Hydroxylated Fatty Acids: The Role of the Sphingomyelin Synthase and the Origin of Selectivity

Sphingolipids are a class of lipids acting as key modulators of many physiological and pathophysiological processes. Hydroxylation patterns have a major influence on the biophysical properties of sphingolipids. In this work, we have studied the mechanism of action of hydroxylated lipids in sphingomyelin synthase (SMS). The structures of the two human isoforms, SMS1 and SMS2, have been generated through neural network supported homology. Furthermore, we have elucidated the reaction mechanism that allows SMS to recover the choline head from a phosphocholine (PC) and transfer it to ceramide, and we have clarified the role of the hydroxyl group in the interaction with the enzyme. Finally, the effect of partial inhibition of SMS on the levels of PC and sphingomyelin was calculated for different rate constants solving ordinary differential equation systems.

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From Trinidad and Tobago to the World: Determining the role of Calypso in a new Era

Caribbean Quilt ◽

10.33137/caribbeanquilt.v5i0.34367 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 7-11

Author(s):

Malek Abdel-Shehid

Keyword(s):

Trinidad And Tobago ◽

Regional Integration ◽

West African ◽

Major Influence ◽

New Era ◽

Transatlantic Slave Trade ◽

Cultural Sovereignty ◽

Caribbean Culture ◽

Musical Cultures

Calypso is a popular Caribbean musical genre that originated in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The genre was developed primarily by enslaved West Africans brought to the region via the transatlantic slave trade during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although West-African Kaiso music was a major influence, the genre has also been shaped by other African genres, and by Indian, British, French, and Spanish musical cultures. Emerging in the early twentieth century, Calypso became a tool of resistance by Afro-Caribbean working-class Trinbagonians. Calypso flourished in Trinidad due to a combination of factors—namely, the migration of Afro-Caribbean people from across the region in search of upward social mobility. These people sought to expose the injustices perpetrated by a foreign European and a domestic elite against labourers in industries such as petroleum extraction. The genre is heavily anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-elitist, and it advocated for regional integration. Although this did not occur immediately, Calypsonians sought to establish unity across the region regardless of race, nationality, and class through their songwriting and performing. Today, Calypso remains a unifying force and an important part of Caribbean culture. Considering Calypso's history and purpose, as well as its ever-changing creators and audiences, this essay will demonstrate that the goal of regional integration is not possible without cultural sovereignty.

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‘A disoriented vision of … fact’: Brian Friel, Francis Bacon, and Faith Healer

Irish University Review ◽

10.3366/iur.2020.0473 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 319-336

Author(s):

Zosia Kuczyńska

Keyword(s):

Creative Process ◽

Francis Bacon ◽

Major Influence ◽

Artistic Practice ◽

Archival Research ◽

Faith Healer ◽

Brian Friel ◽

History Of ◽

Composition Process

The Brian Friel Papers at the NLI reveal a long and relatively unexplored history of major and minor influences on Friel's plays. As the archive attests, these influences manifest themselves in ways that range from the superficial to the deeply structural. In this article, I draw on original archival research into the composition process of Friel's genre-defining play Faith Healer (1979) to bring to light a model of influence that operates at the level of artistic practice. Specifically, I examine the extent to which Friel's officially unacknowledged encounter with a book of interviews with painter Francis Bacon influenced the play in terms of character, language, and form. I suggest that Bacon's creative process – incorporating his ideas on the role of the artist, the workings of chance, and the extent to which art does violence to fact – may have had a major influence on both the play's development and on Friel's development as an artist.

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The possible role of neuroglycan C in neural network recovery after MDMA treatment in dark Agouti rats

10.26226/morressier.5785edd1d462b80296c9a0ef ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Kristóf Pintér

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Dark Agouti ◽

Network Recovery

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Chemical engineering of the peptidyl transferase center reveals an important role of the 2'-hydroxyl group of A2451.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1025737.305742 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Arcady Mushegian

Keyword(s):

Chemical Engineering ◽

Hydroxyl Group ◽

Peptidyl Transferase ◽

Peptidyl Transferase Center

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Exploring the Role of Input and Output Layers of a Deep Neural Network in Adversarial Defense

2020 International Conference on Computing and Data Science (CDS) ◽

10.1109/cds49703.2020.00029 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jay N. Paranjape ◽

Rahul Kumar Dubey ◽

Vijendran V. Gopalan

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Deep Neural Network ◽

Input And Output

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Pathogenic and Compensatory Mechanisms in Epidermis of Sphingomyelin Synthase 2-Deficient Mice

Skin Pharmacology and Physiology ◽

10.1159/000515608 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Shota Sakai ◽

Asami Makino ◽

Akihito Nishi ◽

Takeshi Ichikawa ◽

Tadashi Yamashita ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plasma Membranes ◽

Lamellar Body ◽

Lipid Mediator ◽

Permeability Barrier ◽

Compensatory Mechanisms ◽

Terrestrial Environment ◽

Sphingomyelin Synthase ◽

Epidermal Permeability Barrier ◽

Deficient Mice

Sphingomyelin (SM) is a constituent of cellular membranes, while ceramides (Cer) produced from SM on plasma membranes serve as a lipid mediator that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In the skin, SM also is a precursor of Cer, an important constituent of epidermal permeability barrier. We investigated the role of epidermal SM synthase (SMS)2, an isoform of SMS, which modulates SM and Cer levels on plasma membranes. Although SMS2-knockout (SMS2-KO) mice were not neonatal lethal, an ichthyotic phenotype with epidermal hyperplasia and hyperkeratosis was evident at birth, which persisted until 2 weeks of age. These mice showed abnormal lamellar body morphology and secretion, and abnormal extracellular lamellar membranes in the stratum corneum. These abnormalities were no longer evident by 4 weeks of age in SMS2-KO mice. Our study suggests that (1) exposure to a dry terrestrial environment initiates compensatory responses, thereby normalizing epidermal ichthyotic abnormalities and (2) that a nonlethal gene abnormality can cause an ichthyotic skin phenotype.

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