Neisseria gonorrhoeae Penicillin-Binding Protein 3 Demonstrates a Pronounced Preference for N ε -Acylated Substrates

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are bacterial enzymes involved in the final stages of cell wall biosynthesis, and are the lethal targets of β-lactam antibiotics. Despite their importance, their roles in cell wall biosynthesis remain enigmatic. A series of eight substrates, based on variation of the pentapeptide Boc-L-Ala-γ-D-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala, were synthesized to test specificity for three features of PBP substrates: 1) the presence or absence of an Nε-acyl group, 2) the presence of D-IsoGln in place of γ-D-Glu, and 3) the presence or absence of the N-terminal L-Ala residue. The capacity of these peptides to serve as substrates for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) PBP3 was assessed. NG PBP3 demonstrated good catalytic efficiency (2.5 × 105 M−1sec−1) with the best of these substrates, with a pronounced preference (50-fold) for Nε-acylated substrates over Nε-nonacylated substrates. This observation suggests that NG PBP3 is specific for the ∼D-Ala-D-Ala moiety of pentapeptides engaged in cross-links in the bacterial cell wall, such that NG PBP3 would act after transpeptidase-catalyzed reactions generate the acylated amino group required for its specificity. NG PBP3 demonstrated low selectivity for γ-D-Glu vs D-IsoGln, and for the presence or absence of the terminal L-Ala residue. The implications of this substrate specificity of NG PBP3 with respect to its possible role in cell wall biosynthesis, and for understanding the substrate specificity of the LMM PBPs in general, are discussed

β-aminoisobutyric Acid, l-BAIBA, Is a Muscle-Derived Osteocyte Survival Factor

Summary: Exercise has beneficial effects on metabolism and on tissues. The exercise-induced muscle factor β-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) plays a critical role in the browning of white fat and in insulin resistance. Here we show another function for BAIBA, that of a bone-protective factor that prevents osteocyte cell death induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). l-BAIBA was as or more protective than estrogen or N-acetyl cysteine, signaling through the Mas-Related G Protein-Coupled Receptor Type D (MRGPRD) to prevent the breakdown of mitochondria due to ROS. BAIBA supplied in drinking water prevented bone loss and loss of muscle function in the murine hindlimb unloading model, a model of osteocyte apoptosis. The protective effect of BAIBA was lost with age, not due to loss of the muscle capacity to produce BAIBA but likely to reduced Mrgprd expression with aging. This has implications for understanding the attenuated effect of exercise on bone with aging

Individual differences in aversion to ambiguity regarding medical tests and treatments: association with cancer screening cognitions.

BACKGROUND: Aversion to ambiguity -uncertainty about the reliability, credibility, or adequacy of information-about medical tests and treatments is an important psychological response that varies among individuals, but little is known about its nature and extent. The purpose of this study was to examine how individual-level ambiguity aversion relates to important health cognitions related to different cancer screening tests. METHODS: A survey of 1,074 adults, ages 40 to 70 years, was conducted in four integrated U.S. healthcare systems. The Ambiguity Aversion in Medicine (AA-Med) scale, a measure of individual differences in aversion to ambiguity (AA) about medical tests and treatments, was administered along with measures of several cancer screening-related cognitions: perceived benefits and harms of colonoscopy, mammography, and PSA screening, and ambivalence and future intentions regarding these tests. Multivariable analyses were conducted to assess the associations between AA-Med scores and cancer screening cognitions. RESULTS: Individual-level AA as assessed by the AA-Med scale was significantly associated (P \u3c 0.05) with lower perceived benefits, greater perceived harms, and greater ambivalence about all three screening tests, and lower intentions for colonoscopy but not mammography or PSA screening. CONCLUSION: Individual-level AA is broadly and simultaneously associated with various pessimistic cognitive appraisals of multiple cancer screening tests. The breadth of these associations suggests that the influence of individual-level AA is insensitive to the degree and nonspecific with respect to the causes of ambiguity. IMPACT: Individual-level AA constitutes a measurable, wide-ranging cognitive bias against medical intervention, and more research is needed to elucidate its mechanisms and effects