The Bacteroidetes Q-rule and glutaminyl cyclase activity increase the stability of extracytoplasmic proteins.

IMPORTANCE: Exclusively in the Bacteroidetes phylum, most proteins exported across the inner membrane via the Sec system and released into the periplasm by type I signal peptidase have N-terminal glutamine converted to pyroglutamate. The reaction is catalyzed by the periplasmic enzyme glutaminyl cyclase (QC), which is essential for the growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis and other periodontopathogens. Apparently, pyroglutamyl formation stabilizes extracytoplasmic proteins and/or protects them from proteolytic degradation in the periplasm. Given the role of P. gingivalis as the keystone pathogen in periodontitis, P. gingivalis QC is a promising target for the development of drugs to treat and/or prevent this highly prevalent chronic inflammatory disease leading to tooth loss and associated with severe systemic diseases.

The spectrum of attitudes towards the spectrum of autism and its relationship to psychological distress in mothers of children with autism.

LAY ABSTRACT: Mothers of children on the autism spectrum experience high levels of emotional distress. Mothers cope with stress by having their own thoughts and opinions about their children. In this study, we tested whether the way mothers perceive autism may contribute to the level of distress they feel. Some mothers see autism as a developmental disorder that needs to be cured, but some see autism as a type of mind that needs to be accepted. Our findings showed that mothers who see autism more as a type of mind are generally less stressed. But we also showed that it matters how severe are the child's symptoms, and how heavy was the perceived burden of caring for the child. These results imply that it is worth working on attitudes towards autism to help mothers cope better. But at the same time, we argue that mothers should not be judged for their perceptions of autism, as there is a huge spectrum of a child's characteristics and family's life circumstances.

Looking through rainbow-rimmed glasses: Taking neurodiversity perspective is related to subjective well-being of autistic adults.

LAY ABSTRACT: Autistic adults experience a high level of distress. Finding new ways to support their well-being is an important goal for researchers and clinicians. We assessed the way autistic adults view their autism, as a disorder or as a type of mind (neurodiversity), and the level they integrate with other autistic people, and we checked how those factors contribute to their well-being. People who see autism rather as a type of mind than as a disorder had higher self-esteem. People who view themselves as more similar to other autistic people felt more stressed, but this result was not accurate for people who view autism as a type of mind. Clinicians should be sensitive to the way autistic people understand autism and to what extent they identify with the autism community, because it may relate to their well-being.

Silent shapes and shapeless sounds: the robustness of the diminished crossmodal correspondences effect in autism spectrum conditions.

We performed a registered replication of the Oberman and Ramachandran (Soc Neurosci 3(3-4):348-355, 2008) study on the 'kiki/bouba' effect in autism spectrum conditions (ASC). The aim of the study was to test the robustness of the diminished crossmodal correspondences effect in autism, but also to verify whether this effect is not an artifact of differences in intelligence. We tested a Polish-speaking sample of 21 participants with ADOS-confirmed autism spectrum conditions (mean age 15.90) and 21 age- (mean age 15.86), sex- and IQ-matched neurotypical control participants. Procedure closely followed the replicated study. Participants' task was to match five pairs of unfamiliar words and shapes. Matching words and shapes had similar supramodal characteristics that allowed the match. We report partial replication of the diminished 'kiki/bouba' effect in individuals with ASC compared to the neurotypical control group. However, we found that nonverbal intelligence also significantly contributed to task performance, but only in participants with autism, suggesting a compensatory role of intelligence. Finally, the effect of autism severity (measured by ADOS classification) was significant-crossmodal correspondences were weaker in individuals with autism, compared to those with autism spectrum diagnosis.