Search results for "DEGRADATION"

Analysis of Plasminogen Genetic Variants in Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

2016

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a prevalent neurological disease of complex etiology. Here, we describe the characterization of a multi-incident MS family that nominated a rare missense variant (p.G420D) in plasminogen (PLG) as a putative genetic risk factor for MS. Genotyping of PLG p.G420D (rs139071351) in 2160 MS patients, and 886 controls from Canada, identified 10 additional probands, two sporadic patients and one control with the variant. Segregation in families harboring the rs139071351 variant, identified p.G420D in 26 out of 30 family members diagnosed with MS, 14 unaffected parents, and 12 out of 30 family members not diagnosed with disease. Despite considerably reduced penetrance, lin…

2019

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to impaired cognition and memory consolidation. The acute phase (24–48 h) after TBI is often characterized by neural dysfunction in the vicinity of the lesion, but also in remote areas like the contralateral hemisphere. Protein homeostasis is crucial for synaptic long-term plasticity including the protein degradation systems, proteasome and autophagy. Still, little is known about the acute effects of TBI on synaptic long-term plasticity and protein degradation. Thus, we investigated TBI in a controlled cortical impact (CCI) model in the motor and somatosensory cortex of mice ex vivo-in vitro. Late long-term potentiation (l-LTP) was induced by theta-burs…

Thermophilic anaerobic conversion of raw microalgae: Microbial community diversity in high solids retention systems

2019

[EN] The potential of microbial communities for efficient anaerobic conversion of raw microalgae was evaluated in this work. A long-term operated thermophilic digester was fed with three different Organic Loading Rates (OLR) (0.2, 0.3 and 0.4¿g·L¿1·d¿1) reaching 32¿41% biodegradability values. The microbial community analysis revealed a remarkable presence of microorganisms that exhibit high hydrolytic capabilities such as Thermotogae (~44.5%), Firmicutes (~17.6%) and Dictyoglomi, Aminicenantes, Atribacteria and Planctomycetes (below ~5.5%) phyla. The suggested metabolic role of these phyla highlights the importance of protein hydrolysis and fermentation when only degrading microalgae. The …

Modulation of protein synthesis and degradation maintains proteostasis during yeast growth at different temperatures

2016

To understand how cells regulate each step in the flow of gene expression is one of the most fundamental goals in molecular biology. In this work, we have investigated several protein turnover-related steps in the context of gene expression regulation in response to changes in external temperature in model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have found that the regulation of protein homeostasis is stricter than mRNA homeostasis. Although global translation and protein degradation rates are found to increase with temperature, the increase of the catalytic activity of ribosomes is higher than the global translation rate suggesting that yeast cells adapt the amount of translational machinery to…

Characterization of a mutant form of human apolipoprotein B (Thr26_Tyr27del) associated with familial hypobetalipoproteinemia

2016

We have previously identified a deletion mutant of human apoB [apoB (Thr26_Tyr27del)] in a subject with primary hypobetalipoproteinemia. The present study determined the effect of Thr26_Tyr27del mutation on apoB secretion using transfected McA-RH7777 cells. Transient or stable transfection of apoB-48 containing the Thr26_Tyr27del mutation showed drastically reduced secretion of the mutant as compared to wild-type apoB-48. No lipoproteins containing the mutant apoB-48 were secreted into the medium. Incubation of transfected cells in a lipid-rich medium in the presence of cycloheximide showed rapid turnover of cell-associated mutant apoB-48 as compared to that of wild-type apoB-48. Immunofluo…

Impact of poplar-based phytomanagement on soil properties and microbial communities in a metal-contaminated site

2016

Despite a long history of use in phytomanagement strategies, the impacts of poplar trees on the structure and function of microbial communities that live in the soil remain largely unknown. The current study combined fungal and bacterial community analyses from different management regimes using Illumina-based sequencing with soil analysis. The poplar phytomanagement regimes led to a significant increase in soil fertility and a decreased bioavailability of Zn and Cd, in concert with changes in the microbial communities. The most notable changes in the relative abundance of taxa and operational taxonomic units unsurprisingly indicated that root and soil constitute distinct ecological microbi…

BAG2 Interferes with CHIP-Mediated Ubiquitination of HSP72

2016

The maintenance of cellular proteostasis is dependent on molecular chaperones and protein degradation pathways. Chaperones facilitate protein folding, maturation, and degradation, and the particular fate of a misfolded protein is determined by the interaction of chaperones with co-chaperones. The co-factor CHIP (C-terminus of HSP70-inteacting protein, STUB1) ubiquitinates chaperone substrates and directs proteins to the cellular degradation systems. The activity of CHIP is regulated by two co-chaperones, BAG2 and HSPBP1, which are potent inhibitors of the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. Here, we examined the functional correlation of HSP72, CHIP, and BAG2, employing human primary fibroblasts.…

Insights into the biological process performance and microbial diversity during thermophilic microalgae co-digestion in an anaerobic membrane bioreac…

2020

Abstract Harvested microalgae Chlorella spp. and primary sludge were co-digested in a laboratory-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) under thermophilic conditions (55 °C). The system was run for 700 days divided into four experimental phases to determine the influence of the organic loading rate on the process performance and the microbial community. The rise in organic loading rate from 0.17 to 0.5 gCOD·L−1·d−1 led to a 35% improvement in methane production. The system reached 69% biodegradability working at 0.5 gCOD·L−1·d−1 and a high solids retention time (70 d), indicating the efficient conversion of biomass into biogas through the AnMBR configuration while avoiding possible inh…

Effect of a co-substrate supply in a MBR treating shipboard slop: Analysis of hydrocarbon removal, biomass activity and membrane fouling tendency

2018

The paper reports the main results of an experiment carried out on a membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant designed for the treatment of shipboard slops. With a view of a co-treatment process of the slop with other wastewaters, sodium acetate, as external co-substrate, was supplied (high dosage – Period 1, low dosage – Period 2) to evaluate its effects on hydrocarbons removal. The MBR pilot plant enabled approximately 99% of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal during the entire experiment, confirming the robustness of the MBR technology for the treatment of slops. The chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis showed that the removal efficiency for each alkane was close to the value observed…

Polyethylene bio-degradation by caterpillars?

2017

In their recent paper on the degradation of polyethylene by caterpillars of the wax moth Galleria melonella, Bombelli et al.[1] report various experiments, including microscopic and spectroscopic data which the authors believe support the chemical digestion of the polymers by these insects. While the biodegradation of mostly inert artificial polymers is definitely a very interesting research field, we must respectfully disagree with the methodology and conclusions from this paper.