ZBTB34 is a hepatocellular carcinoma-associated protein with a monopartite nuclear localization signal.

ZBTB34 is a novel zinc finger protein with an unknown function. In this study, the gene expression and survival prognosis of ZBTB34 were analyzed across tumors based on the TCGA datasets. According to the bioinformatics analysis and qPCR results, liver hepatocellular carcinomas exhibit a high level of ZBTB34 expression. Additionally, the experiment supported the bioinformatics analysis findings that ZBTB34 expression was regulated by miR-125b-5p and that ZBTB34 affected ZBTB10, POLR1B, and AUH expression in HepG2 cells. Biological software analysis further revealed that ZBTB34 contains a monopartite nuclear localization signal (NLS). Arginine and lysine inside the putative NLS were substituted using the alanine-scanning mutagenesis method. The findings showed that the ability of ZBTB34 to enter the nucleus was abolished by the alanine substitution of the sequence 320RGGRARQKRA329 and the mutation of Lys327 and Arg328 residues. ZBTB34 was co-immunoprecipitated with importin α1, importin α3, importin α4, and importin ß1, according to the results of the co-immunoprecipitation assay. In conclusion, ZBTB34 is a hepatocellular carcinoma-associated protein with a monopartite NLS. The nuclear import of ZBTB34 is mediated by importin α1, importin α3, importin α4, and importin ß1. ZBTB34 performs its biological functions via a putative miR-125b-5p/ZBTB34/(ZBTB10, POLR1B, and AUH) signaling axis in HepG2 cells.

MOTS-c Functionally Prevents Metabolic Disorders.

Mitochondrial-derived peptides are a family of peptides encoded by short open reading frames in the mitochondrial genome, which have regulatory effects on mitochondrial functions, gene expression, and metabolic homeostasis of the body. As a new member of the mitochondrial-derived peptide family, mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA-c (MOTS-c) is regarding a peptide hormone that could reduce insulin resistance, prevent obesity, improve muscle function, promote bone metabolism, enhance immune regulation, and postpone aging. MOTS-c plays these physiological functions mainly through activating the AICAR-AMPK signaling pathways by disrupting the folate-methionine cycle in cells. Recent studies have shown that the above hormonal effect can be achieved through MOTS-c regulating the expression of genes such as GLUT4, STAT3, and IL-10. However, there is a lack of articles summarizing the genes and pathways involved in the physiological activity of MOTS-c. This article aims to summarize and interpret the interesting and updated findings of MOTS-c-associated genes and pathways involved in pathological metabolic processes. Finally, it is expected to develop novel diagnostic markers and treatment approaches with MOTS-c to prevent and treat metabolic disorders in the future.

Biotransformation of artemisinin by Aspergillus niger.

Biotransformation of artemisinin (1) by Aspergillus niger was investigated. During 12 days at 28 °C and pH 6.0, A. niger transformed artemisinin into four products. They were identified as 3ß-hydroxy-4,12-epoxy-1-deoxyartemisinin (2), artemisinin G (3), 3,13-epoxyartemisinin (4), and 4α-hydroxy-1-deoxyartemisinin (5). Products 2 and 4 are new compounds and are being reported here for the first time. The product 4 contains a 3,13-epoxy structure. This is the first report of epoxidation of artemisinin using microbial strains. The product 4 still has an intact peroxide bridge and therefore can be used as a scaffold for further structural modification using chemical and biological methods in the search for new antimalarial drugs.

Functional role of ß domain in the Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis glucoamylase.

Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis MB4 glucoamylase (TteGA) contains a catalytic domain (CD), which is structurally similar to eukaryotic GA, and a ß domain (BD) with ambiguous function. Firstly, BD is found to be essential to TteGA activity because CD alone could not hydrolyze soluble starch. However, starch hydrolysis activity, similar to that of intact TteGA, was restored to CD in the presence of BD. Secondly, BD is found to be an important helper in the correct folding of CD because CD was mainly expressed in the inclusion bodies on its own in Escherichia coli. By contrast, intact TteGA, BD, and CD combined with BD could be expressed as soluble proteins. Additionally, BD is essential to the thermostability of TteGA because CD displayed lower thermostability compared with the intact TteGA and exhibited enhanced thermostability in the presence of BD in vitro. Truncation of TteGA or mutagenesis of the residues that participate in the interdomain interaction at its BD also led to the reduced thermostability of TteGA.

Genome shuffling in the ethanologenic yeast Candida krusei to improve acetic acid tolerance.

Genome shuffling was used to improve the acetic acid tolerance of an ethanologenic yeast, Candida krusei GL560. A mutant, S4-3, was isolated and selected after four rounds of genome shuffling. It was found that the mutant S4-3 had a higher viability in the YNBX (yeast nitrogen base/xylose) medium with acetic acid and grew better in the YPD (yeast extract, peptone and dextrose) medium [1% (w/v) yeast extract, 2% (w/v) peptone and 2% (w/v) glucose] with acetic acid than the parent strain GL560. The mutant S4-3 also improved its multiple stress tolerance to ethanol, H2O2, heat and freeze-thaw. Furthermore, S4-3 showed higher ethanol production than GL560 in EFM (ethanol fermentation medium) with or without acetic acid. The DNA content of S4-3 was similar to its parent strains in the genome shuffling. This suggested that gene exchange, as caused by homologous recombination, may have occurred during the process. Higher membrane integrity and intracellular catalase activity were two possible reasons for the higher acid-tolerance phenotype of S4-3. These results indicated that genome shuffling is a powerful means of rapidly improving the complex traits of non-haploid organisms, while still maintaining robust growth.

Improvement of the multiple-stress tolerance of an ethanologenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain by freeze-thaw treatment.

An effective, simple, and convenient method to improve yeast's multiple-stress tolerance, and ethanol production was developed. After an ethanologenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain SC521 was treated by nine cycles of freeze-thaw, a mutant FT9-11 strain with higher multiple-stress tolerance was isolated, whose viabilities under acetic acid, ethanol, freeze-thaw, H(2)O(2), and heat-shock stresses were, respectively, 23-, 26-, 10- and 7-fold more than the parent strain at an initial value 2 x 10(7) c.f.u. per ml. Ethanol production of FT9-11 was similar (91.5 g ethanol l(-1)) to SC521 at 30 degrees C with 200 g glucose l(-1), and was better than the parent strain at 37 degrees C (72.5 g ethanol l(-1)), with 300 (111 g ethanol l(-1)) or with 400 (85 g ethanol l(-1)) g glucose l(-1).