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Clostridium difficile toxins TcdA and TcdB enhance pathogenesis by inducing vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) production and promoting colonic vascular permeability.
Comparison of Ustilago maydis and Sporisorium reilianum, two smut fungi that parasitize maize, reveals that their Tin2 effectors target different protein kinase paralogues and activity of an ancestral allele indicates Tin2 neofunctionalization in U. maydis.
Metagenomes from hydraulically fractured wells over time identified viral operational taxonomic units predicted to actively infect dominant bacteria, and in vitro experiments show that viral lysis of these hosts can release metabolites important for fermentation.
It is now clear that key autophagy proteins possess alternative functions, distinct from their conventional roles in autophagy. Adding to this emerging field, a new study shows how ATG16L1 acts to promote plasma membrane repair following damage by pore-forming bacteria.
Academic titles are often used without much thought; however, a recent discussion on social media has highlighted how the use of a title can have important implications for individuals, in particular women, and how they can be perceived as elitist by the general public.
Bacteria employ a specialized weapon known as the type VI secretion system to defend themselves from competing organisms. A new study reveals the molecular architecture of the type VI secretion system and highlights conserved mechanistic similarities with contractile phage tails.
Gut microbiota are known to produce an intermediate metabolite in the production of trimethylamine N-oxide that promotes atherosclerosis. Now, another metabolite produced by the same bacteria has been identified that prevents atherosclerosis. The basis for these opposing microbial effects are dictated by diet.
Primate immunodeficiency virus accessory proteins Vpx/Vpr associate with and induce proteasomal degradation of the HUSH complex, thereby counteracting HUSH-mediated epigenetic transcriptional repression of proviral and cellular genes. These findings open new therapeutic avenues against HIV.
Autophagy-related proteins ATG16L1, ATG5 and ATG12 are required for plasma membrane repair and help to restrict Listeria monocytogenes toxin-mediated cell-to-cell spread.
The manipulation of expression of PfAP2-G, the master regulator of gametocytogenesis in malaria parasites, reveals that in addition to the canonical next cycle conversion route, sexual conversion can occur without additional replication (that is, within the same cycle).
A combination of genome sequencing of environmental archaeal isolates and experimental mating between Haloferax volcanii and Haloferax mediterranei shows that inter-species mating can induce the acquisition of CRISPR spacers, which modulate speciation.
Many enterovirus genomes harbour an upstream ORF (uORF) that is subject to strong purifying selection and encodes a protein (UP) that associates with membranes and facilitates virus release. UP-knockout echoviruses are attenuated at late stages of infection in human intestinal organoids.
The discovery of an alternative squalene epoxidase (AltSQE) belonging to the fatty acid hydroxylase superfamily in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and other eukaryotic lineages solves the mystery of the existence of a steroid biosynthesis pathway in eukaryotes that lack the canonical flavoprotein SQE.
The interferon-inducible short isoform of human nuclear receptor coactivator 7 (NCOA7) inhibits influenza virus entry into the cytoplasm by interacting with and stimulating the activity of the vacuolar H+-ATPase, which leads to inhibition of viral and endosomal membrane fusion.
Development of a structure-based method to predict potential ARDs present in human metagenomes indicates that resistance genes are rarely transferred within the human gut, and that individuals can be clustered into resistotypes.
Structural and functional characterization of H7-reactive monoclonal neutralizing antibodies from donors naturally infected with H7N9 influenza virus reveals overlapping epitopes around the receptor binding site of haemagglutinin and antigenic change in virus lineages isolated in 2013/14 versus 2016/17, indicating a need to update H7N9 vaccines.
Neutralizing murine monoclonal antibodies against the Eeastern equine encephalitis virus target the E2 glycoprotein, block infection at a post-attachment stage by inhibiting viral membrane fusion and protect mice from lethal challenge.
The synthesis of NPY and its receptor Y1R increases in lung phagocytes during severe influenza virus infection, leading to the induction of SOCS3 and impaired antiviral response and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
Phospholipase Ds (PLDs) transform phosphatidylcholine to choline, which can then be converted to disease-associated trimethylamine. Here, PLDs are identified in gut bacteria that support growth of other bacteria and are potential therapeutic targets.