Data on correlation between Aβ42 structural aggregation propensity and toxicity in bacteria

Protein aggregation and amyloid formation is a hallmark of an increasing number of human disorders. Because protein aggregation is deleterious for the cell physiology and results in a decrease in overall cell fitness, it is thought that natural selection acts to purify aggregating proteins during evolution. This data article contains complementary figures and results related to the research article entitled "Selection against toxic aggregation-prone protein sequences in bacteria" (Navarro et al., 2014) . Here, we used the AGGRESCAN3D (A3D) server, a novel in house predictor that forecasts protein aggregation properties in protein structures to illustrate a striking correlation between the structure-based predictions of aggregation propensities for Alzheimer's Aβ42 peptide variants and their previously reported deleterious effects in bacteria

Computational assessment of bacterial protein structures indicates a selection against aggregation

The aggregation of proteins compromises cell fitness, either because it titrates functional proteins into non-productive inclusions or because it results in the formation of toxic assemblies. Accordingly, computational proteome-wide analyses suggest that prevention of aggregation upon misfolding plays a key role in sequence evolution. Most proteins spend their lifetimes in a folded state; therefore, it is conceivable that, in addition to sequences, protein structures would have also evolved to minimize the risk of aggregation in their natural environments. By exploiting the AGGRESCAN3D structure-based approach to predict the aggregation propensity of >600 Escherichia coli proteins, we show that the structural aggregation propensity of globular proteins is connected with their abundance, length, essentiality, subcellular location and quaternary structure. These data suggest that the avoidance of protein aggregation has contributed to shape the structural properties of proteins in bacterial cells

The effects of the novel A53E alpha-synuclein mutation on its oligomerization and aggregation

Ajuts: TFO is supported by the DFG Center for Nanoscale Microscopy and Molecular Physiology of the Brain, by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), and by a grant from the Niedersachsisches Ministerium fur Wissenschaft und Kultur (MWK). TFO and SV are supported by a grant from Fundación La Marato de TV3 (Ref. 20144330). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.α-synuclein (aSyn) is associated with both sporadic and familial forms of Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. In particular, multiplications and point mutations in the gene encoding for aSyn cause familial forms of PD. Moreover, the accumulation of aSyn in Lewy Bodies and Lewy neurites in disorders such as PD, dementia with Lewy bodies, or multiple system atrophy, suggests aSyn misfolding and aggregation plays an important role in these disorders, collectively known as synucleinopathies. The exact function of aSyn remains unclear, but it is known to be associated with vesicles and membranes, and to have an impact on important cellular functions such as intracellular trafficking and protein degradation systems, leading to cellular pathologies that can be readily studied in cell-based models. Thus, understanding the molecular effects of aSyn point mutations may provide important insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying disease onset. We investigated the effect of the recently identified A53E aSyn mutation. Combining in vitro studies with studies in cell models, we found that this mutation reduces aSyn aggregation and increases proteasome activity, altering normal proteostasis. We observed that, in our experimental paradigms, the A53E mutation affects specific steps of the aggregation process of aSyn and different cellular processes, providing novel ideas about the molecular mechanisms involved in synucleinopathies. - The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40478-016-0402-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Wells turbine for wave energy conversion : a review

In the past twenty years, the use of wave energy systems has significantly increased, generally depending on the oscillating water column (OWC) concept. Wells turbine is one of the most efficient OWC technologies. This article provides an updated and a comprehensive account of the state of the art research on Wells turbine. Hence, it draws a roadmap for the contemporary challenges which may hinder future reliance on such systems in the renewable energy sector. In particular, the article is concerned with the research directions and methodologies which aim at enhancing the performance and efficiency of Wells turbine. The article also provides a thorough discussion of the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for performance modeling and design optimization of Wells turbine. It is found that a numerical model using the CFD code can be employed successfully to calculate the performance characteristics of W-T as well as other experimental and analytical methods. The increase of research papers about CFD, especially in the last five years, indicates that there is a trend that considerably depends on the CFD method

The Naguib School of Sculpture

There is no abstract available for this thesis.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin

Heat transfer analysis of flat and louvered fin-and-tube heat exchangers using CFD

Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 30 June - 2 July, 2008.This paper analyzes the fluid flow and heat exchange on the air side of a multi-row fin-and-tube heat exchanger. A comparison is given between fin-and-tube heat exchanger characteristics with flat and louvered fins in a wider range of operating conditions defined by Reynolds number (based on fin spacing and air frontal velocities). The detailed representation of calculated data for the louvered heat exchanger shows significantly better heat transfer characteristics and a slightly higher pressure drop. The CFD procedure was validated by comparing the numerical simulation results with the experimental results showing minimal average Nusselt number deviation and almost perfectly corresponding pressure drop.vk201