Hepatitis C and Racial Disparity in Liver Transplant Waitlist Additions : Separate Not Equal.

BACKGROUND: In 2014, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) became available for hepatitis C virus (HCV) with successful results. Since their implementation, the rate of HCV waitlist (WL) for liver transplantation (LT) has decreased, but significant ethnic disparities exist. We hypothesized that the rate of decline for HCV WL for LT is different across the various racial groups. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network data reports of adult LT candidates from 2014 to 2018. RESULTS: Overall, there was a decline in HCV WL rates for all ethnic groups (Caucasians, African Americans [AA], and Hispanics). However, the WL rates were significantly higher in AA compared with Caucasians each year, and this trend was continuous across the 5-year period. There were no differences in WL rates between Caucasians and Hispanics. DISCUSSION: The results show that health care disparities related to HCV disproportionately affect AA. The factors associated with this disparity need to be explored further to develop mechanisms to address these differences. By understanding the HCV treatment disparities across racial groups, modifications to HCV treatment nationwide can be adopted. Additional emphasis should be placed on AA to help reduce their WL rate, as well as redistributing resources to promote health care equity.

Expression and secretion of active Moringa oleifera coagulant protein in Bacillus subtilis.

Cationic polypeptide proteins found in the seeds of the tropical plant Moringa oleifera have coagulation efficiencies similar to aluminum and ferric sulfates without their recalcitrant nature. Although these proteins possess great potential to augment or replace traditional coagulants in water treatment, harvesting active protein from seeds is laborious and not cost-effective. Here, we describe an alternative method to express and secrete active M. oleifera coagulant protein (MO) in Bacillus subtilis. A plasmid library containing the MO gene and 173 different types of secretory signal peptides was created and cloned into B. subtilis strain RIK1285. Fourteen of 440 clones screened were capable of secreting MO with yields ranging from 55 to 122 mg/L of growth medium. The coagulant activity of the highest MO secreting clone was evaluated when grown on Luria broth, and cell-free medium from the culture was shown to reduce turbidity in a buffered kaolin suspension by approximately 90% compared with controls without the MO gene. The clone was also capable of secreting active MO when grown on a defined synthetic wastewater supplemented with 0.5% tryptone. Cell-free medium from the strain harboring the MO gene demonstrated more than a 2-fold reduction in turbidity compared with controls. Additionally, no significant amount of MO was observed without the addition of the synthetic wastewater, suggesting that it served as a source of nutrients for the effective expression and translocation of MO into the medium.

Selective Permeability of Truncated Aquaporin 1 in Silico.

Aquaporin (AQP) proteins function as highly efficient water transport channels that support homeostasis in many types of living cells. Their structure-function relationships have been characterized extensively in fundamental and applied research, primarily via structural analysis, mutational studies, and computational approaches. The present study evaluates the effects of progressive truncations on the permeability and ionic conductivity of AQP-1 (bovine). The use of truncations to determine critical features has not been considered previously, as physical truncation of AQP is likely not technically feasible due to the ornate arrangement of six interwoven alpha helices in a single pore structure. However, structures not obtainable through protein assembly can be realized via synthetic chemistry approaches and studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Here, we apply the MD method to characterize the permeability of AQP variants truncated along the pore axis from both cytoplasmic and extracellular sides of the channel. The simulation results suggest that AQP-1 can retain its function even after deletion of up to 50% of the channel's length, representing 50% of proteins' molecular mass. Deletions such as these are expected to greatly simplify future biomimicry efforts of reproducing the AQP functionality using synthetic macromolecules. This study demonstrates the potential of in silico approaches to support the creation of streamlined functional analogues of biological molecular machines.

Bringing gay and lesbian activism to the White House: Midge Costanza and the National Gay Task Force Meeting.

In March 1977, President Carter's Assistant Margaret "Midge" Costanza made history by meeting with representatives from the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) to hear their grievances about discriminatory federal policies. The effects of the meeting were many, including changes in policies of the Bureau of Prisons and the Public Health Service. It also initiated policy discussions that would continue for decades and contributed to the incorporation of gay rights within the Democratic Party. Midge Costanza was fundamental to the process. It was her decision to hold the meeting and to advocate on behalf of the NGTF, and she bore many of the meeting's political costs. In this article we make use of Costanza's own papers and multiple interviews with her to closely analyze Costanza's role in the historic meeting. In addition to adding detail to its politics and policy impacts of the meeting, we also look at her complex motivations for holding such a controversial meeting. Costanza maintained until her death in 2010 that she was motivated by her feminism and overall commitment to social justice, rather than her own identity or experiences.