bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Co-targeting BCL-XL and MCL-1 with DT2216 and AZD8055 synergistically inhibits small-cell lung cancer growth without causing on-target toxicities in mice
Authors: Khan Sajid , Kellish Patrick , Connis Nick , Thummuri Dinesh , Wiegand Janet , Zhang Peiyi , Zhang Xuan , Budamagunta Vivekananda , Hua Nan , Yang Yang , De Umasankar , Jin Lingtao , Zhang Weizhou , Zheng Guangrong , Hromas Robert , Hann Christine , Zajac-Kaye Maria , Kaye Frederic J. , Zhou Daohong 
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACTSmall-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with limited therapeutic options. The dismal prognosis in SCLC is in part associated with an upregulation of BCL-2 family anti-apoptotic proteins, including BCL-XL and MCL-1. Unfortunately, the currently available inhibitors of BCL-2 family anti-apoptotic proteins, except BCL-2 inhibitors, are not clinically relevant because of various on-target toxicities. We, therefore, aimed to develop an effective and safe strategy targeting these anti-apoptotic proteins with DT2216 (our platelet-sparing BCL-XL degrader) and AZD8055 (an mTOR inhibitor) to avoid associated on-target toxicities while synergistically optimizing tumor response. Through BH3 mimetic screening, we identified a subset of SCLC cell lines that is co-dependent on BCL-XL and MCL-1. After screening inhibitors of selected tumorigenic pathways, we found that AZD8055 selectively downregulates MCL-1 in SCLC cells and its combination with DT2216 synergistically killed BCL-XL/MCL-1 co-dependent SCLC cells, but not normal cells. Mechanistically, the combination caused BCL-XL degradation and suppression of MCL1 expression, and thus disrupted MCL-1 interaction with BIM leading to an enhanced apoptotic induction. In vivo, DT2216+AZD8055 combination significantly inhibited the growth of cell line-derived and patient-derived xenografts and reduced tumor burden accompanied with extended survival in a genetically-engineered mouse (GEM) model of SCLC without causing significant thrombocytopenia or other normal tissue injury. Thus, these preclinical findings lay a strong foundation for future clinical studies to test DT2216+mTOR inhibitor combination in a subset of SCLC patients whose tumors are co-driven by BCL-XL and MCL-1.
Neural Representations of Post-Decision Choice Confidence and Reward Expectation in the Caudate Nucleus and Frontal Eye Field
Authors: Fan Yunshu , Doi Takahiro , Gold Joshua I. , Ding Long 
Published: September 2022

AbstractPerformance monitoring that supports ongoing behavioral adjustments is often examined in the context of either choice confidence for perceptual decisions (i.e., “did I get it right?”) or reward expectation for reward-based decisions (i.e., “what reward will I receive?”). However, our understanding of how the brain encodes these distinct evaluative signals remains limited because they are easily conflated, particularly in commonly used two-alternative tasks with symmetric rewards for correct choices. Previously we reported behavioral and neural results related to decision formation by monkeys performing a visual motion discrimination task with asymmetric rewards (Doi et al., 2020; Fan et al., 2020). Here we leveraged this task design to partially decouple trial-by-trial estimates of choice confidence and reward expectation and examine their impacts on behavior and their representations in the caudate nucleus (part of the striatum in the basal ganglia) and the frontal eye field (FEF, in prefrontal cortex). We found that these evaluative signals had infrequent, but consistent, effects on the behavior of well-trained monkeys. We also identified distinguishable representations of the two types of signals in FEF and caudate neurons, including different distribution patterns, time courses, and relationships to behavior in the two brain areas. These results suggest that the cortico-striatal decision network may use diverse evaluative signals for performance monitoring and add to our understanding of the different roles of the FEF and caudate nucleus in decision-related computations.
Divergent regulation of KCNQ1/E1 by targeted recruitment of protein kinase A to distinct sites on the channel complex
Authors: Zou Xinle , Shanmugam Sri Karthika , Kanner Scott A. , Sampson Kevin J. , Kass Robert S. , Colecraft Henry M. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe slow delayed rectifier potassium current, IKs, conducted through pore-forming Q1 and auxiliary E1 ion channel complexes is important for human cardiac action potential repolarization. During exercise or fright, IKs is up-regulated by protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated Q1 phosphorylation to maintain heart rhythm and optimum cardiac performance. Sympathetic upregulation of IKs requires recruitment of PKA holoenzyme (two regulatory- RI or RII- and two catalytic Cα subunits) to Q1 C-terminus by an A kinase anchoring protein (AKAP9). Mutations in Q1 or AKAP9 that abolish their functional interaction result in long QT syndrome type 1 and 11, respectively, which increases the risk of sudden cardiac death during exercise. Here, we investigated the utility of a targeted protein phosphorylation (TPP) approach to reconstitute PKA regulation of IKs in the absence of AKAP9. Targeted recruitment of endogenous Cα to E1-YFP using a GFP/YFP nanobody (nano) fused to RIIα enabled acute cAMP-mediated enhancement of IKs, reconstituting physiological regulation of the channel complex. By contrast, nano-mediated tethering of RIIα or Cα to Q1-YFP constitutively inhibited IKs by retaining the channel intracellularly in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi. Proteomic analysis revealed distinct phosphorylation sites are modified by Cα targeted to Q1-YFP compared to free Cα. Thus, functional outcomes of synthetically recruited PKA on IKs regulation is critically dependent on the site of recruitment within the channel complex. The results reveal insights into divergent regulation of IKs by phosphorylation across different spatial and time scales, and suggest a TPP approach to develop new drugs to prevent exercise-induced sudden cardiac death.
Humoral immunogenicity of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) DNA Vaccine in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Delivered using Needle-free Jet Injection
Authors: Jay Alexandra , Kwilas Steven A , Josleyn Matthew , Ricks Keersten , Hooper Jay 
Published: September 2022

AbstractA SARS-CoV-2 DNA vaccine targeting the spike protein and delivered by jet injection, nCOV-S(JET), previously shown to protect wild-type and immunosuppressed Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), was evaluated via two needle-free delivery methods in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). The methods included intramuscular delivery of 2 mg per vaccination with the PharmaJet Stratis device and intradermal delivery of 0.4 mg per vaccination with the PharmaJet Tropis device. We hypothesized that the nCOV-S(JET) vaccine would mount detectable neutralizing antibody responses when delivered by needle-free jet injection by either the intradermal or intramuscular route. When delivered intramuscularly, the vaccines elicited neutralizing and variant (Beta, Gamma, and Delta) cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in all six animals after three vaccinations. When delivered at a lower dose by the intradermal route, strong neutralizing antibody responses were only detected in two of six animals. This study confirms that a vaccine previously shown to protect in a hamster model can elicit neutralizing and cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates. We posit that nCOV-S(JET) has the potential for use as booster vaccine in heterologous vaccination strategies against COVID-19.
Imbalance of peptidoglycan biosynthesis alters the cell surface charge of Listeria monocytogenes
Authors: Schulz Lisa Maria , Rothe Patricia , Halbedel Sven , Gründling Angelika , Rismondo Jeanine 
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACTThe bacterial cell wall is composed of a thick layer of peptidoglycan and cell wall polymers, which are either embedded in the membrane or linked to the peptidoglycan backbone and referred to as lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and wall teichoic acid (WTA), respectively. Modifications of the peptidoglycan or WTA backbone can alter the susceptibility of the bacterial cell towards cationic antimicrobials and lysozyme. The human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is intrinsically resistant towards lysozyme, mainly due to deacetylation and O-acetylation of the peptidoglycan backbone via PgdA and OatA. Recent studies identified additional factors, which contribute to the lysozyme resistance of this pathogen. One of these is the predicted ABC transporter, EslABC. An eslB mutant is hyper-sensitive towards lysozyme, likely due to the production of thinner and less O-acetylated peptidoglycan. Using a suppressor screen, we show here that suppression of eslB phenotypes could be achieved by enhancing peptidoglycan biosynthesis, reducing peptidoglycan hydrolysis or alterations in WTA biosynthesis and modification. The lack of EslB also leads to a higher negative surface charge, which likely stimulates the activity of peptidoglycan hydrolases and lysozyme. Based on our results, we hypothesize that the portion of cell surface exposed WTA is increased in the eslB mutant due to the thinner peptidoglycan layer and that latter one could be caused by an impairment in UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) production or distribution.
Ultrahigh-throughput Absorbance Activated Droplet Sorting (UHT-AADS) for enzyme screening at kilohertz frequencies
Authors: Medcalf Elliot J. , Gantz Maximilian , Kaminski Tomasz S. , Hollfelder Florian 
Published: September 2022

AbstractDroplet microfluidics is a valuable method to ‘beat the odds’ in high throughput screening campaigns such as directed evolution, where valuable hits are infrequent and large library sizes are required. Absorbance-based sorting expands the landscape of range of enzyme families that can be subjected to droplet screening by expanding possible assays beyond fluorescence detection. However, absorbance activated droplet sorting (AADS) is currently ∼10-fold slower than typical fluorescence activated droplet sorting (FADS), meaning that, in comparison, a larger portion of sequence space is inaccessible due to throughput constraints. Here we improve AADS to reach kHz sorting speeds in an order of magnitude increase over previous designs, with close-to-ideal sorting accuracy. This is achieved by a combination of (i) the use of refractive index matching oil that improves signal quality by removal of side scattering (increasing the sensitivity of absorbance measurements); (ii) a sorting algorithm capable of reaching 4 kHz with an Arduino Due; and (iii) a chip design that transmits product detection better into sorting decisions without false positives, namely a single-layered inlet to space droplets further apart and injections of ‘bias oil’ providing a fluidic barrier preventing droplets from entering the incorrect sorting channel. The updated ultrahigh-throughput absorbance activated droplet sorter (UHT-AADS) increases the effective sensitivity of absorbance measurements through better signal quality at a speed that matches the more established fluorescence-activated sorting devices.Table of Contents Graphic
The role of evolutionarily metastable oligomeric states in the optimization of catalytic activity
Authors: East Nicholas J. , Clifton Ben E. , Jackson Colin J. , Kaczmarski Joe A. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe emergence of oligomers is common during the evolution and diversification of protein families, yet the selective advantage of oligomerization is often cryptic or unclear. Oligomerization can involve the formation of isologous head-to-head interfaces (e.g., in symmetrical dimers) or heterologous head-to-tail interfaces (e.g., in cyclic complexes), the latter of which is less well studied and understood. In this work, we retrace the emergence of the trimeric form of cyclohexadienyl dehydratase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaCDT) by introducing residues that form the PaCDT trimer-interface into AncCDT-5 (a monomeric reconstructed ancestor of PaCDT). We find that single interface mutations can switch the oligomeric state of the variants (implying evolutionarily metastable oligomeric states) and that trimerization corresponds with a reduction in the KM value of the enzyme from a promiscuous level to the physiologically relevant range. We show that this can be rationalized at the structural and dynamic level by reduced sampling of a non-catalytic conformational substate, and that trimerization was likely followed by a C-terminal extension that further refined the conformational sampling and kinetic properties of the enzyme. This work provides insight into how neutral sampling of metastable oligomeric states along an evolutionary trajectory can facilitate the evolution and optimization of enzyme function.Importance & Impact StatementUnderstanding how and why structural complexity (including homo-oligomerization and sequence insertions) emerges during the evolution and diversification of natural enzymes is a key goal in the study and design of protein function. We show that cyclic homo-oligomeric states can emerge via a small number of substitutions, and that trimerization and a C-terminal extension contributed to the tuning of catalytic properties during the evolution of cyclohexadienyl dehydratase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Chemokine Signaling Caused byMycobacterium aviumBiofilms in the Lung Airway Increases Bacterial Loads by Spatially Diverting Macrophages
Authors: Weathered Catherine , Pennington Kelly , Escalante Patricio , Pienaar Elsje 
Published: September 2022

AbstractMycobacterium aviumComplex (MAC) are ubiquitous environmental biofilm-forming microbes that can colonize and infect patient lungs. Incidence and prevalence of MAC infections are increasing globally, and reinfection is common. Thus, MAC infections present a significant public health challenge. MAC infections are notoriously difficult to treat and there is an urgent need for MAC-targeted therapeutics. To identify potential drug targets, we quantify the impact of MAC biofilms and repeated exposure on infection progression using a computational model of MAC infection in lung airways.MAC biofilms aid epithelial cell invasion, cause premature macrophage apoptosis, and limit antibiotic efficacy. We develop an agent-based model that incorporates the interactions between bacteria, biofilm and immune cells. We perform virtual knockouts to quantify the effects of the sources of biofilm (biofilm simultaneously deposited with bacteria vs. formed in the airway after initial bacterial deposition), and their effects on macrophages (inducing apoptosis and slowing phagocytosis). We also quantify the effects of repeated bacterial exposure to assess the impact of reinfection on infection progression.Our results show that chemokines released by biofilm-induced apoptosis bias macrophage chemotaxis towards pockets of infected and apoptosed macrophages. This bias results in fewer macrophages finding extracellular bacteria, allowing the extracellular planktonic bacteria to replicate freely. These spatial macrophage trends are further exacerbated with repeated deposition of bacteria.Our model indicates that interventions to either abrogate macrophages’ apoptotic responses to bacterial biofilms and/or reduce frequency of patient exposure to bacteria will lower bacterial load, and likely overall risk of infection.
Working strokes produced by curling protofilaments at disassembling microtubule tips can be biochemically tuned and vary with species
Authors: Murray Lucas E. , Kim Haein , Rice Luke M. , Asbury Charles L. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe disassembly of microtubules can generate force and drive intracellular motility. During mitosis, chromosomes remain persistently attached via kinetochores to the tips of disassembling microtubules, which pull the sister chromatids apart. According to the conformational wave hypothesis, such force generation requires that protofilaments curl outward from the disassembling tips to exert pulling force directly on kinetochores. Rigorously testing this idea will require modifying the mechanical and energetic properties of curling protofilaments, but no way to do so has yet been described. Here, by direct measurement of working strokes generated in vitro by curling protofilaments, we show that their mechanical energy output can be increased by adding magnesium, and that yeast microtubules generate larger and more energetic working strokes than bovine microtubules. Both the magnesium and species-dependent increases in work output can be explained by a lengthening of protofilament curls, without any change in their bending stiffness or intrinsic curvature. These observations demonstrate how work output from curling protofilaments can be tuned and suggest evolutionary conservation of the amount of curvature strain energy stored in the microtubule lattice.
Recycling upstream redox enzymes expands the regioselectivity of cycloaddition in pseudo-aspidosperma alkaloid biosynthesis
Authors: Kamileen Mohamed O. , DeMars Matthew D. , Hong Benke , Nakamura Yoko , Paetz Christian , Lichman Benjamin R. , Sonawane Prashant D. , Caputi Lorenzo , O’Connor Sarah E. 
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACTNature uses cycloaddition reactions to generate complex natural product scaffolds. Dehydrosecodine is a highly reactive biosynthetic intermediate that undergoes cycloaddition to generate several alkaloid scaffolds that are the precursors to pharmacologically important compounds such as vinblastine and ibogaine. Here we report how dehydrosecodine can be subjected to redox chemistry, which in turn allows cycloaddition reactions with alternative regioselectivity. By incubating dehydrosecodine with reductase and oxidase biosynthetic enzymes that act upstream in the pathway, we can access the rare pseudo-aspidosperma alkaloids, pseudo-tabersonine and pseudo-vincadifformine, both in vitro and by reconstitution in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana from an upstream intermediate. We propose a stepwise mechanism to explain the formation of the pseudo-tabersonine scaffold by structurally characterizing enzyme intermediates, and by monitoring the incorporation of deuterium labels. This discovery highlights how plants use redox enzymes to enantioselectively generate new scaffolds from common precursors.
Microcosm cultures of a complex synthetic community reveal ecology and genetics of gut microbial organization
Authors: Jin Xiaofan , Yu Feiqiao B. , Yan Jia , Weakley Allison , Pollard Katherine S. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe behavior of microbial communities depends on both taxonomic composition and physical structure. Metagenomic sequencing of fecal samples has revealed the composition of human gut microbiomes, but we remain less familiar with the spatial organization of microbes between regions such as lumen and mucosa, as well as the microbial genes that regulate this organization. To discover the determinants of spatial organization in the gut, we simulate mucosal colonization over time using an in vitro culture approach incorporating mucin hydrogel microcosms with a complex yet defined community of 123 human strains for which we generated high-quality genome assemblies. Tracking strain abundance longitudinally using shotgun metagenomic measurements, we observe distinct and strain-specific spatial organization in our cultures with strains enriched on mucin microcosms versus in supernatant, reminiscent of mucosa versus lumen enrichment in vivo. Our high taxonomic resolution data enables a comprehensive search for microbial genes that underlie this spatial organization. We identify gene families positively associated with microcosm-enrichment, including several known for biofilm and adhesion functions such as efflux pumps, gene expression regulation, and membrane proteases, as well as a novel link between a coenzyme F420 hydrogenase gene family and lipo/exopolysaccharide biosynthesis. Our strain-resolved abundance measurements also demonstrate that incorporation of microcosms yields a more diverse community than liquid-only culture by allowing co-existence of closely related strains. Altogether these findings demonstrate that microcosm culture with synthetic communities can effectively simulate lumen versus mucosal regions in the gut, providing measurements of microbial organization with high taxonomic resolution to enable identification of specific bacterial genes and functions associated with spatial structure.
Bacterial Argonaute proteins aid cell division in the presence of topoisomerase inhibitors in Escherichia coli
Authors: Olina Anna , Agapov Aleksei , Yudin Denis , Kuzmenko Anton , Aravin Alexei A. , Kulbachinskiy Andrey 
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACTProkaryotic Argonaute (pAgo) proteins are guide-dependent nucleases that function in host defense against invaders. Recently, it was shown that TtAgo from Thermus thermophilus also participates in the completion of DNA replication by decatenating chromosomal DNA. Here, we show that two pAgos from cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus (SeAgo) and Limnothrix roseae (LrAgo) act as DNA-guided DNA nucleases in Escherichia coli and aid cell division in the presence of the gyrase inhibitor ciprofloxacin. Both pAgos are preferentially loaded with small DNA guides derived from the sites of replication termination. The amount of pAgo-associated small DNAs (smDNAs) from the termination sites is increased in the presence ciprofloxacin, suggesting that smDNA biogenesis depends on DNA replication and is stimulated by gyrase inhibition. Ciprofloxacin also enhances asymmetry in the distribution of smDNAs around Chi-sites, indicating that it induces double-strand breaks that serve as a source of smDNA during their processing by RecBCD. While active in E. coli, SeAgo does not protect its native host S. elongatus from ciprofloxacin. These results suggest that pAgo nucleases help to complete replication of chromosomal DNA by targeting the sites of termination, and may switch their functional activities when expressed in different host species.