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Biomolecules, Volume 9, Issue 4

2019 April - 43 articles

Cover Story: Genome integrity is essential for proper development and viability. dUTPase (the protein product of the dut gene) plays a key role in preserving DNA by removing dUTP from the cellular pool and contributes to dTTP de novo biosynthesis (by producing the dUMP substrate for thymidylate synthase (TS)). CRISPR/Cas9 transgenic mouse studies provided major insights into the physiological role of dUTPase in mammalian embryonic development. Biallelic dUTPase knock-out (dut -/-) embryos were still viable at the blastocyst stage but died shortly after implantation. Wild type and heterozygote animals showed the same healthy phenotype. Results suggest that zygotic dUTPase may be dispensable for pre-implantation embryonic stages but the lack of the enzyme lethally perturbs later embryonic development. View this paper.
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Articles (43)

  • Article
  • Open Access
34 Citations
5,062 Views
13 Pages

Mechanism of Cell Wall Polysaccharides Modification in Harvested ‘Shatangju’ Mandarin (Citrus reticulate Blanco) Fruit Caused by Penicillium italicum

  • Taotao Li,
  • Dingding Shi,
  • Qixian Wu,
  • Chunxiao Yin,
  • Fengjun Li,
  • Youxia Shan,
  • Xuewu Duan and
  • Yueming Jiang

24 April 2019

Modification of cell wall polysaccharide in the plant plays an important role in response to fungi infection. However, the mechanism of fungi infection on cell wall modification need further clarification. In this study, the effects of Penicillium it...

  • Review
  • Open Access
15 Citations
5,969 Views
17 Pages

23 April 2019

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is involved in a myriad of cellular signalling pathways that regulate cell growth, metabolism, proliferation and survival. As a result, alterations in the PI3K pathway are frequently associated with hu...

  • Article
  • Open Access
36 Citations
5,715 Views
20 Pages

Curcuma raktakanda Induces Apoptosis and Suppresses Migration in Cancer Cells: Role of Reactive Oxygen Species

  • Shruti Mishra,
  • Sumit Singh Verma,
  • Vipin Rai,
  • Nikee Awasthee,
  • Jayadev S. Arya,
  • Kaustabh K. Maiti and
  • Subash C. Gupta

23 April 2019

Although over 100 species of Curcuma are reported, only Curcuma longa is extensively studied. Curcuma raktakanda, a poorly studied species, is most commonly distributed in the Kerala state of India. For the first time, we examined the efficacy of dif...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
4,564 Views
11 Pages

Association between Interleukin 35 Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Chinese Han Population

  • Shi-Yang Guan,
  • Li-Na Liu,
  • Yan-Mei Mao,
  • Chan-Na Zhao,
  • Qian Wu,
  • Yi-Lin Dan,
  • Napoleon Bellua Sam and
  • Hai-Feng Pan

22 April 2019

Interleukin-35 (IL-35) exerts crucial roles in the pathogenesis and development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in this study we aim to explore the associations between IL-35 gene polymorphisms and the susceptibility, clinical features and pla...

  • Article
  • Open Access
34 Citations
4,879 Views
15 Pages

19 April 2019

To uncover the transcriptomic mechanism of lignin accumulation caused by boron deficiency (BD), Nanlin895 (Populus × euramericana “Nanlin895”) was subjected to control (CK, 0.25 mg·L−1) and BD (0 mg·L−1) tr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
5,517 Views
18 Pages

Targeted Delivery of Nanoparticulate Cytochrome C into Glioma Cells Through the Proton-Coupled Folate Transporter

  • Yuriy V. Kucheryavykh,
  • Josue Davila,
  • Jescelica Ortiz-Rivera,
  • Mikhael Inyushin,
  • Luis Almodovar,
  • Miguel Mayol,
  • Moraima Morales-Cruz,
  • Alejandra Cruz-Montañez,
  • Vanessa Barcelo-Bovea and
  • Lilia Y. Kucheryavykh
  • + 1 author

18 April 2019

In this study, we identified the proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT) as a route for targeted delivery of drugs to some gliomas. Using the techniques of confocal imaging, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and...

  • Article
  • Open Access
34 Citations
4,765 Views
15 Pages

In Vitro Anticancer Properties of Copper Metallodendrimers

  • Marcin Hołota,
  • Jakub Magiera,
  • Sylwia Michlewska,
  • Małgorzata Kubczak,
  • Natalia Sanz del Olmo,
  • Sandra García-Gallego,
  • Paula Ortega,
  • Francisco Javier de la Mata,
  • Maksim Ionov and
  • Maria Bryszewska

18 April 2019

Newly synthesized carbosilane copper dendrimers (CCD) with chloride and nitrate surface groups seem to be good candidates to be used as gene and drug carriers in anti-cancer therapy, due to their properties such as size and surface charge. Copper att...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,666 Views
12 Pages

Regulation of the Expression of DAPK1 by SUMO Pathway

  • Qingshui Wang,
  • Xiuli Zhang,
  • Ling Chen,
  • Shuyun Weng,
  • Yun Xia,
  • Yan Ye,
  • Ke Li,
  • Ziqiang Liao,
  • Pengchen Chen and
  • Yao Lin
  • + 4 authors

17 April 2019

Death Associated Protein Kinase 1 (DAPK1) is an important signaling kinase mediating the biological effect of multiple natural biomolecules such as IFN-γ, TNF-α, curcumin, etc. DAPK1 is degraded through both ubiquitin-proteasomal and lysosomal degrad...

  • Article
  • Open Access
27 Citations
7,251 Views
14 Pages

Membrane Localization of HspA1A, a Stress Inducible 70-kDa Heat-Shock Protein, Depends on Its Interaction with Intracellular Phosphatidylserine

  • Andrei D. Bilog,
  • Larissa Smulders,
  • Ryan Oliverio,
  • Cedra Labanieh,
  • Julianne Zapanta,
  • Robert V. Stahelin and
  • Nikolas Nikolaidis

17 April 2019

HspA1A is a cytosolic molecular chaperone essential for cellular homeostasis. HspA1A also localizes at the plasma membrane (PM) of tumor and stressed cells. However, it is currently unknown how this cytosolic protein translocates to the PM. Taking in...

  • Review
  • Open Access
46 Citations
7,598 Views
28 Pages

Intracellular Peptides in Cell Biology and Pharmacology

  • Christiane B. de Araujo,
  • Andrea S. Heimann,
  • Ricardo A. Remer,
  • Lilian C. Russo,
  • Alison Colquhoun,
  • Fábio L. Forti and
  • Emer S. Ferro

16 April 2019

Intracellular peptides are produced by proteasomes following degradation of nuclear, cytosolic, and mitochondrial proteins, and can be further processed by additional peptidases generating a larger pool of peptides within cells. Thousands of intracel...

  • Communication
  • Open Access
15 Citations
7,304 Views
22 Pages

Mining for Oxysterols in Cyp7b1−/− Mouse Brain and Plasma: Relevance to Spastic Paraplegia Type 5

  • Anna Meljon,
  • Peter J. Crick,
  • Eylan Yutuc,
  • Joyce L. Yau,
  • Jonathan R. Seckl,
  • Spyridon Theofilopoulos,
  • Ernest Arenas,
  • Yuqin Wang and
  • William J. Griffiths

13 April 2019

Deficiency in cytochrome P450 (CYP) 7B1, also known as oxysterol 7α-hydroxylase, in humans leads to hereditary spastic paraplegia type 5 (SPG5) and in some cases in infants to liver disease. SPG5 is medically characterized by loss of motor neur...

  • Article
  • Open Access
68 Citations
11,029 Views
19 Pages

12 April 2019

Silencing of tumor-suppressor genes (TSGs) by DNA promoter hypermethylation is an early event in carcinogenesis; hence, TSGs may serve as early tumor biomarkers. We determined the promoter methylation levels of p16INK4a, RASSF1A, TIMP3, and PCQAP/MED...

  • Review
  • Open Access
58 Citations
9,434 Views
22 Pages

11 April 2019

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) are abundant in the human genome and have recently emerged as major therapeutic targets for various diseases. Unlike traditional proteins that adopt a definitive structure, IDPs in free solution are disordered...

  • Editorial
  • Open Access
62 Citations
5,947 Views
6 Pages

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins in Chronic Diseases

  • Prakash Kulkarni and
  • Vladimir N. Uversky

11 April 2019

It is now increasingly evident that a large fraction of the human proteome comprises proteins that, under physiological conditions, lack fixed, ordered 3D structures as a whole or have segments that are not likely to form a defined 3D structure [...]

  • Review
  • Open Access
22 Citations
5,513 Views
14 Pages

10 April 2019

Kinases and transcriptional regulators are fundamental components of cell signaling that are expressed on many types of immune cells which are involved in secretion of cytokines, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Both play important...

  • Review
  • Open Access
26 Citations
10,395 Views
48 Pages

Receptor Ligands as Helping Hands to L-DOPA in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

  • Fabio Del Bello,
  • Mario Giannella,
  • Gianfabio Giorgioni,
  • Alessandro Piergentili and
  • Wilma Quaglia

Levodopa (LD) is the most effective drug in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, although it represents the “gold standard” of PD therapy, LD can cause side effects, including gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms as well as tra...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,199 Views
11 Pages

Impact of DARC rs12075 Variants on Liver Fibrosis Progression in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Retrospective Study

  • María Ángeles Jiménez-Sousa,
  • Ana Zaida Gómez-Moreno,
  • Daniel Pineda-Tenor,
  • Juan José Sánchez-Ruano,
  • Tomas Artaza-Varasa,
  • María Martin-Vicente,
  • Amanda Fernández-Rodríguez,
  • Isidoro Martínez and
  • Salvador Resino

The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) rs12075 polymorphism regulates leukocyte trafficking and proinflammatory chemokine homeostasis. Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-mediated liver fibrosis is associated with an uncontrolled inflammatory response....

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
4,370 Views
15 Pages

Host-Microbiome Synergistic Control on Sphingolipid Metabolism by Mechanotransduction in Model Arthritis

  • Xiaoyuan Zhou,
  • Valentina Devescovi,
  • Yuanhua Liu,
  • Jennifer E. Dent and
  • Christine Nardini

Chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorders are systemic diseases with increasing incidence and still lack a cure. More recently, attention has been placed in understanding gastrointestinal (GI) dysbiosis and, although important progress has been made...

  • Review
  • Open Access
281 Citations
20,521 Views
28 Pages

Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction as a Model to Investigate Fibrosis-Attenuating Treatments

  • Elena Martínez-Klimova,
  • Omar Emiliano Aparicio-Trejo,
  • Edilia Tapia and
  • José Pedraza-Chaverri

Renal fibrosis is the common pathway for most forms of progressive renal disease. The Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction (UUO) model is used to cause renal fibrosis, where the primary feature of UUO is tubular injury as a result of obstructed urine flow...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
5,937 Views
12 Pages

DNA replication in plastids and mitochondria is generally regulated by nucleus-encoded proteins. In plants and red algae, a nucleus-encoded enzyme called POP (plant and protist organellar DNA polymerase) is involved in DNA replication in both organel...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
5,602 Views
13 Pages

Many marine species inhabiting icy seawater produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs) to prevent their body fluids from freezing. The sculpin species of the superfamily Cottoidea are widely found from the Arctic to southern hemisphere, some of which are kno...

  • Review
  • Open Access
108 Citations
12,873 Views
19 Pages

Essential Oils and Isolated Terpenes in Nanosystems Designed for Topical Administration: A Review

  • Sheila P. de Matos,
  • Helder F. Teixeira,
  • Ádley A. N. de Lima,
  • Valdir F. Veiga-Junior and
  • Letícia S. Koester

Essential oils are natural products with a complex composition. Terpenes are the most common class of chemical compounds present in essential oils. Terpenes and the essential oils containing them are widely used and investigated by their pharmacologi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
48 Citations
7,674 Views
13 Pages

Anji white tea (Camellia sinensis) is a traditional Chinese tea beverage, which is classified as green tea and contains an abundant amount of flavonoids. In this study, the preventive effect of Anji white tea flavonoids (AJWTFs) on ethanol/hydrochlor...

  • Article
  • Open Access
64 Citations
6,663 Views
16 Pages

LcNAC13 Physically Interacts with LcR1MYB1 to Coregulate Anthocyanin Biosynthesis-Related Genes during Litchi Fruit Ripening

  • Guoxiang Jiang,
  • Zhiwei Li,
  • Yunbo Song,
  • Hong Zhu,
  • Sen Lin,
  • Riming Huang,
  • Yueming Jiang and
  • Xuewu Duan

Anthocyanin accumulation is crucial for the development of quality for most fruit. The mechanism underlying the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis by transcription factors in litchi fruit remains largely unknown. In this study, we isolated one NA...

  • Article
  • Open Access
22 Citations
6,309 Views
14 Pages

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Knock-Out of dUTPase in Mice Leads to Early Embryonic Lethality

  • Hajnalka Laura Pálinkás,
  • Gergely Attila Rácz,
  • Zoltán Gál,
  • Orsolya Ivett Hoffmann,
  • Gergely Tihanyi,
  • Gergely Róna,
  • Elen Gócza,
  • László Hiripi and
  • Beáta G. Vértessy

Sanitization of nucleotide pools is essential for genome maintenance. Deoxyuridine 5′-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) is a key enzyme in this pathway since it catalyzes the cleavage of 2′-deoxyuridine 5′-triphosphate (dUT...

  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
5,162 Views
20 Pages

Mutagenesis of DsbAss is Crucial for the Signal Recognition Particle Mechanism in Escherichia coli: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

  • Faiza Gul Durrani,
  • Roquyya Gul,
  • Muhammad Usman Mirza,
  • Naheed Nazly Kaderbhai,
  • Matheus Froeyen and
  • Mahjabeen Saleem

The disulfide bond signal sequence (DsbAss) protein is characterized as an important virulence factor in gram-negative bacteria. This study aimed to analyze the “alanine” alteration in the hydrophobic (H) region of DsbAss and to understan...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,013 Views
17 Pages

Evidence of Destabilization of the Human Thymidylate Synthase (hTS) Dimeric Structure Induced by the Interface Mutation Q62R

  • Cecilia Pozzi,
  • Ludovica Lopresti,
  • Matteo Santucci,
  • Maria Paola Costi and
  • Stefano Mangani

In human cells, thymidylate synthase (TS) provides the only source of 2′-deoxythymidyne-5′-monophosphate (dTMP), which is required for DNA biosynthesis. Because of its pivotal role, human TS (hTS) represents a validated target for antican...

  • Review
  • Open Access
63 Citations
7,855 Views
15 Pages

Although inhibition of the androgen–androgen receptor (AR) axis effectively represses the growth of prostate cancer, most of all cases eventually become castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPCs). Enhancement of the expression of AR and its...

  • Review
  • Open Access
11 Citations
9,130 Views
10 Pages

Helical Twist and Rotational Forces in the Mitotic Spindle

  • Iva M. Tolić,
  • Maja Novak and
  • Nenad Pavin

The mitotic spindle segregates chromosomes into two daughter cells during cell division. This process relies on the precise regulation of forces acting on chromosomes as the cell progresses through mitosis. The forces in the spindle are difficult to...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
4,850 Views
17 Pages

Study on Differential Protein Expression in Natural Selenium-Enriched and Non-Selenium-Enriched Rice Based on iTRAQ Quantitative Proteomics

  • Rui Zeng,
  • Muhammad Umer Farooq,
  • Li Wang,
  • Yang Su,
  • Tengda Zheng,
  • Xiaoying Ye,
  • Xiaomei Jia and
  • Jianqing Zhu

30 March 2019

This work was designated to scrutinize the protein differential expression in natural selenium-enriched and non-selenium-enriched rice using the Isobaric-tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) proteomics approach. The extracted protein...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
4,563 Views
17 Pages

Cytosporone B as a Biological Preservative: Purification, Fungicidal Activity and Mechanism of Action against Geotrichum citri-aurantii

  • Chunxiao Yin,
  • Hongxin Liu,
  • Yang Shan,
  • Vijai Kumar Gupta,
  • Yueming Jiang,
  • Weimin Zhang,
  • Haibo Tan and
  • Liang Gong

29 March 2019

To prevent citrus decay caused by Geotrichum citri-aurantii, 12 natural products were isolated from two endophytic fungi, in which cytosporone B was shown to have excellent bioactivity for control of G. citri-aurantii with median effect concentration...

  • Article
  • Open Access
24 Citations
4,775 Views
18 Pages

Greensporone A, a Fungal Secondary Metabolite Suppressed Constitutively Activated AKT via ROS Generation and Induced Apoptosis in Leukemic Cell Lines

  • Kirti S. Prabhu,
  • Kodappully S. Siveen,
  • Shilpa Kuttikrishnan,
  • Anh Jochebeth,
  • Tayyiba A. Ali,
  • Noor R. Elareer,
  • Ahmad Iskandarani,
  • Abdul Quaiyoom Khan,
  • Maysaloun Merhi and
  • Shahab Uddin
  • + 5 authors

29 March 2019

Greensporone A is a fungal secondary metabolite that has exhibited potential in vitro for anti-proliferative activity in vitro. We studied the anticancer activity of greensporone A in a panel of leukemic cell lines. Greensporone A-mediated inhibition...

  • Article
  • Open Access
38 Citations
5,796 Views
18 Pages

Antioxidant, Anti-Lung Cancer, and Anti-Bacterial Activities of Toxicodendron vernicifluum

  • Kandasamy Saravanakumar,
  • Ramachandran Chelliah,
  • Xiaowen Hu,
  • Deog-Hwan Oh,
  • Kandasamy Kathiresan and
  • Myeong-Hyeon Wang

29 March 2019

This work tested antioxidant, anti-lung cancer, and antibacterial activities by in vitro, in vivo, and computational experiments for the metabolites extracted from the bark, seed, and stem of Toxicodendron vernicifluum. The results showed that all th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
24 Citations
5,289 Views
18 Pages

29 March 2019

Transthyretin is responsible for a series of highly progressive, degenerative, debilitating, and incurable protein misfolding disorders known as transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis. Since dissociation of the homotetrameric protein to its monomers is cruc...

  • Article
  • Open Access
51 Citations
4,913 Views
11 Pages

29 March 2019

We sought to investigate whether levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors predict coronary atherosclerotic plaque instability, as assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) virtual histology during coronary angiography. Blood...

  • Article
  • Open Access
27 Citations
4,837 Views
13 Pages

28 March 2019

Developing an optimum pretreatment condition to enhance glucose recovery assessed the potential of Chloris barbata, which is a common invasive weed in Thailand, as a feedstock for bioethanol production. Chloris barbata was exposed to autoclave-assist...

  • Article
  • Open Access
81 Citations
15,816 Views
13 Pages

Quantification of Fecal Short Chain Fatty Acids by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry—Investigation of Pre-Analytic Stability

  • Gerhard Liebisch,
  • Josef Ecker,
  • Sebastian Roth,
  • Sabine Schweizer,
  • Veronika Öttl,
  • Hans-Frieder Schött,
  • Hongsup Yoon,
  • Dirk Haller,
  • Ernst Holler and
  • Silke Matysik
  • + 1 author

28 March 2019

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are generated by the degradation and fermentation of complex carbohydrates, (i.e., dietary fiber) by the gut microbiota relevant for microbe–host communication. Here, we present a method for the quantification of SCFAs...

  • Article
  • Open Access
38 Citations
8,194 Views
9 Pages

Evaluation and Behavior of Spanish Bodybuilders: Doping and Sports Supplements

  • Antonio Jesús Sánchez-Oliver,
  • Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana and
  • Raúl Domínguez

28 March 2019

The use of doping agents has these days become a public health problem, as it also affects young and non-competitive amateurs in different sports. To prepare for competition, bodybuilders perform aggressive dietary protocols, so, bodybuilders frequen...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
6,412 Views
15 Pages

Evaluation of Cyclosaplin Efficacy Using a Silk Based 3D Tumor Model

  • Abheepsa Mishra,
  • Sourav K. Mukhopadhyay and
  • Satyahari Dey

28 March 2019

Development of novel anti-cancer peptides requires a rapid screening process which can be accelerated by using appropriate in vitro tumor models. Breast carcinoma tissue is a three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment, which contains a hypoxic center su...

  • Article
  • Open Access
32 Citations
6,771 Views
24 Pages

Inhibition of Oncogenic Kinases: An In Vitro Validated Computational Approach Identified Potential Multi-Target Anticancer Compounds

  • Nazia Ikram,
  • Muhammad Usman Mirza,
  • Michiel Vanmeert,
  • Matheus Froeyen,
  • Outi M. H. Salo-Ahen,
  • Muhammad Tahir,
  • Aamer Qazi and
  • Sarfraz Ahmad

28 March 2019

Tumorigenesis in humans is a multistep progression that imitates genetic changes leading to cell transformation and malignancy. Oncogenic kinases play a central role in cancer progression, rendering them putative targets for the design of anti-cancer...

  • Article
  • Open Access
26 Citations
5,426 Views
12 Pages

Comparison of the Neuroprotective Effects of Aspirin, Atorvastatin, Captopril and Metformin in Diabetes Mellitus

  • Maryam Paseban,
  • Reza Mohebbati,
  • Saeed Niazmand,
  • Thozhukat Sathyapalan and
  • Amirhossein Sahebkar

27 March 2019

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of combined intake of a high dose of aspirin, atorvastatin, captopril and metformin on oxidative stress in the brain cortex and hippocampus of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats....

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
4,945 Views
24 Pages

27 March 2019

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that exhibits aberrant protein aggregation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Ndi1, the yeast mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) enzyme, is a single subunit, internal matrix-facing...

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Biomolecules - ISSN 2218-273X