Blob-ology and biology of cryo-EM: an interview with Helen Saibil

Helen Saibil is Bernal Professor of Structural Biology at Birkbeck, University of London. After undergraduate work at McGill University, Canada, Helen moved to London for her PhD at Kings College. After stints at CEA Grenoble and the University of Oxford, she moved to Birkbeck where her lab studies the operation of macromolecular machinery—including molecular chaperones, protein folding/misfolding, and host cell interactions with pathogens. Helen is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and an Honorary Member of both the British Biophysical Society and the Royal Microscopical Society. She talked to us about the background, recent developments, and future prospects in cryo-electron microscopy

Does The Banking Information System Affect Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty?

This research examines customer satisfaction and loyalty in Islamic banking in the use of internet banking. The research was conducted based on the increase in e-banking users in Islamic banking in Indonesia. E-banking is one of the banking information system services needed today. The research method was carried out using the method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through AMOS and SPSS software. Meanwhile, data collection is carried out through an online survey via a google form. The online survey found 154 respondents of which 27% were from Central Java Province and 47% from the Special Region of Yogyakarta with simple random analysis sample analysis. This study shows that internet banking adoption has a significant effect on customers in Islamic banking, while satisfaction is very large in mediating the relationship between internet banking use and customer loyalty in Islamic banking. Theoretically, this study implies that the banking information system, especially in internet banking, plays an important role in providing service and satisfaction and has a significant effect on customer loyalty

The Influence of Hr Information Systems, Competence, and Work Discipline on Work Productivity Post-Merger Bank Syariah Indonesia: (Branch Mataram Pajenggik 1)

ABSTRACT Research Aims: HR information systems, competencies, and work discipline are the independent variables while work productivity is the dependent variable used. Methodology: The case studies that became the research population were employees of Bank Syariah Indonesia Mataram Pejanggik 1 Branch Office. This research is a quantitative research with saturated sampling technique used in determining the sample. The distribution of respondents obtained was 40 filled out questionnaires. Data analysis method with IBM SPSS 26 because it uses multiple linear regression analysis. Research Findings: The results of this study were obtained   simultaneously from the three variables influencing employee work productivity. Meanwhile, if partially obtained the results of information system variables, and work discipline have a positive and significant effect on work productivity. But the competency variable partially has no positive and significant effect on employee work productivity. The results of this study are that Bank Syariah Indonesia Pejanggik 1 Branch has implemented an HR information system that is accurate and clear, as well as good work discipline, even though there are still employees who are not competent in their fields

Niat dan Perilaku Mahasiswa di Indonesia untuk Bertransaksi ZISWAF Secara Digital Melalui Layanan M-Banking Syariah

This research is to analyze the behavior and intentions of students to transact ZISWAF digitally through sharia m-banking services. This study uses the expansion of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use to Technology (UTAUT) model by adding the trust construct. Data collection used the Google form with a sample of students who had ZISWAF digitally through sharia m-banking with a sample of 97 respondents. The research findings show that the intention to participate in ZISWAF through sharia m-banking is influenced by social influence, facilitating conditions and trust. However, the variable performance expectations and effort expectations are not significant to behavioral intentions. Meanwhile, adoption behavior (usage adoption) is influenced by beliefs and behavioral intentions which significantly influence the adoption of sharia m-banking services for students with ZISWAF among students in Indonesia

Prion aggregate structure in yeast cells is determined by the Hsp104-Hsp110 disaggregase machinery

Prions consist of misfolded proteins that have adopted an infectious amyloid conformation. In vivo, prion biogenesis is intimately associated with the protein quality control machinery. Using electron tomography, we probed the effects of the heat shock protein Hsp70 chaperone system on the structure of a model yeast [PSI+] prion in situ. Individual Hsp70 deletions shift the balance between fibril assembly and disassembly, resulting in a variable shell of nonfibrillar, but still immobile, aggregates at the surface of the [PSI+] prion deposits. Both Hsp104 (an Hsp100 disaggregase) and Sse1 (the major yeast form of Hsp110) were localized to this surface shell of [PSI+] deposits in the deletion mutants. Elevation of Hsp104 expression promoted the appearance of this novel, nonfibrillar form of the prion aggregate. Moreover, Sse1 was found to regulate prion fibril length. Our studies reveal a key role for Sse1 (Hsp110), in cooperation with Hsp104, in regulating the length and assembly state of [PSI+] prion fibrils in vivo

Generation Z's Interest in Digital Wallet Payments in Islamic Mobile Banking During a Pandemic

Purpose - This research was conducted to see interest in digital wallet payments in mobile banking applications using the TAM and TPB theories.Methods - This study tested the hypothesis using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the SmartPLS 3.0 application.Results - The results showed that there was a positive influence on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and subjective norms and significant on intention to use. Meanwhile, attitudes do not affect the intention to use Islamic mobile banking. So attitude is not a factor in Generation Z's intention to use mobile banking in digital wallet transactionsImplications - The population in this study is the Z generation which is carried out in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. A total of 111 respondents used purposive sampling method in determining the population sample.Originality - Respondents in this study have criteria, namely users of Islamic mobile banking and generation Z digital wallets conducted in the Special Region and during the Covid-19 pandemic

Mycobacterium tuberculosis chaperonin 10 forms stable tetrameric and heptameric structures. Implications for its diverse biological activities

The chaperonin activity of sequence-related chaperonin 10 proteins requires their aggregation into heptameric structures. We describe size-exclusion chromatography and ultracentrifugation studies that reveal that while Escherichia coli chaperonin 10 exists as a heptamer, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis chaperonin 10 is tetrameric in dilute solutions and in whole M. tuberculosis lysate. At high protein concentration and in the presence of saturating amounts of divalent ions, the protein is heptameric. Human chaperonin 10 is predominantly heptameric, although smaller oligomers were detected. These differences in structural assembly between species may explain differences in biological activity such as antigenicity. Using C-terminal and N-terminal fragments, sequence 1-25 was identified as indispensable for aggregation. CD spectroscopy studies revealed that (i) a minimum at 202-204 nm correlates with aggregation and characterizes not only the spectrum of the mycobacterial protein, but also those of E. coli and human chaperonin 10 proteins; (ii) the interactions between subunits are of the hydrophobic type; and (iii) the anti-parallel beta-pleated sheet is the main secondary structure element of subunits in both tetrameric and heptameric proteins

Chlamydiae assemble a pathogen synapse to hijack the host endoplasmic reticulum

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens that replicate within a specialised membrane-bound compartment, termed an ‘inclusion’. The inclusion membrane is a critical host-pathogen interface, yet the extent of its interaction with cellular organelles and the origin of this membrane remain poorly defined. Here we show that the host endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is specifically recruited to the inclusion, and that key rough ER (rER) proteins are enriched on and translocated into the inclusion. rER recruitment is a Chlamydia-orchestrated process that occurs independently of host trafficking. Generation of infectious progeny requires an intact ER, since ER vacuolation early during infection stalls inclusion development, whereas disruption post ER recruitment bursts the inclusion. Electron tomography and immunolabelling of Chlamydia-infected cells reveal ‘pathogen synapses’ at which ordered arrays of chlamydial type III secretion complexes connect to the inclusion membrane only at rER contact sites. Our data demonstrate a supramolecular assembly involved in pathogen hijack of a key host organelle

Cryo-EM of amyloid fibrils and cellular aggregates

Neurodegenerative and other protein misfolding diseases are associated with the aggregation of a protein, which may be mutated in genetic forms of disease, or the wild type form in late onset sporadic disease. A wide variety of proteins and peptides can be involved, with aggregation originating from a natively folded or a natively unstructured species. Large deposits of amyloid fibrils are typically associated with cell death in late stage pathology. In this review, we illustrate the contributions of cryo-EM and related methods to the structure determination of amyloid fibrils extracted post mortem from patient brains or formed in vitro. We also discuss cell models of protein aggregation and the contributions of electron tomography to understanding the cellular context of aggregation