A Database of Alkaline-Earth-Coordinated Peptide Cross Sections: Insight into General Aspects of Structure

Abstract. A database of 1470 collision cross sections (666 doubly-and 804 triplycharged) of alkaline-earth-coordinated tryptic peptide ions [where the cation (M 2+ ) correspond to Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , or Ba 2+ ] is presented. The utility of such an extensive set of measurements is illustrated by extraction of general properties of M 2+ -coordinated peptide structures. Specifically, we derive sets of intrinsic size parameters (ISPs) for individual amino acid residues for M 2+ -coordinated peptides. Comparison of these parameters with existing ISPs for protonated peptides suggests that M 2+ binding occurs primarily through interactions with specific polar aliphatic residues (Asp, Ser, and Thr) and the peptide backbone. A comparison of binding interactions for these alkaline-earth metals with interactions reported previously for alkali metals is provided. Finally, we describe a new analysis in which ISPs are used as probes for assessing peptide structure based on amino acid composition

ELIXIR and Toxicology: a community in development [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Toxicology has been an active research field for many decades, with academic, industrial and government involvement. Modern omics and computational approaches are changing the field, from merely disease-specific observational models into target-specific predictive models. Traditionally, toxicology has strong links with other fields such as biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine. With the rise of synthetic and new engineered materials, alongside ongoing prioritisation needs in chemical risk assessment for existing chemicals, early predictive evaluations are becoming of utmost importance to both scientific and regulatory purposes. ELIXIR is an intergovernmental organisation that brings together life science resources from across Europe. To coordinate the linkage of various life science efforts around modern predictive toxicology, the establishment of a new ELIXIR Community is seen as instrumental. In the past few years, joint efforts, building on incidental overlap, have been piloted in the context of ELIXIR. For example, the EU-ToxRisk, diXa, HeCaToS, transQST, and the nanotoxicology community have worked with the ELIXIR TeSS, Bioschemas, and Compute Platforms and activities. In 2018, a core group of interested parties wrote a proposal, outlining a sketch of what this new ELIXIR Toxicology Community would look like. A recent workshop (held September 30th to October 1st, 2020) extended this into an ELIXIR Toxicology roadmap and a shortlist of limited investment-high gain collaborations to give body to this new community. This Whitepaper outlines the results of these efforts and defines our vision of the ELIXIR Toxicology Community and how it complements other ELIXIR activities

Development of a Sustainable Perchlorate-Free Yellow Pyrotechnic Signal Flare

Novel yellow-light emitting pyrotechnic compositions absent perchlorate oxidizers were investigated for use in the Mk 144 marine smoke and illumination signal. In laboratory-scale testing, three candidate formulations met or surpassed performance metrics of luminous intensity, dominant wavelength, color purity, and burn time when compared to a mock Mk 144 formulation which currently utilizes the environmentally hazardous potassium perchlorate. Also, one identified formulation does not utilize any barium compounds which may be the focus of future regulations. Furthermore, these candidate systems exhibited similar insensitivity to electrostatic, friction, and impact ignition stimuli in comparison to the mock Mk 144 formulation. Therefore, replacement formulations for the Mk 144 marine smoke and illumination signal have been identified with increased performance, environmental sustainability, and acceptable safety characteristics

Fructose decreases physical activity and increases body fat without affecting hippocampal neurogenesis and learning relative to an isocaloric glucose diet

Recent evidence suggests that fructose consumption is associated with weight gain, fat deposition and impaired cognitive function. However it is unclear whether the detrimental effects are caused by fructose itself or by the concurrent increase in overall energy intake. In the present study we examine the impact of a fructose diet relative to an isocaloric glucose diet in the absence of overfeeding, using a mouse model that mimics fructose intake in the top percentile of the USA population (18% energy). Following 77 days of supplementation, changes in body weight (BW), body fat, physical activity, cognitive performance and adult hippocampal neurogenesis were assessed. Despite the fact that no differences in calorie intake were observed between groups, the fructose animals displayed significantly increased BW, liver mass and fat mass in comparison to the glucose group. This was further accompanied by a significant reduction in physical activity in the fructose animals. Conversely, no differences were detected in hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive/motor performance as measured by object recognition, fear conditioning and rotorod tasks. The present study suggests that fructose per se, in the absence of excess energy intake, increases fat deposition and BW potentially by reducing physical activity, without impacting hippocampal neurogenesis or cognitive function