Bacterial communities of the coronal sulcus and distal urethra of adolescent males

Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiotas are associated with reproductive health and STI resistance in women, whereas altered microbiotas are associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), STI risk and poor reproductive outcomes. Putative vaginal taxa have been observed in male first-catch urine, urethral swab and coronal sulcus (CS) specimens but the significance of these observations is unclear. We used 16 S rRNA sequencing to characterize the microbiota of the CS and urine collected from 18 adolescent men over three consecutive months. CS microbiotas of most participants were more stable than their urine microbiotas and the composition of CS microbiotas were strongly influenced by circumcision. BV-associated taxa, including Atopobium, Megasphaera, Mobiluncus, Prevotella and Gemella, were detected in CS specimens from sexually experienced and inexperienced participants. In contrast, urine primarily contained taxa that were not abundant in CS specimens. Lactobacilllus and Streptococcus were major urine taxa but their abundance was inversely correlated. In contrast, Sneathia, Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma were only found in urine from sexually active participants. Thus, the CS and urine support stable and distinct bacterial communities. Finally, our results suggest that the penis and the urethra can be colonized by a variety of BV-associated taxa and that some of these colonizations result from partnered sexual activity.     

Tricin inhibits proliferation of human hepatic stellate cells in vitro by blocking tyrosine phosphorylation of PDGF receptor and its signaling pathways

4',5,7-Trihydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxyflavone (Tricin), a naturally occurring flavone, has anti-inflammatory potential and exhibits diverse biological activities including antigrowth activity in several human cancer cell lines and cancer chemopreventive effects in the gastrointestinal tract of mice. The present study aimed to investigate the biological actions of tricin on hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in vitro, exploring its potential as a treatment of liver fibrosis, since HSC proliferation is closely related to the progression of hepatic fibrogenesis in chronic liver diseases leading to irreversible liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Tricin inhibited platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced cell proliferation by blocking cell cycle progression and cell migration in the human HSC line LI90 and culture-activated HSCs. It also reduced the phosphorylation of PDGF receptor β and the downstream signaling molecules ERK1/2 and Akt, which might be due to its tyrosine kinase inhibitor properties rather than inhibition of the direct binding between PDGF-BB and its receptor. Our findings suggest that tricin might be beneficial in HSC-targeting therapeutic or chemopreventive applications for hepatic fibrosis.     

Molecular Evolution of the Domain Structures of Protein Disulfide Isomerases

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is an enzyme that promotes protein folding by catalyzing disulfide bridge isomerization. PDI and its relatives form a diverse protein family whose members are characterized by thioredoxin-like (TX) domains in the primary structures. The family was classified into four classes by the number and the relative positions of the TX domains. To investigate the evolution of the domain structures, we aligned the amino acid sequences of the TX domains, and the molecular phylogeny was examined by the NJ and ML methods. We found that all of the current members of the PDI family have evolved from an ancestral enzyme, which has two TX domains in the primary structure. The diverse domain structures of the members have been generated through domain duplications and deletions.     

Prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase contains an EGF-like domain

Prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase was subjected to the computer-assisted homology search in the protein primary structure database, in order to investigate the regulation mechanism of the expression of prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase. As a result of that, it turned out that prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase shares sequence homology with epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the N-terminal region. The implication of the existence of an EGF-like domain in prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase is discussed.     

Phosphatidic acid-mediated binding and mammalian cell internalization of the Vibrio cholerae cytotoxin MakA

Vibrio cholerae is a noninvasive intestinal pathogen extensively studied as the causative agent of the human disease cholera. Our recent work identified MakA as a potent virulence factor of V. cholerae in both Caenorhabditis elegans and zebrafish, prompting us to investigate the potential contribution of MakA to pathogenesis also in mammalian hosts. In this study, we demonstrate that the MakA protein could induce autophagy and cytotoxicity of target cells. In addition, we observed that phosphatidic acid (PA)-mediated MakA-binding to the host cell plasma membranes promoted macropinocytosis resulting in the formation of an endomembrane-rich aggregate and vacuolation in intoxicated cells that lead to induction of autophagy and dysfunction of intracellular organelles. Moreover, we functionally characterized the molecular basis of the MakA interaction with PA and identified that the N-terminal domain of MakA is required for its binding to PA and thereby for cell toxicity. Furthermore, we observed that the ΔmakA mutant outcompeted the wild-type V. cholerae strain A1552 in the adult mouse infection model. Based on the findings revealing mechanistic insights into the dynamic process of MakA-induced autophagy and cytotoxicity we discuss the potential role played by the MakA protein during late stages of cholera infection as an anti-colonization factor.     

On the Determination of Internal Nodes of an Evolutionary Dendrogram

In this communication the determination of intermediary nodes in evolutionary dendrograms of proteins is analyzed, based on the molecular mechanisms involved in these transitions and the probability of acceptance of the amino acid substitutions.     

Derivation of Human Trophoblast Stem Cells

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On the nature of mutations in molecular evolution

In this work it is proposed that in evolution amino acid substitutions implying strong physico chemical and structural differences are more relevant and more frequent than substitutions between similar amino acids. This analysis is made over a group of protein families representing about 10 000 substitutions and as examples the evolutionary trees of fibrinopeptides A and calcitonins were constructed and compared.