The Role of the Deubiquitylase MYSM1 During Alphavirus Infection Amer Nubgan The members of the genus Alphavirus are positive-sense RNA viruses and it is one of two within the family Togaviridae. Most alphaviruses are predominantly transmitted to susceptible vertebrates by a mosquito vector. Alphavirus disease in humans can be severely debilitating, and depending on the particular viral species, infection may result in encephalitis and possibly life threatening symptoms. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is the aetiological agent represents a substantial health burden to affected populations, with clinical symptoms that include severe joint and muscle pain, rashes, and fever, as well as prolonged periods of disability in some patients. In recent years, CHIKV has received significant attention from public health authorities as a consequence of the dramatic emergence infections in the Indian Ocean islands and the Caribbean as well as the recent emergence of CHIKV in the Americas. Infections have also been reported around Europe such as in Italy, France and Greece. Currently, no safe, approved or effective vaccine or treatment exists for CHIKV infection. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), the major intracellular proteolytic pathway, mediates different kinds of cellular processes, which may be targeted by viruses to aid their replication within cells. In recent years it has been well established that both the forward reaction of ubiquitination, and the reverse reaction of deubiquitination are targeted during virus infection to enhance their replication, either by targeting of cellular proteins or encoding viral homologues of key pathway proteins. The reverse reaction is undertaken by a large family of enzymes termed deubiquitylases or DUBs, and many of these have been shown to play a crucial role, not only in virus replication but also in the regulation of the immune system and vesicle trafficking. The DUBs are attractive drug targets and have increasingly been implicated in cellular processes germane to malignancy which makes the continued characterisation of the role of DUBs during virus infection a worthwhile objective. In on-going experiments in the research group a DUB siRNA pools library screen identified 12 DUBs (USP1, USP4, USP5, USP34, USP45, USP46, OTUD6A, UCHL1, JOSD2, BRCC3 and MYSM1). Depletion of these hits in HeLa cells lead to an increase in cell viability following Semiliki Forest Virus (SFV) infection (and predicted to be pro-viral) and thus could potential be candidate antiviral targets. Inroads into understanding the role of the DUB hits during the alphavirus infection, focusing initial on the BSL2 model virus SFV, and extending this to CHIKV (at BSL3). In the present study, further screening focused on the deconvolution siRNA pools for the DUB hits. Investigation of the subsequent follow up experiments with one strong candidate DUB from this list, MYSM1. Two different approaches were taken. Firstly, the effect of depletion of MYSM1 by siRNA treatment was further investigated in HeLa cells. Secondly, the analysis was extended to investigate the role of MYSM1 in fibroblasts utilising MYSM1 genetic knockout murine embryo fibroblasts. Results from this study indicate that depletion of MYSM1 in HeLa cells by siRNAs resulted in a reduction in both SFV and CHIKV replication, as assayed by measuring RNA levels and plaque formation. It was also found that MYSM1 genetic knockout in MEF cells lead to increase in both SFV and CHIKV replication. In addition, depletion of MYSM1 by siRNAs in MRC-5 cells lead to increase in SFV replication. In conclusion, MYSM1 generated interesting data, implying a role during virus infection that appeared to depend on the cell type being infected. Up to now it is unclear what the effector mechanisms are that contribute to these observations, subject to further mechanistic and functional studies, may increase the options available for targeting this vital DUB during Alphavirus infections.
In this study, biodiesel was prepared from chicken fat via a transesterification reaction using Mussel shells as a catalyst. Pretreatment of chicken fat was carried out using non‐catalytic esterification to reduce the free fatty acid content from 36.28 to 0.96 mg KOH/g oil using an ethanol/ fat mole ratio equal to 115:1. In the transesterification reaction, the studied variables were methanol: oil mole ratio in the range of (6:1 ‐ 30:1), catalyst loading in the range of (9‐15) wt%, reaction temperature (55‐75 °C), and reaction time (1‐7) h. The heterogeneous alkaline catalyst was greenly synthesized from waste mussel shells throughout a calcin
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Abstract: Background: Staphylococcus aureus is Gram-positive bacteria that lives as a normal flora in living organisms but can be pathogenic to humans. Although a relatively unspectacular, nonmotile coccoid bacterium, S. aureus is a dangerous human pathogen in both community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Due to the increasing emergence of new strains of this antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it has become essential to approach different methods to control this pathogen. One of these methods is the antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation process using a low-level laser, in this paper, the Photodynamic effects of Rose Bengal and LLLL on the virulence factors of S.aureus were evaluated.
This study analyses six political cartoons selected based on their relevance to current Iraqi political issues, specifically the period between 2005 and 2015, from American online newspapers (calgecartooms.com). The selection criteria included the cartoons' satirical elements, visual rhetoric, and their ability to engage with themes such as power dynamics, social issues, and public opinion. It sheds light on how these cartoons can function as mediators of meanings between the cartoonists and the readers. The data is examined using multimodal discourse analysis (MDA), which combines language study with the analysis of other visual elements, like colors, gestures, and images, to understand meaning (O’Halloran et al., 2011). The Visual Socia
... Show MorePurpose Heavy metals are toxic pollutants released into the environment as a result of different industrial activities. Biosorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions is a new technology for the treatment of industrial wastewater. The aim of the present research is to highlight the basic biosorption theory to heavy metal removal. Materials and methods Heterogeneous cultures mostly dried anaerobic bacteria, yeast (fungi), and protozoa were used as low-cost material to remove metallic cations Pb(II), Cr(III), and Cd(II) from synthetic wastewater. Competitive biosorption of these metals was studied. Results The main biosorption mechanisms were complexation and physical adsorption onto natural active functional groups. It is observed that
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Background: Blood group system and the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) are the most studied traits in human genetics which have been extensively used in describing genetic variations among human populations around the world that may had an effect on dental caries. The aims of present study were to investigate the caries experience among students with different bitter taste threshold in relation to blood type. Materials and Methods: The sample of present study includes dental students female aged19-21 years. The diagnosis of dental caries was done according to the criteria of Manjia et al, 1989 recording decayed lesion by severity (D1-4) MFS. Furthermore, bitter taste sensitivity was measured according to PTC (phenylthiocarbamid
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The study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic, antioxidant and gastro-protective effect of ethyl-4-[(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylid ene)amino] benzoate (ETHAB) in rats.
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This investigation reports application of a mesoporous nanomaterial based on dicationic ionic liquid bonded to amorphous silica, namely nano-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-N-(silican-propyl)-N′-sulfo-ethane-1,2-diaminium chloride (nano-[TSPSED][Cl]2), as an extremely effectual and recoverable catalyst for the generation of bis(pyrazolyl)methanes and pyrazolopyranopyrimidines in solvent-free conditions. In both synthetic protocols, the performance of this catalyst was very useful and general and presented attractive features including short reaction times with high yields, reasonable turnover frequency and turnover number values, easy workup, high performance under mild conditions, recoverability and reusability in 5 consecutive runs without lo
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In wide range of chemical, petrochemical and energy processes, it is not possible to manage without slurry bubble column reactors. In this investigation, time average local gas holdup was recorded for three different height to diameter (H/D) ratios 3, 4 and 5 in 18" diameter slurry bubble column. Air-water-glass beads system was used with superficial velocity up to 0.24 m/s. the gas holdup was measured using 4-tips optical fiber probe technique. The results show that the axial gas holdup increases almost linearly with the superficial gas velocity in 0.08 m/s and levels off with a further increase of velocity. A comparison of the present data with those reported for other slurry bubble column having diameters larger than
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