Engineering the antioxidative properties of lactic acid bacteria for improving its robustness

1. Download : Download high-res image (152KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Thiol compounds (glutathione) protect LAB from multiple environmental stresses. ► Engineering antioxidative properties of LAB can improve the overall robustness. ► Genomics approaches helped to reveal the molecular mechanism of stress response.     

Towards metagenome-scale models for industrial applications — the case of Lactic Acid Bacteria

1. Download : Download high-res image (311KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Genome-scale metabolic modelling is being increasingly applied in LAB research. ► Novel techniques that broaden applicability of models remain to be applied to LAB. ► Additional constraints allow better predictions of genome-scale metabolic models. ► Novel approaches to move from modelling monocultures to mixed cultures are being developed. ► The feasibility of metagenome-based modelling approaches is being appreciated.     

Perspectives on the contribution of lactic acid bacteria to cheese flavor development

1. Download : Download high-res image (259KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► This review covers current know-how on cheese flavor development. ► Proteolysis, autolysis and amino acid catabolism by lactic acid bacteria are discussed. ► Systems biology approaches will drive future technology improvements. ► Next-generation sequencing holds promise for fast increase in exploitable knowledge. ► Culture heterogeneity may be significant for industrial flavor production by LAB.     

Clawing back: broadening the notion of metal chelators in medicine

1. Download : Download high-res image (185KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Not all chelators are the same: more than metal sequestration and elimination. ► Metal chelates can redistribute metals across biological membranes. ► Metal-chelating fragments provide leads for metalloenzyme inhibition. ► Metal chelation can enhance metal reactivity and thus cytotoxicity. ► Prochelators provide site-activated metal chelation and passivation.     

Human milk and related oligosaccharides as prebiotics

1. Download : Download high-res image (306KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► The intestinal microbiome is recognized as an important determinant of health. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides are non-digestible carbohydrates. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides stimulate growth and activity of gut bacteria. ► Subtle differences in structure can result in significant differences in activity. ► Less abundant oligosaccharides from bovine milk are similar to those from human milk.     

The emerging field of transport engineering of plant specialized metabolites

1. Download : Download high-res image (122KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Transport engineering has the potential to increase nutritional value of crops. ► Transport engineering can increase yield of synthetic biology approaches. ► Neo-functionalization of primary metabolite transporters to specialized metabolism. ► Elimination of glucosinolate seed accumulation is achieved via transport engineering. ► Glucosinolates in Arabidopsis: a model for transport of specialized metabolites.     

Engineering specialized metabolic pathways—is there a room for enzyme improvements?

1. Download : Download high-res image (138KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Specialized metabolism offers challenging engineering opportunities. ► Unlike central metabolism, specialized metabolism is slow, sluggish and messy. ► Spontaneous reactions are relatively common in specialized metabolism. ► Enzymes can be engineered for higher rate and substrate specificity. ► Enzymes can be engineered for naturally spontaneous reactions.     

Profiling metabolic networks to study cancer metabolism

1. Download : Download high-res image (174KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Metabolic dependencies that arise in tumors may present new opportunities for therapy. ► Advanced methods in metabolic systems biology can help identify these dependencies. ► Application of isotope tracers to cancer models can facilitates quantitation of fluxes. ► Tumors with compromised TCA metabolism exhibit unique metabolic profiles.     

Engineering nanoscale protein compartments for synthetic organelles

1. Download : Download high-res image (144KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Enzymes can be directed into compartments to create nanobioreactors in bacteria. ► Crystal structures of shell proteins suggest that pores enable selective diffusion. ► Specific peptide sequences target heterologous proteins for encapsulation.     

Bacteria as vitamin suppliers to their host: a gut microbiota perspective

1. Download : Download high-res image (156KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Humans lack the biosynthetic capacity for most vitamins. ► Vitamins must thus be provided exogenously by nutritionally balanced diets. ► Members of the human gut microbiota can supply their host with microbially synthesized vitamins. ► Fermented milks with high levels of B-group vitamins can be produced by lactic acid.     

Zooming in on biological processes with fluorescence nanoscopy

1. Download : Download high-res image (203KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Fluorescence nanoscopy can be used to decipher subcellular structures in biological systems. ► We review the underlying principles and biological application of STED, PALM, and STORM. ► For super-resolution imaging methods, there is a tradeoff between temporal and spatial resolution. ► Improving probe brightness and probe photostability are key factors for achieving higher resolution.     

Photocrosslinking approaches to interactome mapping

1. Download : Download high-res image (327KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Photocrosslinking provides insight into context-dependent interactions. ► Interactome dynamics can be determined by photocrosslinking. ► Use of photocrosslinkers defines specific interaction interfaces within large complexes. ► Crosslinking captures transient interaction complexes containing IDPs and glycoproteins.     

Networks in proteomics analysis of cancer

1. Download : Download high-res image (201KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Combining networks and proteomics can overcome consistency/coverage issues. ► Differential subnets are more robust biomarkers than single genes. ► Utilizing networks allows unprecedented class discovery/hypothesis testing/analysis. ► Novel proteomics-specific network methods that address limitations are needed.     

Network,nodes and nexus: systems approach to multitarget therapeutics

1. Download : Download high-res image (239KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Complex diseases are an outcome of multiple triggers that precipitate into similar phenotypes. ► Systems level understanding can reveal dynamic aspects of disease progression profile. ► Correlation of metabolic remodeling to phenotypic alteration can delineate critical nodes of interventions. ► Multitargeting of key nodes of metabolic networks can be an effective therapeutic strategy. ► Robust and high-throughput data integration in conjunction with simulation would make the drug discovery process more efficient.     

Comparative genomics approaches to understanding and manipulating plant metabolism

1. Download : Download high-res image (308KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Comparative genomics can help predict the function of unknown plant metabolic genes. ► Functional gene annotations are foundational to the construction of metabolic models. ► Models can simulate effects of genetic changes and thus guide metabolic engineering. ► Examples of comparative genomics facilitating gene discovery in plants are presented.     

Stable isotope-assisted metabolomics to detect metabolic flux changes in mammalian cell cultures

1. Download : Download high-res image (158KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Stable isotope-assisted metabolomics is powerful to determine metabolic fluxes. ► Stable isotope-assisted metabolomics is more complex for mammalian cell cultures. ► Biotechnological processes can be improved by assessing metabolic flux changes. ► Metabolic flux analysis is an attractive tool for toxicity studies. ► There is a huge potential for future applications on mammalian systems.     

Prodrugs as self-assembled hydrogels: a new paradigm for biomaterials

1. Download : Download high-res image (221KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Development of prodrug-based self-assembled hydrogels as a new class of biomaterials. ► Design of prodrugs that can self-assemble to form hydrogels. ► These hydrogels overcome limitations such as low-drug loading and burst release of drugs. ► Locally injectable self-assembled hydrogels exhibit potential as effective therapeutics.     

Advances in nanoreactor technology using polymeric nanostructures

1. Download : Download high-res image (197KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Functional polymer nanostructures as efficient supports for confined catalysis. ► Polymer scaffold can provide protection of active catalyst for prolonged activity. ► Hydrophobic cavities allows for efficient organic reactions to take place in water. ► Stimuli-responsive polymers can provide control over nanoreactor catalytic activity. ► Folding of single polymer chains show potential for future enzyme mimic systems.     

Recent trends in nanopores for biotechnology

1. Download : Download high-res image (310KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

Highlights► Nanopores are single-molecule detectors with exceptional sensitivity and versatility. ► Over the past few years, progress has been made in making and using nanopores in biotechnology. ► Nanopore-based DNA sequencing can revolutionize healthcare by reducing both sequencing costs and time.