Profiling of Genes Related to Cross Protection and Competition for NbTOM1 by HLSV and TMV

10.1371/journal.pone.0073725PLoS ONE89-POLN

Evaluation of Leishmania donovani Protein Disulfide Isomerase as a Potential Immunogenic Protein/Vaccine Candidate against Visceral Leishmaniasis

In Leishmania species, Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) - a redox chaperone, is reported to be involved in its virulence and survival. This protein has also been identified, through proteomics, as a Th1 stimulatory protein in the soluble lysate of a clinical isolate of Leishmania donovani (LdPDI). In the present study, the molecular characterization of LdPDI was carried out and the immunogenicity of recombinant LdPDI (rLdPDI) was assessed by lymphocyte proliferation assay (LTT), nitric oxide (NO) production, estimation of Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-12) as well as IL-10 in PBMCs of cured/endemic/infected Leishmania patients and cured L. donovani infected hamsters. A significantly higher proliferative response against rLdPDI as well as elevated levels of IFN-γ and IL-12 were observed. The level of IL-10 was found to be highly down regulated in response to rLdPDI. A significant increase in the level of NO production in stimulated hamster macrophages as well as IgG2 antibody and a low level of IgG1 in cured patient's serum was observed. Higher level of IgG2 antibody indicated its Th1 stimulatory potential. The efficacy of pcDNA-LdPDI construct was further evaluated for its prophylactic potential. Vaccination with this construct conferred remarkably good prophylactic efficacy (∼90%) and generated a robust cellular immune response with significant increases in the levels of iNOS transcript as well as TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-12 cytokines. This was further supported by the high level of IgG2 antibody in vaccinated animals. The in vitro as well as in vivo results thus indicate that LdPDI may be exploited as a potential vaccine candidate against visceral Leishmaniasis (VL)

Enhancing the double exchange interaction in a mixed valence {V-III-V-II} pair: a theoretical perspective

Combined DFT-TD-DFT methodology has been employed to fully characterise a mixed valence {V-II-V-III} complex of molecular formula [(PY5Me2)(2)V-2(m-5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolate)](4+). These calculations offer viable ways to enhance double-exchange parameters - a key ingredient in the synthesis of SMMs

What Controls the Sign and Magnitude of Magnetic Anisotropy in Tetrahedral Cobalt(II) Single-Ion Magnets?

© 2016 American Chemical Society. A family of mononuclear tetrahedral cobalt(II) thiourea complexes, [Co(L1)4](NO3)2 (1) and [Co(Lx)4](ClO4)2 where x = 2 (2), 3 (3), 4 (4) (where L1 = thiourea, L2 = 1,3-dibutylthiourea, L3 = 1,3-phenylethylthiourea, and L4 = 1,1,3,3-tetramethylthiourea), has been synthesized using a rationally designed synthetic approach, with the aim of stabilizing an Ising-type magnetic anisotropy (D). On the basis of direct-current, alternating-current, and hysteresis magnetic measurements and theoretical calculations, we have identified the factors that govern the sign and magnitude of D and ultimately the ability to design a single-ion magnet for a tetrahedral cobalt(II) ion. To better understand the magnetization relaxation dynamics, particularly for complexes 1 and 2, dilution experiments were performed using their diamagnetic analogues, which are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction with the general molecular formulas of [Zn(L1)4](NO3)2 (5) and [Zn(L2)4](ClO4)2 (6). Interestingly, intermolecular interactions are shown to play a role in quenching the quantum tunneling of magnetization in zero field, as evidenced in the hysteresis loop of 1. Complex 2 exhibits the largest Ueff value of 62 cm-1 and reveals open hysteresis loops below 4 K. Furthermore, the influence of the hyperfine interaction on the magnetization relaxation dynamics is witnessed in the hysteresis loops, allowing us to determine the electron/nuclear spin S(Co) = 3/2/I(Co) = 7/2 hyperfine coupling constant of 550 MHz, a method ideally suited to determine the hyperfine coupling constant of highly anisotropic metal ions stabilized with large D value, which are otherwise hard to determine by conventional methods such as electron paramagnetic resonance

A synthetic strategy for switching the single ion anisotropy in tetrahedral Co(II) complexes

Four novel mononuclear tetrahedral cobalt(II) complexes containing exocyclic mesoionic ligands of molecular formulae [Co-II(L-1)(X)(2)(MeCN)] X = Cl (1) or Br (2) and [Co-II(L-2)(X)(2)(MeCN)], X = Cl (3) or Br (4) have been reported. It is found that simple substitution of L-1 (Odonor in 1 and 2) by L-2 (S donor in 3 and 4) results in switching of the single ion magnetic anisotropy parameter (D) from positive to negative, with a significant change in magnitude

Modeling the structure of helical assemblies with experimental constraints in Rosetta

Determining high-resolution structures of proteins with helical symmetry can be challenging due to limitations in experimental data. In such instances, structure-based protein simulations driven by experimental data can provide a valuable approach for building models of helical assemblies. This chapter describes how the Rosetta macromolecular package can be used to model homomeric protein assemblies with helical symmetry in a range of modeling scenarios including energy refinement, symmetrical docking, comparative modeling, and de novo structure prediction. Data-guided structure modeling of helical assemblies with experimental information from electron density, X-ray fiber diffraction, solid-state NMR, and chemical cross-linking mass spectrometry is also described

Automated determination of fibrillar structures by simultaneous model building and fiber diffraction refinement.

For highly oriented fibrillar molecules, three-dimensional structures can often be determined from X-ray fiber diffraction data. However, because of limited information content, structure determination and validation can be challenging. We demonstrate that automated structure determination of protein fibers can be achieved by guiding the building of macromolecular models with fiber diffraction data. We illustrate the power of our approach by determining the structures of six bacteriophage viruses de novo using fiber diffraction data alone and together with solid-state NMR data. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of molecular replacement from monomeric and fibrillar templates by solving the structure of a plant virus using homology modeling and protein-protein docking. The generated models explain the experimental data to the same degree as deposited reference structures but with improved structural quality. We also developed a cross-validation method for model selection. The results highlight the power of fiber diffraction data as structural constraints