261 research outputs found
How glycobiology can help us treat and beat the COVID-19 pandemic
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged during the last months of 2019, spreading throughout the world as a highly transmissible infectious illness designated as COVID-19. Vaccines have now appeared, but the challenges in producing sufficient material and distributing them around the world means that effective treatments to limit infection and improve recovery are still urgently needed. This review focuses on the relevance of different glycobiological molecules that could potentially serve as or inspire therapeutic tools during SARS-CoV-2 infection. As such, we highlight the glycobiology of the SARS-CoV-2 infection process, where glycans on viral proteins and on host glycosaminoglycans have critical roles in efficient infection. We also take notice of the glycan-binding proteins involved in the infective capacity of virus and in human defense. In addition, we critically evaluate the glycobiological contribution of candidate drugs for COVID-19 therapy such as glycans for vaccines, anti-glycan antibodies, recombinant lectins, lectin inhibitors, glycosidase inhibitors, polysaccharides, and numerous glycosides, emphasizing some opportunities to repurpose FDA-approved drugs. For the next-generation drugs suggested here, biotechnological engineering of new probes to block the SARS-CoV-2 infection might be based on the essential glycobiological insight on glycosyltransferases, glycans, glycan-binding proteins, and glycosidases related to this pathology.publishedVersionFil: Lardone, Ricardo Dante. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Lardone, Ricardo Dante. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Garay, Yohana Camila. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Garay, Yohana Camila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Parodi, Pedro. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Parodi, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: de la Fuente, Sofia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: de la Fuente, Sofia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Angeloni, Genaro. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Angeloni, Genaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Bravo, Eduardo O. Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Hospital Interzonal de Agudos San Roque de Gonnet; ArgentinaFil: Schmider, Anneke K. Psychiatrische Klinik Lüneburg; AlemaniaFil: Irazoqui, Fernando José. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Irazoqui, Fernando José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina
Spin Resolution of the Electron-Gas Correlation Energy: Positive same-spin contribution
The negative correlation energy per particle of a uniform electron gas of
density parameter and spin polarization is well known, but its
spin resolution into up-down, up-up, and down-down contributions is not.
Widely-used estimates are incorrect, and hamper the development of reliable
density functionals and pair distribution functions. For the spin resolution,
we present interpolations between high- and low-density limits that agree with
available Quantum Monte Carlo data. In the low-density limit for ,
we find that the same-spin correlation energy is unexpectedly positive, and we
explain why. We also estimate the up and down contributions to the kinetic
energy of correlation.Comment: new version, to appear in PRB Rapid Communicatio
Thioredoxin Interacting Protein Is Required for a Chronic Energy-Rich Diet to Promote Intestinal Fructose Absorption
Increased consumption of fats and added sugars has been associated with an increase in metabolic syndromes. Here we show that mice chronically fed an energy-rich diet (ERD) with high fat and moderate sucrose have enhanced the absorption of a gastrointestinal fructose load, and this required expression of the arrestin domain protein Txnip in the intestinal epithelial cells. ERD feeding induced gene and protein expression of Glut5, and this required the expression of Txnip. Furthermore, Txnip interacted with Rab11a, a small GTPase that facilitates the apical localization of Glut5. We also demonstrate that ERD promoted Txnip/Glut5 complexes in the apical intestinal epithelial cell. Our findings demonstrate that ERD facilitates fructose absorption through a Txnip-dependent mechanism in the intestinal epithelial cell, suggesting that increased fructose absorption could potentially provide a mechanism for worsening of metabolic syndromes in the setting of a chronic ERD
Differences in trait impulsivity indicate diversification of dog breeds into working and show lines
Impulsiveness describes the inability to inhibit behaviour in the presence of salient cues. Trait-level impulsivity exists on a continuum and individual differences can be adaptive in different contexts. While breed related differences in behavioural tendency in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) are well established, the phenomenon within lines of a breed which have been selected more recently is not well studied, although it may challenge the popular notion of breed-typical behaviour. We describe differences in impulsivity between and within two dog breeds with working and show lines selected for different levels of impulsivity: Border Collies (herding work) and Labrador Retrievers (gun work). Recent show line selection might have lessened differences in impulsivity between breeds. We tested this hypothesis on a dataset of 1161 individuals assessed using a validated psychometric tool (Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale - DIAS). Collies were more impulsive on average, consistent with the original purpose of breed selection. Regarding line, working Collies differed from working Labradors, but show lines from the two breeds were not significantly different. Altered or relaxed artificial selection for behavioural traits when appearance rather than behaviour become the primary focus for breeders may reduce average differences in impulsivity between breeds in show lines
The diameter of the CoRoT target HD 49933. Combining the 3D limb darkening, asteroseismology, and interferometry
Context. The interpretation of stellar pulsations in terms of internal
structure depends on the knowledge of the fundamental stellar parameters.
Long-base interferometers permit us to determine very accurate stellar radii,
which are independent constraints for stellar models that help us to locate the
star in the HR diagram. Aims: Using a direct interferometric determination of
the angular diameter and advanced three-dimensional (3D) modeling, we derive
the radius of the CoRoT target HD 49933 and reduce the global stellar parameter
space compatible with seismic data. Methods: The VEGA/CHARA
spectro-interferometer is used to measure the angular diameter of the star. A
3D radiative hydrodynamical simulation of the surface is performed to compute
the limb darkening and derive a reliable diameter from visibility curves. The
other fundamental stellar parameters (mass, age, and Teff) are found by fitting
the large and small p-mode frequency separations using a stellar evolution
model that includes microscopic diffusion. Results: We obtain a limb-darkened
angular diameter of {\theta}LD = 0.445 \pm 0.012 mas. With the Hipparcos
parallax, we obtain a radius of R = 1.42 \pm 0.04 Rsun. The corresponding
stellar evolution model that fits both large and small frequency separations
has a mass of 1.20 \pm 0.08 Msun and an age of 2.7 Gy. The atmospheric
parameters are Teff = 6640 \pm 100 K, log g = 4.21 \pm 0.14, and [Fe/H] =
-0.38.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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