DisProt in 2022: improved quality and accessibility of protein intrinsic disorder annotation

The Database of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (DisProt, URL: https://disprot.org) is the major repository of manually curated annotations of intrinsically disordered proteins and regions from the literature. We report here recent updates of DisProt version 9, including a restyled web interface, refactored Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Ontology (IDPO), improvements in the curation process and significant content growth of around 30%. Higher quality and consistency of annotations is provided by a newly implemented reviewing process and training of curators. The increased curation capacity is fostered by the integration of DisProt with APICURON, a dedicated resource for the proper attribution and recognition of biocuration efforts. Better interoperability is provided through the adoption of the Minimum Information About Disorder (MIADE) standard, an active collaboration with the Gene Ontology (GO) and Evidence and Conclusion Ontology (ECO) consortia and the support of the ELIXIR infrastructure.Fil: Quaglia, Federica. Università di Padova; Italia. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; ItaliaFil: Mészáros, Bálint. European Molecular Biology Laboratory; AlemaniaFil: Salladini, Edoardo. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Hatos, András. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Pancsa, Rita. Research Centre for Natural Sciences; HungríaFil: Chemes, Lucia Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pajkos, Mátyás. Eötvös Loránd University; HungríaFil: Lazar, Tamas. Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnology; Hungría. Vrije Unviversiteit Brussel; BélgicaFil: Peña Díaz, Samuel. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Santos, Jaime. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Ács, Veronika. Research Centre for Natural Sciences; HungríaFil: Farahi, Nazanin. Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnology; Bélgica. Vrije Unviversiteit Brussel; BélgicaFil: Fichó, Erzsébet. Research Centre for Natural Sciences; HungríaFil: Aspromonte, Maria Cristina. Università di Padova; Italia. Città della Speranza Pediatric Research Institute; ItaliaFil: Bassot, Claudio. Stockholms Universitet; SueciaFil: Chasapi, Anastasia. Centre for Research & Technology Hellas; GreciaFil: Davey, Norman E.. Chester Beatty Laboratories; Reino UnidoFil: Davidović, Radoslav. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Laszlo Holland, Alicia Verónica. European Molecular Biology Laboratory; Alemania. Research Centre for Natural Sciences; HungríaFil: Elofsson, Arne. Stockholms Universitet; SueciaFil: Erdős, Gábor. Eötvös Loránd University; HungríaFil: Gaudet, Pascale. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; SuizaFil: Giglio, Michelle. University of Maryland School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Glavina, Juliana. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Iserte, Javier Alonso. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Iglesias, Valentín. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Kálmán, Zsófia. Pázmány Péter Catholic University; HungríaFil: Lambrughi, Matteo. Danish Cancer Society Research Center; DinamarcaFil: Leonardi, Emanuela. Università di Padova; Italia. Pediatric Research Institute Città della Speranza; ItaliaFil: Rodriguez Sawicki, Luciana. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Caractérisation des périodes de sécheresse sur le domaine de l'Afrique simulée par le Modèle Régional Canadien du Climat (MRCC5)

Les conséquences des changements climatiques sur la fréquence ainsi que sur l'intensité des précipitations auront un impact direct sur les périodes de sécheresse et par conséquent sur différents secteurs économiques tels que le secteur de l'agriculture. Ainsi, dans cette étude, l'habilité du Modèle Régional Canadien du Climat (MRCC5) à simuler les différentes caractéristiques des périodes de sécheresse est évaluée pour 4 seuils de précipitation soit 0.5 mm, 1 mm, 2 mm et 3 mm. Ces caractéristiques incluent le nombre de jours secs, le nombre de périodes de sécheresse ainsi que le maximum de jours consécutifs sans précipitation associé à une récurrence de 5 ans. Les résultats sont présentés pour des moyennes annuelles et saisonnières. L'erreur de performance est évaluée en comparant le MRCC5 piloté par ERA-Interim aux données d'analyses du GPCP pour le climat présent (1997-2008). L'erreur due aux conditions aux frontières c'est-à-dire les erreurs de pilotage du MRCC5, soit par CanESM2 et par ERA-Interim ainsi que l'évaluation de la valeur ajoutée du MRCC5 face au CanESM2 sont également analysées. L'analyse de ces caractéristiques est également faite dans un contexte de climat changeant pour deux périodes futures, soit 2041-2070 et 2071-2100 à l'aide du MRCC5 piloté par le modèle de circulation générale CanESM2 de même que par le modèle CanESM2 sous le scénario RCP 4.5. Les résultats suggèrent que le MRCC5 piloté par ERA-Interim a tendance à surestimer la moyenne annuelle du nombre de jours secs ainsi que le maximum de jours consécutifs sans précipitation associé à une récurrence de 5 ans dans la plupart des régions de l'Afrique et une tendance à sous-estimer le nombre de périodes de sécheresse. En général, l'erreur de performance est plus importante que l'erreur due aux conditions aux frontières pour les différentes caractéristiques de périodes de sécheresse. Pour les régions équatoriales, les changements appréhendés par le MRCC5 piloté par CanESM2 pour les différentes caractéristiques de périodes de sécheresse et pour deux périodes futures (2041-2070 et 2071-2100), suggèrent une augmentation significatives du nombre de jours secs ainsi que du maximum de jours consécutifs sans précipitation associé à une récurrence de 5 ans. Une diminution significative du nombre de périodes de sécheresse est aussi prévue.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Modèle Régional du Climat, Changement climatique, Jours secs, Nombre de périodes de sécheresse, Événement de faible récurrence, Afriqu

Impact of Diet on Gut Microbiota Composition and Microbiota-Associated Functions in Heart Failure: A Systematic Review of In Vivo Animal Studies

Heart failure (HF) represents a cardiovascular disease with high mortality and morbidity. The latest evidence shows that changes in the composition of the gut microbiota might play a pivotal role in the prevention and management of HF. This systematic review aims at assessing the potential associations between the diet, gut microbiota, and derived metabolites with the outcomes of HF. A systematic literature search was performed up to July 2022 on the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The PRISMA guidelines were followed when possible. The risk of bias was assessed with the SYRCLE and ARRIVE tools. A total of nine pre-clinical studies on animal models, with considerable heterogeneity in dietary interventions, were included. High-fiber/prebiotic diets (n = 4) and a diet rich in polyphenols (n = 1) modified the gut microbiota composition and increased microbial metabolites’ activities, linked with an improvement in HF outcomes, such as a reduction in systolic blood pressure, cardiac hypertrophy, and left ventricular thickness. A high-fat diet (n = 2) or a diet rich in choline (n = 2) induced an increase in TMAO and indole derivative production associated with a decrease in cardiac function, systemic endotoxemia, and inflammation and an increase in cardiac fibrosis and cardiac remodeling. Although results are retrieved from animal studies, this systematic review shows the key role of the diet—especially a high-fiber and prebiotic diet—on gut microbial metabolites in improving HF outcomes. Further studies on human cohorts are needed to identify personalized therapeutic dietary interventions to improve cardiometabolic health

CNTNAP2 mutations and autosomal dominant epilepsy with auditory features

Autosomal dominant epilepsy with auditory features (ADEAF) is clinically characterized by focal seizures with prominent auditory or aphasic auras and absence of structural brain abnormalities. Mutations in LGI1 and RELN genes account for the disorder in about 50% of ADEAF families. In a recent paper, a heterozygous intragenic deletion in the CNTNAP2 gene has been associated to ADEAF in a single family. We screened 28 ADEAF families for mutations in CNTNAP2 by next generation sequencing and copy number variation analyses and found no likely pathogenic mutations segregating with the disease. CNTNAP2 should be screened in genetically unsolved ADEAF families, but causative mutations are expected to be infrequent in this gene

MobiDB: 10 years of intrinsically disordered proteins

: The MobiDB database (URL: https://mobidb.org/) is a knowledge base of intrinsically disordered proteins. MobiDB aggregates disorder annotations derived from the literature and from experimental evidence along with predictions for all known protein sequences. MobiDB generates new knowledge and captures the functional significance of disordered regions by processing and combining complementary sources of information. Since its first release 10 years ago, the MobiDB database has evolved in order to improve the quality and coverage of protein disorder annotations and its accessibility. MobiDB has now reached its maturity in terms of data standardization and visualization. Here, we present a new release which focuses on the optimization of user experience and database content. The major advances compared to the previous version are the integration of AlphaFoldDB predictions and the re-implementation of the homology transfer pipeline, which expands manually curated annotations by two orders of magnitude. Finally, the entry page has been restyled in order to provide an overview of the available annotations along with two separate views that highlight structural disorder evidence and functions associated with different binding modes