and the AI revolution.

The unprecedented sequencing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for genomic surveillance to become a powerful tool for monitoring the evolution of circulating viruses. Herein, we discuss how a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence approach called protein language models (pLMs) can be used for effectively analyzing pathogen genomic data. We highlight examples of pLMs applied to predicting viral properties and evolution and lay out a framework for integrating pLMs into genomic surveillance pipelines.