Study on the interaction between DNA-binding domain (DBD) of human androgen receptor (AR) and SWIRM domain of lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1)

Poster Presentation: abstract no. A09Gene regulations of prokaryotes and eukaryotes are different. Prokaryotic gene regulation requires simply binding of regulatory proteins to help with or avoid forming transcription complex. For eukaryotes like humans, however, their regulation needs “chromatin remodeling” with the association of regulatory proteins involving the opening up of DNA‐histone protein complex chromatin and unwinding DNA. Without remodeling, RNA polymerases responsible of the transcription process cannot get access and perform …postprin

Structure-function study of ubiquitin c-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) by NMR spectroscopy - insights into UCH-L1 mutation's association with the risk of Parkinson's disease

Poster Presentation: P72Protein ubiquitination and deubiquitination, play important roles in many aspects of cellular mechanisms. Its defective regulation results in diseases that range from developmental abnormalities to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) is a protein of 223 amino acids, which is highly abundant in brain, constituting up to 2% of total brain proteins. Although it was originally characterized as a deubiquitinating enzyme, recent studies indicate that it also functions as a ubiquitin ligase and a mono-Ub stabilizer. Down-regulation and extensive oxidative modifications of UCH-L1 have been observed in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Of importance, I93M and S18Y point mutations in the UCH-L1 gene have been reported to be linked to susceptibility to and protection from PD respectively. Hence, the structure of UCH-L1 and the effects of disease associated mutations on the structure and function are of considerable interest. Our circular dichroism studies suggest that the S18Y point mutation only slightly perturbs the structure while a significant decrease in the α-helical content is observed in the I93M mutant. We have determined the solution structure of S18Y and mapping its interaction with ubiquitin by chemical shift perturbation approach. The electrostatic surface potential analysis reveals that the interaction between ubiquitin and UCH-L1-S18Y is primarily electrostatic in nature, with negatively charged residues on the surface of UCH-L1-S18Y interacting with the positively charged residues on the basic face of ubiquitin. Although the active site and the L8 loop in UCH-L1-S18Y adopts conformations similar to that observed in the crystal structure of UCH-L1-WT, both the altered hydrogen bond network and surface charge distributions have demonstrated that the S18Y substitution could lead to profound structural changes. In particular, the difference in the dimeric interfaces of the wild-type and the S18Y mutant has shown that mutation can significantly affect the distribution of the surface-exposed residues involved in the dimeric interface. Such observed difference might weaken the stability of the UCH-L1 dimer and hence may explain the reduced dimerization-dependent ligase activity of UCH-L1-S18Y in comparison to UCH-L1-WT.postprin

Comparison of the degradations of diphenamid by homogeneous photolysis and heterogeneous photocatalysis in aqueous solution

2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Effects of dissolved oxygen, pH, and anions on the 2,3-dichlorophenol degradation by photocatalytic reaction with anodic TiO?nanotube films

2008-2009 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive flavones from premna odorata blanco

Premna odorata Blanco (Verbenaceae) is a native tree of the Philippines where its leaves are used traditionally for vaginal irrigation and tuberculosis. It is one of the seven components of a commercialized Philippine herbal preparation called "Pito-Pito". Its medicinal uses, however, have not been scientifically validated. This tree is not commonly cultivated and thrive in the less accessible limestone forests of the Philippines. Solvent partitioning and fractionation of the ethanolic crude extract of the leaves isolated two yellow amorphous powders. The identities of these compounds were determined by LC/MS/MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses, and their spectra were compared with literature data. The isolates were flavone aglycones which were the widespread acacetin and the nonwidespread diosmetin. These flavones were isolated from the P. odorata for the first time ever. They had been reported by earlier studies to exhibit medicinal properties as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive. Thus, the current study has provided a scientific evidence of the medicinal properties of the leaves of P. odorata that could become the popular basis for the plant's sustainable use, conservation and cultivation. © 2011 Academic Journals.published_or_final_versio

Solution structure of the dimerization domain of the eurkaryotic stalk P1/P2 complex reveals the structural organization of the eukaryotic stalk

Poster Presentation: abstract A01The lateral ribosomal stalk is responsible for the kingdom‐specific binding of translation factors and activation of GTP hydrolysis during protein synthesis. The eukaryotic stalk consists of the scaffold P0 protein which binds two copies of P1/P2 hetero‐dimers to form a P0(P1/P2)2 pentameric P‐complex. The structure of the eukaryotic stalk is currently not known. To provide a better understanding on the structural organization of eukaryotic stalk, we have determined the solution structure of the N‐terminal dimerization domain …postprin

Interaction between maize ribosome-inactivating protein and ribosomes

Poster Presentation: abstract no. A11Ribosome‐inactivating proteins (RIPs) represent a group of N‐glycosidases which can cleave the N‐glycosidic bond of adenine at 23S and 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of ribosome and subsequently lead to a halt of protein synthesis and cell death. Regardless to the universal rRNA target, the highly conserved catalytic residues and consensus tertiary structure of RIPs, the activity of RIPs is highly deviated. It is known …postprin

A DNA vaccine targeting TcdA and TcdB induces protective immunity against Clostridium difficile

published_or_final_versio

Metabolomic Profiling of Plasma from Melioidosis Patients Using UHPLC-QTOF MS Reveals Novel Biomarkers for Diagnosis

© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.To identify potential biomarkers for improving diagnosis of melioidosis, we compared plasma metabolome profiles of melioidosis patients compared to patients with other bacteremia and controls without active infection, using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the metabolomic profiles of melioidosis patients are distinguishable from bacteremia patients and controls. Using multivariate and univariate analysis, 12 significant metabolites from four lipid classes, acylcarnitine (n = 6), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LysoPE) (n = 3), sphingomyelins (SM) (n = 2) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) (n = 1), with significantly higher levels in melioidosis patients than bacteremia patients and controls, were identified. Ten of the 12 metabolites showed area-under-receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) >0.80 when compared both between melioidosis and bacteremia patients, and between melioidosis patients and controls. SM(d18:2/16:0) possessed the largest AUC when compared, both between melioidosis and bacteremia patients (AUC 0.998, sensitivity 100% and specificity 91.7%), and between melioidosis patients and controls (AUC 1.000, sensitivity 96.7% and specificity 100%). Our results indicate that metabolome profiling might serve as a promising approach for diagnosis of melioidosis using patient plasma, with SM(d18:2/16:0) representing a potential biomarker. Since the 12 metabolites were related to various pathways for energy and lipid metabolism, further studies may reveal their possible role in the pathogenesis and host response in melioidosis.published_or_final_versio