Post translational modification of proteins

The gut ecosystem with myriads of microorganisms and the high concentration of immune system cells can be considered as a separate organ on its own. The balanced interaction between the host and microbial cells has been shaped during the long co-evolutionary process. In dysbiotic conditions, however, this balance is compromised and results in abnormal interaction between the host and microbiota. Celiac disease is such an example were dysbiotic and metabolic signature are shaping the disease progression in genetically susceptible individuals. Short chain fatty acids are bacterial originated metabolic messenger between the pathobionts and the intestinal mucosa. Their local luminal effects and systemic ones were just recently unraveled. Accumulating data attribute multiple beneficial effects to them. Changes in microbiota and their short-chain fatty acids production is clearly related to the pathogenesis of celiac disease and might open new therapeutic strategies to combat the disease.

For the last 10,000 years human beings consume cow's milk. Along the evolution, human gut adapted to consume animals' milks for man benefits. Poured cow's milk, dairy food and bacterial fermented dairy products contain multiple health promoting and therapeutic factors that might help in multiple autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease. The present review summarizes the celiac disease pathophysiology and dysfunctions that can benefit from cow's milk and dairy food health promoters, on the preventive as well as on the therapeutic levels. The extended list of milk originated, bio-reactive agents forms a basis, and hopefully the drive for further studies in order to explore the beneficial compound buried in this biologically active and natural fluid and dairy products.

Protein-glutamine γ-glutamyltransferases (transglutaminases, Tgs) belong to the class of transferases. They catalyze the formation of an isopeptide bond between the acyl group at the end of the side chain of protein- or peptide-bound glutamine residues and the first order 𝜀-amine groups of protein- or peptide-bound lysine. The Tgs are considered to be universal protein cross-linkers, and they play an essential role in a number of human diseases. In this review, we discuss mainly the bacterial Tgs in terms of the functionality of the enzymes and a potential role they may play in bacterial survival. Since microbial transglutaminases (mTgs) are functionally similar to the human homologs, they may be involved in the human disease provocation. We suggest here a potential involvement of Tgs in the pathologies such as autoimmune diseases. In this hypothesis, the endogenous mTgs that are secreted by the gut microbiota, especially in a dysbiotic configuration, are potential drivers of system...

Commercially available citric acid, diaminopropane and urea were used without any purification for the synthesis of CNDs. Milli-Q pure water was obtained from Milli-Q System (Millipore) and used in all synthetic and spectroscopic investigations. Spectroscopy grade solvents (ethanol and glycerol) were procured from M/s. S.D Fine Chemicals and used without further purification. 1.1 Synthesis of citric acid-urea based carbon nanodot: General Procedure An intimate mixture of citric acid (2 g, 10.4 mmol) and urea (1.88 g, 31.3 mmol) was heated to 210 0 C on a heating mantle for 10 min under atmospheric conditions (CND2) and N 2 conditions (CND1). The yellow-brown reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and dissolved in ethanol (10 ml). The ethanolic solution was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 10 min. Subsequently, the supernatant was concentrated and purified by column chromatography.

We explored the metagenomic, metabolomic and trace metal makeup of intestinal microbiota and environment in healthy male participants during the run-in (5 day) and the following three 21-day interventions: normoxic bedrest (NBR), hypoxic bedrest (HBR) and hypoxic ambulation (HAmb) which were carried out within a controlled laboratory environment (circadian rhythm, fluid and dietary intakes, microbial bioburden, oxygen level, exercise). The fraction of inspired O (FO) and partial pressure of inspired O (PO) were 0.209 and 133.1 ± 0.3 mmHg for the NBR and 0.141 ± 0.004 and 90.0 ± 0.4 mmHg (~4,000 m simulated altitude) for HBR and HAmb interventions, respectively. Shotgun metagenomes were analyzed at various taxonomic and functional levels, H- and C -metabolomes were processed using standard quantitative and human expert approaches, whereas metals were assessed using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Inactivity and hypoxia resulted in a significant increase in the genus in HBR, in genes...

Felieton w popularnej formie przybliża wiedzę na temat związków między zapachem oddechu lub ciała pacjenta - a chorobą która go dręczy. O istnieniu takich związków wiedzieli już starożytni medycy, ale ograniczona zdolność rozróżniania zapachów przez ludzki system percepcji węchowej powoduje, że ten rodzaj diagnostyki jest rzadko stosowany. Natomiast obecnie metoda ta powraca w kontekście możliwości wykrywania różnych zapachów przez odpowiednie analizatory elektroniczne ("sztuczny nos"), których czułość i specyficzność mogą być bardzo wysokie. Obecnie znamy ponad 100 substancji chemicznych, których obecność w oddechu pacjenta lub w zapachu jego ciała, sygnalizuje określoną chorobę, a nawet pozwala wykryć stopień jej zaawansowania.

The chemical nature of the non-tryptophan (non-Trp) fluorescence of porcine and human eye lens proteins was identified by Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Fluorescence Steady-State and Lifetime spectroscopy as post-translational modifications (PTM) of Trp and Arg amino acid residues. Fluorescence intensity profiles measured along the optical axis of human eye lenses with age-related nuclear cataract showed increasing concentration of fluorescent PTM towards the lens centre in accord with the increased optical density in the lens nucleolus. Significant differences between fluorescence lifetimes of “free” Trp derivatives hydroxytryptophan (OH-Trp), N-formylkynurenine (NFK), kynurenine (Kyn), hydroxykynurenine (OH-Kyn) and their residues were observed. Notably, the lifetime constants of these residues in a model peptide were considerably greater than those of their “free” counterparts. Fluorescence of Trp, its derivatives and argpyrimidine (ArgP) can be excited at the red edge of the Trp absorption band which allows normalisation of the emission spectra of these PTMs to the fluorescence intensity of Trp, to determine semi-quantitatively their concentration. We show that the cumulative fraction of OH-Trp, NFK and ArgP emission dominates the total fluorescence spectrum in both emulsified post-surgical human cataract protein samples, as well as in whole lenses and that this correlates strongly with cataract grade and age.

The gut ecosystem with myriads of microorganisms and the high concentration of immune system cells can be considered as a separate organ on its own. The balanced interaction between the host and microbial cells has been shaped during the long co-evolutionary process. In dysbiotic conditions, however, this balance is compromised and results in abnormal interaction between the host and microbiota. It is hypothesize here that the changed spectrum of microbial enzymes involved in post-translational modification of proteins (PTMP) may contribute to the aberrant modification of host proteins thus generating autoimmune responses by the host, resulting in autoimmune diseases.

Protection of currency and valuable documents from counterfeit continues to be a challenge. While there are many embedded security features available for document safety, they are not immune to forgery. Fluorescence is a sensitive property, which responds to external stimuli such as solvent polarity, temperature or mechanical stress, however practical use in security applications is hampered due to several reasons. Therefore, a simple and specific stimuli responsive security feature that is difficult to duplicate is of great demand. Herein we report the design of a fluorescent molecular assembly on which water behaves as a self-erasable security marker for checking the authenticity of documents at point of care. The underlying principle involves the disciplined self-assembly of a tailor-made fluorescent molecule, which initially form a weak blue fluorescence (λ em = 425 nm, Φ f = 0.13) and changes to cyan emission (λ em = 488 nm, Φ f = 0.18) in contact with water due to a reversible molecular slipping motion. This simple chemical tool, based on the principles of molecular self-assembly and fluorescence modulation, allows creation of security labels and optically masked barcodes for multiple documents authentication. Water is the gift of Nature to the mankind and is required for everything in life. Therefore, finding a new use for water is practically impossible without an out-of-box thinking 1–3. One such innovative thinking is whether a drop of water can secure the authenticity of a valuable document/currency or whether water can be used as environmentally benign ink for writing. Thoughts in this direction have resulted in a few reports on the use of water as marker/ink for writing 3,4. These reports describe specially coated papers on which water induces a visible colour change due to the structural changes of the coated chemical. A step ahead is the concept of invisible marker/ink that has significance in maintaining secrecy, which is possible through exploiting the phenomenon of fluorescence. Fluorescence is an extremely sensitive property of certain class of molecules and is visible only upon illuminating with a suitable source of light 5. Many aromatic molecules exhibit fluorescence and are widely used in materials and biology related applications, particularly in imaging and displays. Self-erasable, writing or printing is a novel concept of temporary communication, which allows the re-use of the writing medium for a certain period of time 6–9. Self-erasable printing inks reduce the usage of papers for printing and save millions of trees, helping reduction of green gas emission. Even though Xerox company came up with such an idea, the technology could not be successfully launched 10. Nevertheless, there are many other possibilities of using the concept of self-erasable writing, particularly on fluorescent medium 11. For example, such an idea can be exploited for creating reusable security labels for the protection of valuable documents such as currency bills 12. Every year, millions of different currencies are being counterfeited across the globe, which is considered as an act of economic