scholarly journals A Unique Relative of Rotifer Birnavirus Isolated from Australian Mosquitoes

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1056
Author(s):  
Caitlin A. O’Brien ◽  
Cassandra L. Pegg ◽  
Amanda S. Nouwens ◽  
Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann ◽  
Bixing Huang ◽  
...  

The family Birnaviridae are a group of non-enveloped double-stranded RNA viruses which infect poultry, aquatic animals and insects. This family includes agriculturally important pathogens of poultry and fish. Recently, next-generation sequencing technologies have identified closely related birnaviruses in Culex, Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes. Using a broad-spectrum system based on detection of long double-stranded RNA, we have discovered and isolated a birnavirus from Aedes notoscriptus mosquitoes collected in northern New South Wales, Australia. Phylogenetic analysis of Aedes birnavirus (ABV) showed that it is related to Rotifer birnavirus, a pathogen of microscopic aquatic animals. In vitro cell infection assays revealed that while ABV can replicate in Aedes-derived cell lines, the virus does not replicate in vertebrate cells and displays only limited replication in Culex- and Anopheles-derived cells. A combination of SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry analysis suggested that the ABV capsid precursor protein (pVP2) is larger than that of other birnaviruses and is partially resistant to trypsin digestion. Reactivity patterns of ABV-specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies indicate that the neutralizing epitopes of ABV are SDS sensitive. Our characterization shows that ABV displays a number of properties making it a unique member of the Birnaviridae and represents the first birnavirus to be isolated from Australian mosquitoes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Kanamoto ◽  
Takashi Tachibana ◽  
Yasushi Kitaoka ◽  
Toshio Hisatomi ◽  
Yasuhiro Ikeda ◽  
...  

Purpose. To investigate the effect of ocular hypertension-induced isomerization of aspartic acid in retinal proteins. Methods. Adult Wistar rats with ocular hypertension were used as an experimental model. D-β-aspartic acid-containing proteins were isolated by SDS-PAGE and western blot with an anti-D-β-aspartic acid antibody and identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The concentration of ATP was measured by ELISA. Results. D-β-aspartic acid was expressed in a protein band at around 44.5 kDa at much higher quantities in the retinas of rats with ocular hypertension than in those of normotensive rats. The 44.5 kDa protein band was mainly composed of α-enolase, S-arrestin, and ATP synthase subunits α and β, in both the ocular hypertensive and normotensive retinas. Moreover, increasing intraocular pressure was correlated with increasing ATP concentrations in the retinas of rats. Conclusion. Ocular hypertension affected the expression of proteins containing D-β-aspartic acid, including ATP synthase subunits, and up-regulation of ATP in the retinas of rats.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Immacolata Faraone ◽  
Daniela Russo ◽  
Lucia Chiummiento ◽  
Eloy Fernandez ◽  
Alka Choudhary ◽  
...  

The genus Minthostachys belonging to the Lamiaceae family, and is an important South American mint genus used commonly in folk medicine as an aroma in cooking. The phytochemical-rich samples of the aerial parts of Minthostachys diffusa Epling. were tested for pharmacological and health-promoting bioactivities using in vitro chemical and enzymatic assays. A range of radical scavenging activities of the samples against biological radicals such as nitric oxide and superoxide anion and against synthetic 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals, the ferric reducing antioxidant power and the lipid peroxidation inhibition were determined and ranked using the ‘relative antioxidant capacity index’ (RACI). The ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest RACI of +1.12. Analysis of the various fractions’ inhibitory ability against enzymes involved in diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase), and against enzymes associated with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s diseases (acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase) also suggested that the ethyl acetate fraction was the most active. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the ethyl acetate fraction showed more than 30 polyphenolic compounds, including triterpenes. The inhibitory cholinesterase effects of the triterpenes identified from M. diffusa were further analysed by in silico docking of these compounds into 3D-structures of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. This is the first study on pharmacological activities and phytochemical profiling of the aerial parts of M. diffusa, showing that this plant, normally used as food in South America, is also rich in health-promoting phytochemicals.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 380
Author(s):  
Katja Kramberger ◽  
Zala Jenko Pražnikar ◽  
Alenka Baruca Arbeiter ◽  
Ana Petelin ◽  
Dunja Bandelj ◽  
...  

Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench (abbrev. as HA) has a long tradition in European ethnomedicine and its inflorescences are approved as a herbal medicinal product. In the Mediterranean part of Europe, Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don (abbrev. as HI) is more common. Since infusions from both plants are traditionally used, we aimed to compare their antioxidative potential using in vitro assays. Two morphologically distinct HI plants, HIa and HIb, were compared to a commercially available HA product. Genetic analysis using microsatellites confirmed a clear differentiation between HI and HA and suggested that HIb was a hybrid resulting from spontaneous hybridization from unknown HI subspecies. High-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed the highest amounts of hydroxycinnamic acids and total arzanol derivatives in HIa, whereas HIb was richest in monohydroxybenzoic acids, caffeic acids, and coumarins, and HA contained the highest amounts of flavonoids, especially flavanones. HIa exhibited the highest radical scavenging activity; it was more efficient in protecting different cell lines from induced oxidative stress and in inducing oxidative stress-related genes superoxide dismutase 1, catalase, and glutathione reductase 1. The antioxidative potential of HI was not only dependent on the morphological type of the plant but also on the harvest date, revealing important information for obtaining the best possible product. Considering the superior properties of HI compared to HA, the evaluation of HI as a medicinal plant could be recommended.


Plants ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Ibáñez ◽  
María Blázquez

The chemical composition of winter savory, peppermint, and anise essential oils, and in vitro and in vivo phytotoxic activity against weeds (Portulaca oleracea, Lolium multiflorum, and Echinochloa crus-galli) and food crops (maize, rice, and tomato), have been studied. Sixty-four compounds accounting for between 97.67–99.66% of the total essential oils were identified by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis. Winter savory with carvacrol (43.34%) and thymol (23.20%) as the main compounds produced a total inhibitory effect against the seed germination of tested weed. Menthol (48.23%), menthone (23.33%), and iso-menthone (16.33%) from peppermint only showed total seed germination inhibition on L. multiflorum, whereas no significant effects were observed with trans-anethole (99.46%) from anise at all concentrations (0.125–1 µL/mL). Low doses of peppermint essential oil could be used as a sustainable alternative to synthetic agrochemicals to control L. multiflorum. The results corroborate that in vivo assays with a commercial emulsifiable concentrate need higher doses of the essential oils to reproduce previous in vitro trials. The higher in vivo phytotoxicity of winter savory essential oil constitutes an eco-friendly and less pernicious alternative to weed control. It is possible to achieve a greater in vivo phytotoxicity if less active essential oil like peppermint is included with other active excipients.


Data in Brief ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 577-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben K. Ehe ◽  
David R. Lamson ◽  
Michael Tarpley ◽  
Rob U. Onyenwoke ◽  
Lee M. Graves ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuying Yang ◽  
Youqian Wu ◽  
Huanhuan Yan ◽  
Bing Shan ◽  
Dongheng Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The immunotherapy for different types of cancers that targeting programmed death protein-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) has highlighted the importance of suppressing specific T cell responses. Recently, several studies have shown that the expression level of PD-L1 in tumor cells is positively correlated with tumor metastasis as well as recurrence rate. The potent effects of post-translational modifications (PTMs) for PD-L1, such as ubiquitination, glycosylation, phosphorylation and palmitoylation, have been reported to be related to immunosuppression. However, the regulation of PD-L1 degradation in cancers is still not well understood. In this paper, we mainly investigate the deubiquitination regulation of PD-L1. Methods: The protein levels of PD-L1 and USP21 were detected by Immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. The interaction between PD-L1 and USP21 was determined by co-immunoprecipitation. The deubiquitination of PD-L1 was determined by in vitro deubiquitination assay. The deubiquitination sites of PD-L1 were identified by mass spectrometry analysis. The expression of mRNA in target tissues was presented by bioinformatics analysis.Results: Overexpression of USP21 significantly increased PD-L1 abundance and knockdown of USP21 induced degradation of PD-L1. In vitro deubiquitination assay showed that USP21-WT reduced polyubiquitin chains from PD-L1 while USP21-C221A did not. Furthermore, five lysines in intracellular segment of PD-L1 are potential deubiquitin sites and cancer-derived mutations of PD-L1 in Asp276 have the ability to enhance the deubiquitination of PD-L1 mediated by USP21. Finally, we found that USP21 is the frequently amplified deubiquitinase in lung cancer, especially in lung squamous cell carcinoma, and its amplification co-occurs with the upregulation of PD-L1 levels. Moreover, IHC analysis showed stronger staining of PD-L1 and USP21 in lung cancer samples than adjacent tissues. Conclusion: We identified USP21 as a novel deubiquitinase of PD-L1. Hopefully, targeting PD-L1 by inhibiting USP21 might be a potentially novel strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.


2016 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.I. Boguś ◽  
W. Wieloch ◽  
M. Ligęza-Żuber

AbstractCoronatin-2, a 14.5 kDa protein, was isolated from culture filtrates of the entomopathogenic fungus Conidiobolus coronatus (Costantin) Batko (Entomophthoramycota: Entomophthorales). After LC–MS/MS (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) analysis of the tryptic peptide digest of coronatin-2 and a mass spectra database search no orthologs of this protein could be found in fungi. The highest homology was observed to the partial translation elongation factor 1a from Sphaerosporium equinum (protein sequence coverage, 21%), with only one peptide sequence, suggesting that coronatin-2 is a novel fungal protein that has not yet been described. In contrast to coronatin-1, an insecticidal 36 kDa protein, which shows both elastolytic and chitinolytic activity, coronatin-2 showed no enzymatic activity. Addition of coronatin-2 into cultures of hemocytes taken from larvae of Galleria mellonella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), resulted in progressive disintegration of nets formed by granulocytes and plasmatocytes due to rapid degranulation of granulocytes, extensive vacuolization of plasmatocytes accompanied by cytoplasm expulsion, and cell disintegration. Spherulocytes remained intact, while oenocytes rapidly disintegrated. Coronatin-2 produced 80% mortality when injected into G. mellonella at 5 µg larva−1. Further study is warranted to determine the relevance of the acute toxicity of coronatin-2 and its effects on hemocytes in vitro to virulence of C. coronatus against its hosts.


Nanomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Gonçalves Prospero ◽  
Lais Pereira Buranello ◽  
Carlos AH Fernandes ◽  
Lucilene Delazari dos Santos ◽  
Guilherme Soares ◽  
...  

Background: We evaluated the impacts of corona protein (CP) formation on the alternating current biosusceptometry (ACB) signal intensity and in vivo circulation times of three differently coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNP): bare, citrate-coated and bovine serum albumin-coated MNPs. Methods: We employed the ACB system, gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analysis. Results: Higher CP formation led to a greater reduction in the in vitro ACB signal intensity and circulation time. We found fewer proteins forming the CP for the bovine serum albumin-coated MNPs, which presented the highest circulation time in vivo among the MNPs studied. Conclusion: These data showed better biocompatibility, stability and magnetic signal uniformity in biological media for bovine serum albumin-coated MNPs than for citrate-coated MNPs and bare MNPs.


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