1,720,987 research outputs found
Reduced virulence of the MARTX toxin increases the persistence of outbreak-associated Vibrio vulnificus in host reservoirs
No full textOpportunistic bacteria strategically dampen their virulence to allow them to survive and propagate in hosts. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying virulence control are not clearly understood. Here, we found that the opportunistic pathogen Vibrio vulnificus biotype 3, which caused an outbreak of severe wound and intestinal infections associated with farmed tilapia, secretes significantly less virulent multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxin, which is the most critical virulence factor in other clinical Vibrio strains. The biotype 3 MARTX toxin contains a cysteine protease domain (CPD) evolutionarily retaining a unique autocleavage site and a distinct β-flap region. CPD autoproteolytic activity is attenuated following its autocleavage because of the β-flap region. This β-flap blocks the active site, disabling further autoproteolytic processing and release of the modularly structured effector domains within the toxin. Expression of this altered CPD consequently results in attenuated release of effectors by the toxin and significantly reduces the virulence of V. vulnificus biotype 3 in cells and in mice. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that this virulence mechanism is shared in all biotype 3 strains. Thus, these data provide new insights into the mechanisms by which opportunistic bacteria persist in an environmental reservoir, prolonging the potential to cause outbreaks.
Crystal structure of fully oxidized human thioredoxin
No full textIn addition to the active cysteines located at positions 32 and 35 in humans, mammalian cytosolic thioredoxin (TRX) possesses additional conserved cysteine residues at positions 62, 69, and 73. These non-canonical cysteine residues, that are distinct from prokaryotic TRX and also not found in mammalian mitochondrial TRX, have been implicated in biological functions regulating signal transduction pathways via their post-translational modifications. Here, we describe for the first time the structure of a fully oxidized TRX. The structure shows a non-active Cys62-Cys69 disulfide bond in addition to the active Cys32-Cys35 disulfide. The non-active disulfide switches the α3-helix of TRX, composed of residues Cys62 to Glu70, to a bulging loop and dramatically changes the environment of the TRX residues involved in the interaction with its reductase and other cellular substrates. This structural modification may have implications for a number of potential functions of TRX including the regulation of redox-dependent signaling pathways.open
Cooperative Regulation of the Vibrio vulnificus nan Gene Cluster by NanR Protein, cAMP Receptor Protein, and N-Acetylmannosamine 6-Phosphate
No full textThe nan cluster of Vibrio vulnificus, a food-borne pathogen, consists of two divergently transcribed operons, nanTPSLAR and nanEK nagA, required for transport and catabolism of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac). A mutation of nanR abolished the extensive lag phase observed for the bacteria growing on Neu5Ac and increased transcription of nanTP and nanE, suggesting that NanR is a transcriptional repressor of both nan operons. Intracellular accumulation of Neu5Ac was dependent on the carbon source, implying that the nan operons are also subject to catabolite repression. Hence, cAMP receptor protein (CRP) appeared to activate and repress transcription of nanTPSLAR and nanEK nagA, respectively. Direct bindings of NanR and CRP to the nanTP-nanE intergenic DNA were demonstrated by EMSA. Two adjacent NanR-binding sites centered at +44.5 and -10 and a CRP-binding site centered at -60.5 from the transcription start site of nanTP were identified by DNase I protection assays. Mutagenesis approaches, in vitro transcription, and isothermal titration calorimetry experiments demonstrated that N-acetylmannosamine 6-phosphate specifically binds to NanR and functions as the inducer of the nan operons. The combined results propose a model in which NanR, CRP, and N-acetylmannosamine 6-phosphate cooperate for precise adjustment of the expression level of the V. vulnificus nan cluster.open
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
