Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 31, Issue 3, 2024

Background: Heat-labile uracil-DNA glycosylase (HL-UDG) is commonly employed to eliminate carry-over contamination in DNA amplifications. However, the prevailing HL-UDG is markedly inactivated at 50°C, rendering it unsuitable for specific one-step RT-qPCR protocols utilizing reverse transcriptase at an optimal temperature of 42°C. Objective: This study aimed to explore novel HL-UDG with lower inactivation temperat Read More

Background: Inhibitors of interleukin 6 [IL-6] have been utilized to treat severe COVID-19 disease. Their immunosuppressive or immunomodulating impact may be beneficial in COVID-19. Objectives: To discuss the role of IL-6 inhibitors and assess various trials conducted to evaluate the efficacy of IL-6 inhibitors in COVID-19 disease. Summary: Two of the most common causes of mortality in COVID-19-infected critically ill individua Read More

Human blood is a window of physiology and disease. Examination of biomarkers in blood is a common clinical procedure, which can be informative in diagnosis and prognosis of diseases, and in evaluating treatment effectiveness. There is still a huge demand on new blood biomarkers and assays for precision medicine nowadays, therefore plasma/serum proteomics has attracted increasing attention in recent years. How to effecti Read More

Oral drug delivery is a prevalent and cost-effective method due to its advantages, such as increased drug absorption surface area and improved patient compliance. However, delivering proteins and peptides orally remains a challenge due to their vulnerability to degradation by digestive enzymes, stomach acids, and limited intestinal membrane permeability, resulting in poor bioavailability. The use of nanotechnology has Read More

Objectives: In this study, we employed an in vitro culturing technique to investigate the impact of p53 on the modulation of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) within the primary cortical neurons of rat specimens. Methods: (1) Within the first 24 hours after birth, the bilateral cortex was extracted from newborn Wistar rats and primary cortical neurons were cultured and identified. (2) The changes in the mRNA and protei Read More

Background: DDX3 is a protein with RNA helicase activity that is involved in a variety of biological processes, and it is an important protein target for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs, multiple cancers and chronic inflammation. Objectives: The objective of this study is to establish a simple and efficient method to express and purify DDX3 protein in E. coli, and the recombinant DDX3 should maintain helicas Read More

Background: Fungal infections in plants, animals, and humans are widespread across the world. Limited classes of antifungal drugs to treat fungal infections and loss of drug efficacy due to rapidly evolving fungal strains pose a challenge in the agriculture and health sectors. Hence, the search for a new class of antifungal agents is imperative. Cyclotides are cyclic plant peptides with multiple bioactivities, including antifungal acti Read More