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Topic Review
O-Acetyl Sialylation
The recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the global health crisis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. No evidence is yet available for CoV infection into hosts upon zoonotic disease outbreak, although the CoV epidemy resembles influenza viruses, which use sialic acid (SA). Currently, information on SARS-CoV-2 and its receptors is limited. O-acetylated SAs interact with the lectin-like spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV-2 for the initial attachment of viruses to enter into the host cells. SARS-CoV-2 hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) acts as the classical glycan-binding lectin and receptor-degrading enzyme. Most β-CoVs recognize 9-O-acetyl-SAs but switched to recognizing the 4-O-acetyl-SA form during evolution of CoVs. Type I HE is specific for the 9-O-Ac-SAs and type II HE is specific for 4-O-Ac-SAs. The SA-binding shift proceeds through quasi-synchronous adaptations of the SA-recognition sites of the lectin and esterase domains. The molecular switching of HE acquisition of 4-O-acetyl binding from 9-O-acetyl SA binding is caused by protein–carbohydrate interaction (PCI) or lectin–carbohydrate interaction (LCI). The HE gene was transmitted to a β-CoV lineage A progenitor by horizontal gene transfer from a 9-O-Ac-SA–specific HEF, as in influenza virus C/D. HE acquisition, and expansion takes place by cross-species transmission over HE evolution. This reflects viral evolutionary adaptation to host SA-containing glycans. Therefore, CoV HE receptor switching precedes virus evolution driven by the SA-glycan diversity of the hosts. The PCI or LCI stereochemistry potentiates the SA–ligand switch by a simple conformational …
  • 1.2K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Transcription Factors
Transcription factors (TFs) are regulatory proteins that are responsible for the mechanistic control of gene transcription.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Jan 2021
Topic Review
LCA of Edible Flower Production
The globalization of the floricultural sector creates more competition, challenging the innovation and reorganization of some ornamental and horticultural nurseries, which started to look at flowers as food products. This research aims to quantify the environmental impact of the emerging productive process of edible flowers through the LCA – Life Cycle Analysis method, due to the higher awareness towards sustainability. Two model species and two types of final products were chosen, using a “cradle to gate” approach.
  • 1.2K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
cAMP-Response Element Modulator in Spermatogenesis and Male Fertility
Spermatogenesis is a very complex process with an intricate transcriptional regulation. The transition from the diploid to the haploid state requires the involvement of specialized genes in meiosis, among other specific functions for the formation of the spermatozoon. The transcription factor cAMP-response element modulator (CREM) is a key modulator that triggers the differentiation of the germ cell into the spermatozoon through the modification of gene expression. CREM has multiple repressor and activator isoforms whose expression is tissue-cell-type specific and tightly regulated by various factors at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional and post-translational level. The activator isoform CREMτ controls the expression of several relevant genes in post-meiotic stages of spermatogenesis. In addition, exposure to xenobiotics negatively affects CREMτ expression, which is linked to male infertility. On the other hand, antioxidants could have a positive effect on CREMτ expression and improve sperm parameters in idiopathically infertile men.
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Nov 2023
Topic Review
MIRRI-IT: Italian Culture Collections
Microorganisms represent most of the biodiversity of living organisms in every ecological habitat. They have profound effects on the functioning of any ecosystem and, therefore, on the health of our planet and of human beings. Moreover, microorganisms are the main protagonists in food, medical and biotech industries, and have several environmental applications.Accordingly, the characterization and preservation of microbial biodiversity are essential not only for the maintenance of natural ecosystems but also for research purposes and biotechnological exploitation. In this context, culture collections (CCs) and microbial biological resource centres (mBRCs) are crucial for the safeguarding and circulation of biological resources, as well as for the progress of life sciences.
  • 1.2K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Pomphorhynchus Laevis
Pomphorhynchus laevis is an endo-parasitic acanthocephalan worm, with a complex life cycle, that can modify the behaviour of its intermediate host, the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex. P. laevis does not contain a digestive tract and relies on the nutrients provided by its host species. In the fish host this can lead to the accumulation of lead in P. laevis by feeding on the bile of the host species.
  • 1.2K
  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Mammalian Aquaporins
Mammalian aquaporins (AQPs) are transmembrane channels expressed in a large variety of cells and tissues throughout the body. They are known as water channels, but they also facilitate the transport of small solutes, gasses, and monovalent cations. To date, 13 different AQPs, encoded by the genes AQP0–AQP12, have been identified in mammals, which regulate various important biological functions in kidney, brain, lung, digestive system, eye, and skin. Consequently, dysfunction of AQPs is involved in a wide variety of disorders. AQPs are also present in the heart, even with a specific distribution pattern in cardiomyocytes, but whether their presence is essential for proper (electro)physiological cardiac function has not intensively been studied. In a recent review published in Int. J. Mol. Sci. (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20082039), we summarizes recent findings and highlights the involvement of AQPs in normal and pathological cardiac function. We conclude that AQPs are at least implicated in proper cardiac water homeostasis and energy balance as well as heart failure and arsenic cardiotoxicity. However, our review also demonstrates that many effects of cardiac AQPs, especially on excitation-contraction coupling processes, are virtually unexplored.
  • 1.2K
  • 06 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Flavivirus Infection
The flaviviruses are important human pathogens, and a deeper understanding of the virus–host cell interaction is required to identify cellular targets that can be used as therapeutic candidates. Flaviviruses hijack several cellular functions, such as exosome-mediated cell communication during infection, which is modulated by the delivery of the exosomal cargo of pro- or antiviral molecules to the receiving host cells. Therefore, to study the role of exosomes during flavivirus infections is essential to identify molecular factors that may contribute to the development of new strategies to block viral infections. This review explores the implications of exosomes in flavivirus dissemination and transmission from the vector to human host cells, as well as their involvement in the host immune response. Although several studies have been performed to identify and characterize cellular and viral molecules released in exosomes, the role of these components in viral pathogenesis is unclear. Further studies will determine the balance between protective and harmful exosomes secreted by flavivirus infected cells, the characteristics and components that distinguish them both, and how they could be a factor that determines the infection outcome.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon) is the causative agent of Fusarium wilt disease of watermelon; it is the most serious soil-borne pathogen around the globe. 
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Cofilin and Actin Dynamics
Proteins of the actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin family are ubiquitous among eukaryotes and are essential regulators of actin dynamics and function. Mammalian neurons express cofilin-1 as the major isoform, but ADF and cofilin-2 are also expressed. All isoforms bind preferentially and cooperatively along ADP-subunits in F-actin, affecting the filament helical rotation, and when either alone or when enhanced by other proteins, promotes filament severing and subunit turnover.
  • 1.2K
  • 25 Oct 2021
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