Schistosoma mansoni α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (SmNAGAL) regulates coordinated parasite movement and egg production

α-galactosidase (α-GAL) and α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (α-NAGAL) are two glycosyl hydrolases responsible for maintaining cellular homeostasis by regulating glycan substrates on proteins and lipids. Mutations in the human genes encoding either enzyme lead to neurological and neuromuscular impairments seen in both Fabry- and Schindler/Kanzaki- diseases. Here, we investigate whether the parasitic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni, responsible for the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis, also contains functionally important α-GAL and α-NAGAL proteins. As infection, parasite maturation and host interactions are all governed by carefully-regulated glycosylation processes, inhibiting S. mansoni’s α-GAL and α-NAGAL activities could lead to the development of novel chemotherapeutics. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of putative α-GAL/α-NAGAL protein types showed Smp_089290 to be the only S. mansoni protein to contain the functional amino acid residues necessary for α-GAL/α-NAGAL substrate cleavage. Both α-GAL and α-NAGAL enzymatic activities were higher in females compared to males (p<0.05; α-NAGAL > α-GAL), which was consistent with smp_089290’s female biased expression. Spatial localisation of smp_089290 revealed accumulation in parenchymal cells, neuronal cells, and the vitellaria and mature vitellocytes of the adult schistosome. siRNA-mediated knockdown (>90%) of smp_089290 in adult worms significantly inhibited α-NAGAL activity when compared to control worms (siLuc treated males, p<0.01; siLuc treated females, p<0.05). No significant reductions in α-GAL activities were observed in the same extracts. Despite this, decreases in α-NAGAL activities correlated with a significant inhibition in adult worm motility as well as in egg production. Programmed CRISPR/Cas9 editing of smp_089290 in adult worms confirmed the egg reduction phenotype. Based on these results, Smp_089290 was determined to act predominantly as an α-NAGAL (hereafter termed SmNAGAL) in schistosome parasites where it participates in coordinating movement and oviposition processes. Further characterisation of SmNAGAL and other functionally important glycosyl hydrolases may lead to the development of a novel anthelmintic class of compounds.

Identification of Bovine miRNAs with the Potential to Affect Human Gene Expression

Milk and other products from large mammals have emerged during human evolution as an important source of nutrition. Recently, it has been recognized that exogenous miRNAs (mRNA inhibited RNA) contained in milk and other tissues of the mammalian body can enter the human body, which in turn have the ability to potentially regulate human metabolism by affecting gene expression. We studied for exogenous miRNAs from Bos taurus that are potentially contain miRNAs from milk and that could act postprandially as regulators of human gene expression. The interaction of 17,508 human genes with 1025 bta-miRNAs, including 245 raw milk miRNAs was studied. The milk bta-miR-151-5p, bta-miR-151-3p, bta-miRNA-320 each have 11 BSs (binding sites), and bta-miRNA-345-5p, bta-miRNA-614, bta-miRNA-1296b and bta-miRNA-149 has 12, 14, 15 and 26 BSs, respectively. The bta-miR-574-5p from cow’s milk had 209 human genes in mRNAs from one to 25 repeating BSs. We found 15 bta-miRNAs that have 100% complementarity to the mRNA of 13 human target genes. Another 12 miRNAs have BSs in the mRNA of 19 human genes with 98% complementarity. The bta-miR-11975, bta-miR-11976, and bta-miR-2885 BSs are located with the overlap of nucleotide sequences in the mRNA of human genes. Nucleotide sequences of BSs of these miRNAs in 5′UTR mRNA of human genes consisted of GCC repeats with a total length of 18 nucleotides (nt) in 18 genes, 21 nt in 11 genes, 24 nt in 14 genes, and 27–48 nt in nine genes. Nucleotide sequences of BSs of bta-miR-11975, bta-miR-11976, and bta-miR-2885 in CDS mRNA of human genes consisted of GCC repeats with a total length of 18 nt in 33 genes, 21 nt in 13 genes, 24 nt in nine genes, and 27–36 nt in 11 genes. These BSs encoded polyA or polyP peptides. In only one case, the polyR (SLC24A3 gene) was encoded. The possibility of regulating the expression of human genes by exogenous bovine miRNAs is discussed.

The characteristics of early-stage research into human genes are substantially different from subsequent research

Throughout the last 2 decades, several scholars observed that present day research into human genes rarely turns toward genes that had not already been extensively investigated in the past. Guided by hypotheses derived from studies of science and innovation, we present here a literature-wide data-driven meta-analysis to identify the specific scientific and organizational contexts that coincided with early-stage research into human genes throughout the past half century. We demonstrate that early-stage research into human genes differs in team size, citation impact, funding mechanisms, and publication outlet, but that generalized insights derived from studies of science and innovation only partially apply to early-stage research into human genes. Further, we demonstrate that, presently, genome biology accounts for most of the initial early-stage research, while subsequent early-stage research can engage other life sciences fields. We therefore anticipate that the specificity of our findings will enable scientists and policymakers to better promote early-stage research into human genes and increase overall innovation within the life sciences.

New genomic signals underlying the emergence of human proto-genes

De novo genes are novel genes which emerge from non-coding DNA. Until now, little is known about de novo genes properties, correlated to their age and mechanisms of emergence. In this study, we investigate four properties: introns, upstream regulatory motifs, 5 prime UTRs and protein domains, in 23135 human proto-genes. We found that proto-genes contain introns, whose number and position correlates with the genomic position of proto-gene emergence. The origin of these introns is debated, as our result suggest that 41% proto-genes might have captured existing introns, as well as the fact that 13.7% of them do not splice the ORF. We show that proto-genes which emerged via overprinting tend to be more enriched in core promotor motifs, while intergenic and intronic ones are more enriched in enhancers, even if the motif TATA is most expressed upstream these genes. Intergenic and intronic 5 prime UTRs of proto-genes have a lower potential to stabilise mRNA structures than exonic proto-genes and established human genes. Finally, we confirm that proto-genes gain new putative domains with age. Overall, we find that regulatory motifs inducing transcription and translation of previously non-coding sequences may facilitate proto-gene emergence. Our paper demonstrates that introns, 5 prime UTRs, and domains have specific properties in proto-genes. We also show the importance of studying proto-genes in relation to their genomic position, as it strongly impacts these properties.

The use of zebrafish to evaluate neuropharmacology of the gold nanoparticles

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a vertebrate animal used in animal model research with complex brains and behaviors similar to humans and associate with low coast become a model attractive for the academic community to seek zebrafish for scientific research. Studies on diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) have advanced and news therapeutic agents were developed for treatment these disorders. Reports suggest that the zebrafish model supports the neurodegenerative studies due functional conservation between human genes implicated in neurodegenerative disorders. The discovery of therapeutic compounds for CNS using the zebrafish model allows to show a neuroprotective action or neurotoxicity that might alter the behavioral changes. Neurotoxicity tests might perform in zebrafish’s embryos into 96 multi-well plates, which reduces the amount of substances used and cost. The bioactive compounds able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) have important role physicochemical properties that might be desirable pharmacological effects and zebrafish trials allow if the substances might penetrate BBB and to exert central activity. The assays zebrafish are used to analyze nanoparticles that are small molecules used to explore variety applications in human health. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has important properties which are extremely interest for pharmaceutical area such as drug delivery, cellular imaging, diagnostics, and therapeutic agents. Gold nanoparticles enhances Parkinson symptoms and improved neuroinflammation. Some studies show zebrafish might use to evaluate gold nanoparticles for human health hazard and toxicity studies. There is enormous potential for zebrafish in preclinical assays due to predict pharmacological and toxicity effects. Specific guidelines focused on methodologies in the zebrafish are needed to ensure adequate reproducible trials.

Neuropsychiatric Adverse Events of Montelukast: An Analysis of Real-World Datasets and drug−gene Interaction Network

Montelukast is a selective leukotriene receptor antagonist that is widely used to treat bronchial asthma and nasal allergy. To clarify the association between montelukast and neuropsychiatric adverse events (AEs), we evaluated case reports recorded between January 2004 and December 2018 in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Furthermore, we elucidated the potential toxicological mechanisms of montelukast-associated neuropsychiatric AEs through functional enrichment analysis of human genes interacting with montelukast. The reporting odds ratios of suicidal ideation and depression in the system organ class of psychiatric disorders were 21.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 20.3–22.9) and 8.2 (95% CI: 7.8–8.7), respectively. We explored 1,144 human genes that directly or indirectly interact with montelukast. The molecular complex detection (MCODE) plug-in of Cytoscape detected 14 clusters. Functional analysis indicated that several genes were significantly enriched in the biological processes of “neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction.” “Mood disorders” and “major depressive disorder” were significant disease terms related to montelukast. Our retrospective analysis based on the FAERS demonstrated a significant association between montelukast and neuropsychiatric AEs. Functional enrichment analysis of montelukast-associated genes related to neuropsychiatric symptoms warrant further research on the underlying pharmacological mechanisms.

A gene-centric approach to biomarker discovery identifies transglutaminase 1 as an epidermal autoantigen

Autoantigen discovery is a critical challenge for the understanding and diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. While autoantibody markers in current clinical use have been identified through studies focused on individual disorders, we postulated that a reverse approach starting with a putative autoantigen to explore multiple disorders might hold promise. We here targeted the epidermal protein transglutaminase 1 (TGM1) as a member of a protein family prone to autoimmune attack. By screening sera from patients with various acquired skin disorders, we identified seropositive subjects with the blistering mucocutaneous disease paraneoplastic pemphigus. Validation in further subjects confirmed TGM1 autoantibodies as a 55% sensitive and 100% specific marker for paraneoplastic pemphigus. This gene-centric approach leverages the wealth of data available for human genes and may prove generally applicable for biomarker discovery in autoimmune diseases.

Integrative Analysis of Key Genes and Signaling Pathways By Bioinformatics in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Combined with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Although the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unclear. We investigated the key genes and signaling pathways common to T1D and AMI. First, we screened differentially expressed genes (DEGs) co-expressed by T1D and AMI through gene expression synthesis (GEO) database and text mining. David database was used for enrichment and functional analysis of selected genes. The interaction between proteins (PPI) was created using STRING and Cytoscape software. MCODE is used for module analysis of PPI network. A total of 74 human genes that met the criteria were found in T1D and AMI. The first 10 central genes include STAT3, ITGAM, MMP9, ERBB2, MAPK3, FOS, MYD88, MAPK1, TFRC and TNFRSF1A.The establishment of the aforementioned key genes might serve as novel biomarkers for precision diagnosis and providing medical treatment for the occurrence of AMI in T1D patients in the future.

The Human Genes That Link Middle-Age Comorbidities And Alzheimer’s Disease

Advancements in biomedical research have identified the genes influencing life spans, stress resistance and age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Stress resistance includes resistance to multiple forms of stress, pathogens and toxic beta-amyloid which is tightly associated with Alzheimer’s disease. We have investigated 431 human genes that are associated with co-morbidities (Vahdati Nia et al, 2017; Le et al., 2020). Those genes are involved in lipid metabolism, hemostasis, hemostasis, neuroendocrine and immune functions. The genes are relevant to middle-life health. We explore a wide variety of co-morbidities that could happen in middle to late life. I will give a brief review of increased stress resistance, and genetic markers associated with co-morbidities. I will discuss how the studies may benefit to fight against COVID-19. References: 1. Vahdati Nia B, Kang C, Tran MG, Lee D, Murakami, S. (2017) Front. Genet. 8:55. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00055 2. Le D, Crouch N, Villanueva A, Phong Ta, Dmitriyev R, Tunzi M, and Murakami S. (2020) Journal of Neurology and Experimental Neuroscience. 6;S1.