Glutamic acid modified gold nanorod sensor for the detection of calcium ions in neuronal cells
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 28:e202400009. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCalcium ions play a crucial role in the functioning of neurons, governing various aspects of neuronal activity such as rapid modulation and alterations in gene expression. Ca2+ signaling has a significant impact on the development of diseases and the impairment of neuronal functions. Herein, the study reports a Ca2+ ion sensor in neuronal cells using a gold nanorod. The gold nanorod (GA-GNR) conjugated glutamic acid developed in the study was used as a nano-bio probe for the experimental and in vitro detection of calcium. The na...
Source: Chembiochem - March 28, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Muhammed Shafeeque Rahman Pathiriparambath Merin Joseph Mithun Manog Vinoy Thomas Hanas T Lakshmi V Nair Source Type: research

Investigating the Potential of Phenolic Compounds and Carbohydrates as Acceptor Substrates for Levansucrasse-Catalyzed Transfructosylation Reaction
This study characterizes the acceptor specificity of levansucrases (LSs) from Gluconobacter oxydans (LS1), Vibrio natriegens (LS2), Novosphingobium aromaticivorans (LS3), and Paraburkholderia graminis (LS4) using sucrose as fructosyl donor and selected phenolic compounds and carbohydrates as acceptors. Overall, V. natriegens LS2 proved to be the best biocatalyst for the transfructosylation of phenolic compounds. More than one fructosyl unit could be attached to fructosylated phenolic compounds. The transfructosylation of epicatechin by P. graminis LS4 resulted in the most diversified products, with up to five fructosyl uni...
Source: Chembiochem - March 27, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Muriel Wong Min Lan Liu Salwa Karboune Source Type: research

Overcoming Solubility Challenges: Liposomal isoCoQ-Carbazole as a Promising Anti-Tumor Agent for Inoperable and Radiation-Insensitive cancers
This study evaluated the potential of isoCoQ-Carbazole, a diheterocyclic analog of isoCA-4, as an anti-tumor agent. To overcome its low aqueous solubility, liposomes were developed as a delivery system for the compound. In vitro experiments showed that loaded liposomes exhibited similar activity to the free form on multiple human tumor cell lines. In vivo experiments using a palliative intratumoral injection chemotherapy approach further demonstrated that isoCoQ-Carbazole loaded liposomes significantly reduced tumor growth in a CA-4-resistant HT29 cell model, without inducing any observable toxicity or weight loss in the t...
Source: Chembiochem - March 27, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Diana Lamaa Catherine Cailleau Juliette Vergnaud Julie Mougin J érôme Bignon Mouad Alami Elias Fattal Abdallah Hamze Nicolas Tsapis Source Type: research

Split Proteins and Reassembly Modules for Biological Applications
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 26:e202400123. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400123. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTSplit systems, modular entities enabling controlled biological processes, have become instrumental in biological research. This review highlights their utility across applications like gene regulation, protein interaction identification, and biosensor development. Covering significant progress over the last decade, it revisits traditional split proteins such as GFP, luciferase, and inteins, and explores advancements in technologies like Cas proteins and base editors. We also examine reassembly modules and their applications in d...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Jieun Bae Jonghoon Kim Jongdoo Choi Hwiyeong Lee Minseob Koh Source Type: research

PSL Chemical Biology Symposia: Recent Progress in Ferroptosis
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 26:e202400211. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400211. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThis symposium is the 5th PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) Chemical Biology meeting (2015, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2024) held at Institut Curie. This initiative originally started at Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) in Gif-sur-Yvette, with a strong focus on chemistry. It was then continued at the Institut Curie (2015) covering a larger scope, before becoming the official PSL Chemical Biology meeting. This latest edition hosted around 150 participants and was focused on the burgeoning field of ferroptosis, its mech...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Arthur Pereira Leeroy Baron Romain Bucci Marina Plays Giulia Bonasegale Armel Picard-Bernes Manuel Bibrowski Nolwenn Morris Sacha Marynberg Fabien Sindikubwabo Tatiana Ca ñeque Sebastian M üller Ludovic Colombeau St éphanie Solier Yannick Bono Christin Source Type: research

Cysteine-independent CRISPR-associated protein labeling for presentation and co-delivery of molecules toward genetic and epigenetic regulations
We report a method that does not require cysteine residues for small molecule presentation on the CRISPR-associated protein SpCas9 for in vitro protein detection, probing cellular protein expression, and nuclear co-delivery of molecules in mammalian cells. We repurposed a simple protein purification tag His6 peptide for non-covalent labeling of molecules on the CRISPR enzyme SpCas9. The small molecule labeling enabled us to detect SpCas9 in a biochemical assay. We demonstrate that small molecule labeling can be utilized for probing bacterial protein expression in realtime. Furthermore, we coupled SpCas9's nuclear-targeting...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Sadiya Tanga Arpita Hota Arkadeep Karmakar Paramita Banerjee Basudeb Maji Source Type: research

Split Proteins and Reassembly Modules for Biological Applications
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 26:e202400123. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400123. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTSplit systems, modular entities enabling controlled biological processes, have become instrumental in biological research. This review highlights their utility across applications like gene regulation, protein interaction identification, and biosensor development. Covering significant progress over the last decade, it revisits traditional split proteins such as GFP, luciferase, and inteins, and explores advancements in technologies like Cas proteins and base editors. We also examine reassembly modules and their applications in d...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Jieun Bae Jonghoon Kim Jongdoo Choi Hwiyeong Lee Minseob Koh Source Type: research

PSL Chemical Biology Symposia: Recent Progress in Ferroptosis
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 26:e202400211. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400211. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThis symposium is the 5th PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) Chemical Biology meeting (2015, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2024) held at Institut Curie. This initiative originally started at Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) in Gif-sur-Yvette, with a strong focus on chemistry. It was then continued at the Institut Curie (2015) covering a larger scope, before becoming the official PSL Chemical Biology meeting. This latest edition hosted around 150 participants and was focused on the burgeoning field of ferroptosis, its mech...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Arthur Pereira Leeroy Baron Romain Bucci Marina Plays Giulia Bonasegale Armel Picard-Bernes Manuel Bibrowski Nolwenn Morris Sacha Marynberg Fabien Sindikubwabo Tatiana Ca ñeque Sebastian M üller Ludovic Colombeau St éphanie Solier Yannick Bono Christin Source Type: research

Cysteine-independent CRISPR-associated protein labeling for presentation and co-delivery of molecules toward genetic and epigenetic regulations
We report a method that does not require cysteine residues for small molecule presentation on the CRISPR-associated protein SpCas9 for in vitro protein detection, probing cellular protein expression, and nuclear co-delivery of molecules in mammalian cells. We repurposed a simple protein purification tag His6 peptide for non-covalent labeling of molecules on the CRISPR enzyme SpCas9. The small molecule labeling enabled us to detect SpCas9 in a biochemical assay. We demonstrate that small molecule labeling can be utilized for probing bacterial protein expression in realtime. Furthermore, we coupled SpCas9's nuclear-targeting...
Source: Chembiochem - March 26, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Sadiya Tanga Arpita Hota Arkadeep Karmakar Paramita Banerjee Basudeb Maji Source Type: research

Structure-Based Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Hydroxynitrile Lyase from Cyanogenic Millipede, Oxidus gracilis for hydrocyanation and Henry reactions
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 25:e202400118. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400118. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHydroxynitrile lyase (HNL) from cyanogenic millipede Oxidus gracillis (OgraHNL) has been discovered as a crucial enzyme involving in the cyanogenesis pathway. Here, the crystal structures of OgraHNL complexed with sulfate, benzaldehyde (BA), (R)-Man, (R)-2-Cl-Man, and acetone cyanohydrin (ACN) were solved at 1.6, 1.7, 2.3, 2.1, and 2.0 Å resolutions, respectively. The structure of OgraHNL revealed that it belongs to the lipocalin superfamily. Based on the structure, positive mutants have been designed to further improve the cat...
Source: Chembiochem - March 25, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Siriporn Chaikaew Yukio Watanabe Daijun Zheng Fumihiro Motojima Takuya Yamaguchi Yasuhisa Asano Source Type: research

Structure-Based Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Hydroxynitrile Lyase from Cyanogenic Millipede, Oxidus gracilis for hydrocyanation and Henry reactions
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 25:e202400118. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400118. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHydroxynitrile lyase (HNL) from cyanogenic millipede Oxidus gracillis (OgraHNL) has been discovered as a crucial enzyme involving in the cyanogenesis pathway. Here, the crystal structures of OgraHNL complexed with sulfate, benzaldehyde (BA), (R)-Man, (R)-2-Cl-Man, and acetone cyanohydrin (ACN) were solved at 1.6, 1.7, 2.3, 2.1, and 2.0 Å resolutions, respectively. The structure of OgraHNL revealed that it belongs to the lipocalin superfamily. Based on the structure, positive mutants have been designed to further improve the cat...
Source: Chembiochem - March 25, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Siriporn Chaikaew Yukio Watanabe Daijun Zheng Fumihiro Motojima Takuya Yamaguchi Yasuhisa Asano Source Type: research

Climbing into their Skin to Understand Contextual Protein-Protein Associations and Localizations: Functional Investigations in Transgenic Live Model Organisms
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 21:e202400005. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400005. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBorrowing some quotes from Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" to help frame our manuscript, we discuss methods to profile local proteomes. We initially focus on chemical biology regimens that function in live organisms and use reactive biotin species for this purpose. We then consider ways to add new dimensions to these experimental regimens, principally by releasing less reactive (i. e., more selective) (preter)natural electrophiles. Although electrophile release methods may have lower resolution and label fewer protein...
Source: Chembiochem - March 21, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Marcus J C Long Yimon Aye Source Type: research

Climbing into their Skin to Understand Contextual Protein-Protein Associations and Localizations: Functional Investigations in Transgenic Live Model Organisms
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 21:e202400005. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400005. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBorrowing some quotes from Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" to help frame our manuscript, we discuss methods to profile local proteomes. We initially focus on chemical biology regimens that function in live organisms and use reactive biotin species for this purpose. We then consider ways to add new dimensions to these experimental regimens, principally by releasing less reactive (i. e., more selective) (preter)natural electrophiles. Although electrophile release methods may have lower resolution and label fewer protein...
Source: Chembiochem - March 21, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Marcus J C Long Yimon Aye Source Type: research

Climbing into their Skin to Understand Contextual Protein-Protein Associations and Localizations: Functional Investigations in Transgenic Live Model Organisms
Chembiochem. 2024 Mar 21:e202400005. doi: 10.1002/cbic.202400005. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBorrowing some quotes from Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" to help frame our manuscript, we discuss methods to profile local proteomes. We initially focus on chemical biology regimens that function in live organisms and use reactive biotin species for this purpose. We then consider ways to add new dimensions to these experimental regimens, principally by releasing less reactive (i. e., more selective) (preter)natural electrophiles. Although electrophile release methods may have lower resolution and label fewer protein...
Source: Chembiochem - March 21, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Marcus J C Long Yimon Aye Source Type: research

Engineering the activity of a newly identified arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase in the acetylation of 5-hydroxytryptamine
This study broadens the repertoire of AANAT for the efficient biosynthesis of melatonin.PMID:38504591 | DOI:10.1002/cbic.202400069 (Source: Chembiochem)
Source: Chembiochem - March 20, 2024 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Qing Wang Congcong Li Bo Yuan Aiqun Yu Ge Qu Zhoutong Sun Source Type: research