Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 29, Issue 12, 2022

It has almost been 40 years since the Ras proteins were discovered as the first human oncogenes. They remain among the most important genes for regulating mammalian cell growth and are involved in more than a quarter of human cancers. Out of 167 members of the Ras superfamily, KRas mutations are the most abundant in human cancers. Particularly, the K-Ras G12C mutations are known to be involved in pancreati Read More

Gut peptides are small peptides secreted by gut endocrine cells that can modulate the roles and functions of different organs through signaling. Gut peptides can also majorly impact the body’s energy homeostasis by regulating appetite and energy metabolism. The gut-brain axis (GBA) is bidirectional communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral enteric nervous system. The regulation of ap Read More

Isocitrate lyase (ICL), an enzyme of the glyoxylate shunt pathway, is essential for the virulence and persistence of dreaded Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in its host. This pathway, along with the methylcitrate cycle, facilitates the utilization of fatty acids as a carbon source inside hostile host environments such as in granulomas, and hence enzymes of this pathway are novel antitubercular targets. The genome seq Read More

Background: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neuropsychiatric syndrome that involves cognitive and motor dysfunctions due to hepatic failure. The clinical and experimental studies suggest that the angiotensin (Ang) converting enzyme (ACE), Ang II, and angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R), which compose the classical pathway of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), exacerbate neuroinflammation in different neurologic dise Read More

Objective: The work aimed to compare the binding between the two main components of Polygala tenuifolia Willd. and two cholinesterases (ChEs) by using a variety of spectral techniques. Methods: Two main components of Polygala tenuifolia Willd. included Tenuifolin (Ten) and Onjisaponin B (Onj B), and two ChEs included acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Results: The UV-visible absorption spectra Read More

Platycodon grandiflorus is a well-known and widely distributed traditional herbal medicine and functional food in Asia, with triterpenoids as the main bioactive component in its roots. Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase (AACT) is the initiation enzyme in the mevalonate pathway and plays an important role in the biosynthesis of terpenoids. Objective: The objective of this study was to clone and identify the PgAACT function in P. grandiflor Read More

Background: Accumulating evidence has demonstrated the immunomodulatory effects of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in rheumatoid arthritis and the tumor microenvironment, besides its known capacity of specifically inducing the apoptosis of cancer cells. Mice are common available animal models for studying the roles of TRAIL. However, mice express only a single TRAIL receptor (mTRAIL Read More

Background: Previously, AF-956, which contains S356 of FAM83G and an N-terminal antenna peptide for entry into colon cancer cells, is markedly antiproliferative compared to a control peptide (AF-859), which lacks the N-terminal antenna peptide, by inducing apoptosis via the inhibition of HSP27 phosphorylation at residues S15 and S82. Objective: Because FAM83G-derived peptides are promising lead compounds for colon Read More

Background: Fungal and parasitic diseases are global health problems, and the available treatments are becoming ineffective, mainly due to the emergence of resistant strains of pathogens. Furthermore, the drugs currently in use exhibit high toxicity and side effects. The scarcity of efficient treatments for fungal and parasitic diseases has motivated the search for new drug candidates, including antimicrobial peptides. The ch Read More

Background: The ionic interactions play an important role in the stabilization of the native conformation of proteins. Toxoplasma gondii Ferredoxin NADP+ Reductase (TgFNR) remains stable at pH 4.0. However, such modulation of ionic interactions leads to compaction and non-cooperativity in its folding. Objective: To gain insights into the role of ionic interactions in the modulation of structure and thermodynamic stability of TgF Read More