The way forward for the origin of life: prions and prion-like molecules first hypothesis by Jheeta, Sohan, Chatzitheodoridis, Elias, Devine, Kevin G., Block, Janice

“…This genetics-first hypothesis asserts that an “RNA-world era” came before protein-based chemical evolution and rests on a singular premise that molecules such as RNA, acetyl-CoA, and NAD are relics of a long line of chemical evolutionary processes preceding the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA). …”
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Structural impact of human and Escherichia coli biotin carboxyl carrier proteins on biotin attachment. by Healy, S, McDonald, M, Wu, X, Yue, W, Kochan, G, Oppermann, U, Gravel, R

“…In this study, we examined the cross-reactivity of biotin attachment between human and bacterial biotin ligases by comparing biotinylation of p-67 and BCCP87, the biotin-attachment domain fragments from human propionyl-CoA carboxylase and E. coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase, respectively. While BirA has similar biotinylation activity toward the two substrates, HCS has reduced activity toward bacterial BCCP87 relative to its native substrate, p-67. …”

High-dimensional assessment of B-cell responses to quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate and plain polysaccharide vaccine. by O'Connor, D, Clutterbuck, E, Thompson, A, Snape, M, Ramasamy, M, Kelly, D, Pollard, A

“…Notably, using an independent dataset, the expression of glucosamine (N-acetyl)-6-sulfatase was found to reproducibly correlate with the magnitude of immune response. …”

Early events in kidney donation: progression of endothelial activation, oxidative stress and tubular injury after brain death. by Morariu, A, Schuurs, T, Leuvenink, H, van Oeveren, W, Rakhorst, G, Ploeg, R

“…Urine heart-fatty-acid-binding-protein and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, used as new specific and sensitive markers of proximal and distal tubular damage, were found significantly increased after 0.5 h, with a maximum at 4 h. …”

Translational inhibition of cyclin B1 and appearance of cyclin D1 very early in the differentiation of mouse trophoblast giant cells. by Palazón, L, Davies, T, Gardner, R

“…The latter was ruled out by examining blastocysts which had been cultured in the presence of the proteasome inhibitor N-acetyl-leu-leu-norleucinal followed by immunostaining for cyclin B1. …”

Effect of stable glutamine compounds on porcine islet culture. by Brandhorst, H, Duan, Y, Iken, M, Bretzel, R, Brandhorst, D

“…METHODS: Pig islets were suspended in CMRL 1066 supplemented either with 2.5 mmol/L N-acetyl-L-alanyl-L-glutamine (NALG), a stable compound of L-glutamine, or with 2.5 or 5.0 mmol/L of free L-glutamine (L-Glu). …”

Identification of histone peptide binding specificity and small-molecule ligands for the TRIM33α and TRIM33β bromodomains by Sekirnik, AR, Reynolds, JK, See, L, Bluck, JP, Scorah, AR, Tallant, C, Lee, B, Leszczynska, KB, Grimley, RL, Storer, RI, Malattia, M, Crespillo, S, Caria, S, Duclos, S, Hammond, EM, Knapp, S, Morris, GM, Duarte, F, Biggin, PC, Conway, SJ

“…Four of the TRIM family proteins, TRIM24 (TIF1α), TRIM28 (TIF1β), TRIM33 (TIF1γ) and TRIM66, contain C-terminal plant homeodomain (PHD) and bromodomain (BRD) modules, which bind to methylated lysine (KMen) and acetylated lysine (KAc), respectively. Here we investigate the differences between the two isoforms of TRIM33, TRIM33α and TRIM33β, using structural and biophysical approaches. …”

The BET inhibitor JQ1 selectively impairs tumour response to hypoxia and downregulates CA9 and angiogenesis in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) by Harris, A, da Motta, L, Ledaki, I, Purshouse, K, Haider, S, De Bastiani, M, Babin, D, Morotti, M, Steers, G, Wigfield, S, Bridges, E, Knapp, S, Ebner, D, Klimt, F, McIntyre, A

“…BET proteins regulate transcription by selectively recognizing acetylated lysine residues on chromatin. BETi compete with this process leading to both downregulation and upregulation of gene expression. …”

Identification of Neisseria meningitidis nonlipopolysaccharide ligands for class A macrophage scavenger receptor by using a novel assay. by Peiser, L, Makepeace, K, Plüddemann, A, Savino, S, Wright, J, Pizza, M, Rappuoli, R, Moxon, E, Gordon, S

“…Furthermore, NMB1220 was endocytosed by SR-A on Mphi and prevented internalization of soluble acetylated low-density lipoprotein. Thus, we have identified novel, unmodified protein ligands for SR-A that are able to inhibit meningococcal interactions with macrophages in vitro.…”

Structural and mechanistic studies on carboxymethylproline synthase (CarB), a unique member of the crotonase superfamily catalyzing the first step in carbapenem biosynthesis. by Sleeman, M, Sorensen, J, Batchelar, E, McDonough, M, Schofield, C

“…We describe the crystal structure of CarB in the presence and absence of acetyl-CoA at 2.24 A and 3.15 A resolution, respectively. …”

O-GlcNAc transferase - an auxiliary factor or a full-blown oncogene? by Itkonen, HM, Loda, M, Mills, IG

“…The β-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) is a post-translational modification of serine and threonine residues catalyzed by the enzyme O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). …”

Transfection of thyroid autoantigens into EBV-transformed B cell lines. Recognition by Graves' disease thyroid T cells. by Mullins, R, Chernajovsky, Y, Dayan, C, Londei, M, Feldmann, M

“…Autologous EBV-transformed B cell lines (EBVL) from a patient with Graves' disease (GD) were transfected with the expression vector pREP4 encoding thyroid peroxidase (TPO), the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR), or chloramphenicol acetyl transferase. The relevant proteins were expressed. …”

Transfection efficiency and toxicity following delivery of naked plasmid DNA and cationic lipid-DNA complexes to ovine lung segments. by Emerson, M, Renwick, L, Tate, S, Rhind, S, Milne, E, Painter, H, Boyd, A, McLachlan, G, Griesenbach, U, Cheng, S, Gill, DR, Hyde, S, Baker, A, Alton, E, Porteous, D, Collie, D

“…We defined, using a novel large animal model system, the acute pathologic response to localized pulmonary administration of either naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) or cationic lipid-pDNA complexes (pDNA:GL67) and related such responses to concomitant indicators of transfection efficiency, namely levels of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) protein and mRNA in specific lung tissue compartments. …”

MEF2 transcription factors are key regulators of sprouting angiogenesis by Sacilotto, N, Chouliaras, K, Nikitenko, L, Lu, Y, Fritzsche, M, Wallace, M, Nornes, S, Garcia-Moreno, F, Payne, S, Bridges, E, Liu, K, Biggs, D, Ratnayaka, I, Herbert, S, Molnar, Z, Harris, A, Davies, B, Bond, G, Bou-Gharios, G, de Val, S

“…MEF2-target gene activation is directly linked to VEGFA-induced release of repressive histone deacetylases and concurrent recruitment of the histone acetyl-transferase EP300 to MEF2-target gene regulatory elements, thus establishing MEF2 factors as the transcriptional effectors of VEGFA signaling during angiogenesis.…”

Identification of a lipopolysaccharide alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase from Haemophilus influenzae. by Hood, D, Cox, A, Gilbert, M, Makepeace, K, Walsh, S, Deadman, M, Cody, A, Martin, A, Månsson, M, Schweda, E, Brisson, JR, Richards, J, Moxon, E, Wakarchuk, W

“…Extracts of H. influenzae, as well as recombinant Escherichia coli strains producing Lic3A, demonstrate sialyltransferase activity in assays using synthetic fluorescent acceptors with a terminal galactosyl, lactosyl or N-acetyl-lactosaminyl moiety. In the RM118 strain of H. influenzae, Lic3A activity is modulated by the action of another phase-variable glycosyltransferase, LgtC, which competes for the same lactosyl acceptor moiety. …”

Chromatin profiling across the human tumour necrosis factor gene locus reveals a complex, cell type-specific landscape with novel regulatory elements. by Taylor, J, Wicks, K, Vandiedonck, C, Knight, J

“…For Jurkat T cells, we define histone modifications across the locus. Peaks of acetylated histone H3 and H4, together with tri-methyl K4 of histone H3, correspond to hypersensitive sites, notably in exon 4 of LTB. …”

Identification and characterization of murine SCARA5, a novel class A scavenger receptor that is expressed by populations of epithelial cells. by Jiang, Y, Oliver, P, Davies, K, Platt, N

“…Unlike other class A scavenger receptors, the receptor was unable to endocytose acetylated or oxidized low density lipoprotein. Quantitative RT-PCR and in situ hybridization demonstrate SCARA5 has a tissue and cellular distribution unique among class A scavenger receptors. …”

Metabolic profiling of MRI-measured liver fat in the UK Biobank by Gnatiuc Friedrichs, L, Trichia, E, Aguilar-Ramirez, D, Preiss, D

“…<p><strong>Results</strong></p> After accounting for confounders, multiple metabolites were associated positively with liver fat (p < 0.0001 for 152 traits), particularly extremely large and very large lipoprotein particle concentrations, very low-density lipoprotein triglycerides, small high-density lipoprotein particles, glycoprotein acetyls, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids, and amino acids. …”

Brain glutamate in anorexia nervosa: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy case control study at 7 Tesla by Godlewska, B, Pike, A, Sharpley, A, Ayton, A, Park, R, Cowen, P, Emir, U

“…</p> <p>Results: We found that participants with AN had significantly lower concentrations of glutamate in all three voxels (mean reduction 8%, p= 0.002) but glutamine levels were not altered. Concentrations of N-Acetyl-Aspartate, creatine, GABA and glutathione were also unchanged. …”

The guanine-nucleotide exchange factor Vav is a crucial regulator of B cell receptor activation and B cell responses to nonrepetitive antigens. by Bachmann, M, Nitschke, L, Krawczyk, C, Tedford, K, Ohashi, P, Fischer, K, Penninger, J

“…However, vav-/- mice failed to mount immune responses to the nonrepetitive, T cell-dependent hapten Ag (4-hydroxy-5-iodo-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NIP)-OVA. These results provide the first genetic evidence on the role of the guanine exchange factor Vav in immune responses to viral infections and antigenic challenge in vivo, and suggest that Vav adjusts the threshold for Ag receptor-mediated B cell activation depending on the nature of the Ag.…”