Molecular Biology and Physiology
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyRsr1 Palmitoylation and GTPase Activity Status Differentially Coordinate Nuclear, Septin, and Vacuole Dynamics in Candida albicansUnderstanding how single eukaryotic cells self-organize to replicate and migrate is relevant to health and disease. In the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, the small GTPase, Rsr1, guides the directional growth of hyphae that invade human tissue during life-threatening infections. Rsr1 is a Ras-like GTPase and a homolog of the conserved Rap1 subfamily, which directs...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStructure-Based Modification of an Anti-neuraminidase Human Antibody Restores Protection Efficacy against the Drifted Influenza VirusThe immune system produces antibodies to protect the human body from harmful invaders. The monoclonal antibody (MAb) is one kind of effective antivirals. In this study, we isolated an antibody (Z2B3) from an H7N9 influenza virus-infected child. It shows cross-reactivity to both group 1 (N1) and group 2 (N9) neuraminidases (NAs) but is sensitive to N1 NA with a K432E substitution. Structural analysis of the NA-antibody fragment antigen-...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCopy Number of an Integron-Encoded Antibiotic Resistance Locus Regulates a Virulence and Opacity Switch in Acinetobacter baumannii AB5075Acinetobacter baumannii remains a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Widespread multidrug resistance in this species has prompted the WHO to name carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii as its top priority for research and development of new antibiotics. Many strains of...
Minireview | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFun(gi)omics: Advanced and Diverse Technologies to Explore Emerging Fungal Pathogens and Define Mechanisms of Antifungal ResistanceThe landscape of infectious fungal agents includes previously unidentified or rare pathogens with the potential to cause unprecedented casualties in biodiversity, food security, and human health. The influences of human activity, including the crisis of climate change, along with globalized transport, are underlying factors shaping fungal adaptation to increased temperature and expanded geographical regions. Furthermore, the emergence...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Unconventional Cytoplasmic Sensing Mechanism for Ethanol Chemotaxis in Bacillus subtilisEthanol is a chemoattractant for Bacillus subtilis even though it is not metabolized and inhibits growth. B. subtilis likely uses ethanol to find ethanol-fermenting microorganisms to utilize as prey. Two chemoreceptors sense ethanol: HemAT and McpB. HemAT’s myoglobin-like sensing domain directly...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPhosphorylation of Rhoptry Protein RhopH3 Is Critical for Host Cell Invasion by the Malaria ParasiteHost cell invasion by the malaria parasite is critical for establishing infection in human host and is dependent on discharge of key ligands from organelles like rhoptry and microneme, and these ligands interact with host RBC receptors. In the present study, we demonstrate that phosphorylation of a key rhoptry protein, RhopH3, is critical for host invasion. Phosphorylation regulates its localization to rhoptries and discharge from the...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyHuman Cytomegalovirus Genomes Survive Mitosis via the IE19 Chromatin-Tethering DomainHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, represents a serious complication for immunocompromised HIV/AIDS and organ transplant patients, and contributes to both immunosenescence and cardiovascular diseases. HCMV is also implicated in cancers such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and infects ex vivo-cultured GBM tumor cells. In dividing tumor cells, the genomes of DNA tumor viruses regain...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Cu(II) Reductase RclA Protects Escherichia coli against the Combination of Hypochlorous Acid and Intracellular CopperDuring infection and inflammation, the innate immune system uses antimicrobial compounds to control bacterial populations. These include toxic metals, like copper, and reactive oxidants, including hypochlorous acid (HOCl). We have now found that RclA, a copper(II) reductase strongly induced by HOCl in proinflammatory Escherichia coli and found in many bacteria...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyBeyond Toxin Transport: Novel Role of ABC Transporter for Enzymatic Machinery of Cereulide NRPS Assembly LineThis study revealed a novel, potentially conserved mechanism involved in the biosynthesis of microbial natural products, exemplified by the mitochondrial active depsipeptide cereulide. Similar to other bioactive substances, such as the last-resort antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin, the antitumor drug cryptophycin or the cholesterol-lowering agent lovastatin, cereulide is synthesized nonribosomally by multienzyme machinery, requiring...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Key Motif in the Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysins Reveals a Large Family of Related ProteinsThe cholesterol-dependent cytolysins’ pore-forming mechanism relies on the ability to sense the completion of the oligomeric prepore structure and initiate the insertion of the β-barrel pore from the assembled prepore structure. These studies show that a conserved motif is an important component of the sensor that triggers the prepore-to-pore transition and that it is conserved in a large family of previously unidentified CDC-like...