Mucin Biopolymers As Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents

Mucus is a porous biopolymer matrix that coats all wet epithelia in the human body and serves as the first line of defense against many pathogenic bacteria and viruses. However, under certain conditions viruses are able to penetrate this infection barrier, which compromises the protective function of native mucus. Here, we find that isolated porcine gastric mucin polymers, key structural components of native mucus, can protect an underlying cell layer from infection by small viruses such as human papillomavirus (HPV), Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), or a strain of influenza A virus. Single particle analysis of virus mobility inside the mucin barrier reveals that this shielding effect is in part based on a retardation of virus diffusion inside the biopolymer matrix. Our findings suggest that purified mucins may be used as a broad-range antiviral supplement to personal hygiene products, baby formula or lubricants to support our immune system.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant P30-ES002109)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant P50-GM068763)German Academic Exchange Service (Postdoctoral fellowship

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Videogame-based group therapy to improve self-awareness and social skills after traumatic brain injury

[EN] Background: This study determines the feasibility of different approaches to integrative videogame-based group therapy for improving self-awareness, social skills, and behaviors among traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims and retrieves participant feedback. Methods: Forty-two adult TBI survivors were included in a longitudinal study with a pre- and post-assessments. The experimental intervention involved weekly one-hour sessions conducted over six months. Participants were assessed using the Self-Awareness Deficits Interview (SADI), Patient Competency Rating Scale (PCRS), the Social Skills Scale (SSS), the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), the System Usability Scale (SUS). Pearson's chi-squared test (χ 2 ) was applied to determine the percentage of participants who had changed their clinical classification in these tests. Feedback of the intervention was collected through the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Results: SADI results showed an improvement in participant perceptions of deficits (χ 2 = 5.25, p < 0.05), of their implications (χ 2 = 4.71, p < 0.05), and of long-term planning (χ 2 = 7.86, p < 0.01). PCRS results confirm these findings (χ 2 = 5.79, p < 0.05). SSS results were also positive with respect to social skills outcomes (χ 2 = 17.52, p < 0.01), and FrSBe results showed behavioral improvements (χ 2 = 34.12, p < 0.01). Participants deemed the system accessible (80.43 ± 8.01 out of 100) and regarded the intervention as interesting and useful (5.74 ± 0.69 out of 7). Conclusions: Integrative videogame-based group therapy can improve self-awareness, social skills, and behaviors among individuals with chronic TBI, and the approach is considered effective and motivating.This study was funded in part by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (Project TEREHA, IDI-20110844; and NeuroVR, TIN2013-44741-R), by Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia of Spain (Projects Consolider-C, SEJ2006-14301/PSIC; and "CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, an initiative of ISCIII"), and by the Excellence Research Program PROMETEO (Generalitat Valenciana. Conselleria de Educacion, 2008-157).Llorens Rodríguez, R.; Noé Sebastián, E.; Ferri, J.; Alcañiz Raya, ML. (2015). Videogame-based group therapy to improve self-awareness and social skills after traumatic brain injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. 12(37):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-015-0029-1S191237Sherer M, Bergloff P, Levin E, High Jr WM, Oden KE, Nick TG. 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Ribosomal protein gene sequence changes in erythromycin-resistant mutants of Escherichia coli.

The genes for ribosomal proteins L4 and L22 from two erythromycin-resistant mutants of Escherichia coli have been isolated and sequenced. In the L4 mutant, an A-to-G transition in codon 63 predicted a Lys-to-Glu change in the protein. In the L22 strain, a 9-bp deletion removed codons 82 to 84, eliminating the sequence Met-Lys-Arg from the protein. Consistent with these DNA changes, in comparison with wild-type proteins, both mutant proteins had reduced first-dimension mobilities in two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels. Complementation of each mutation by a wild-type gene on a plasmid vector resulted in increased erythromycin sensitivity in the partial-diploid strains. The fraction of ribosomes containing the mutant form of the protein was increased by growth in the presence of erythromycin. Erythromycin binding was increased by the fraction of wild-type protein present in the ribosome population. The strain with the L4 mutation was found to be cold sensitive for growth at 20 degrees C, and 50S-subunit assembly was impaired at this temperature. The mutated sequences are highly conserved in the corresponding proteins from a number of species. The results indicate the participation of these proteins in the interaction of erythromycin with the ribosome