A Multiscale Geospatial Dataset and an Interactive Visualization Dashboard for Computational Epidemiology and Open Scientific Research.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continued to strike as a highly infectious and fast-spreading disease in 2020 and 2021. As the research community actively responded to this pandemic, we saw the release of many COVID-19-related datasets and visualization dashboards. However, existing resources are insufficient to support multiscale and multifaceted modeling or simulation, which is suggested to be important by the computational epidemiology literature. This work presents a curated multiscale geospatial dataset with an interactive visualization dashboard under the context of COVID-19. This open dataset will allow researchers to conduct numerous projects or analyses relating to COVID-19 or simply geospatial-related scientific studies. The interactive visualization platform enables users to visualize the spread of the disease at different scales (e.g., country level to individual neighborhoods), and allows users to interact with the policies enforced at these scales (e.g., the closure of borders and lockdowns) to observe their impacts on the epidemiology.

Small-Molecule Inhibitors Targeting Proteasome-Associated Deubiquitinases.

The 26S proteasome is the principal protease for regulated intracellular proteolysis. This multi-subunit complex is also pivotal for clearance of harmful proteins that are produced throughout the lifetime of eukaryotes. Recent structural and kinetic studies have revealed a multitude of conformational states of the proteasome in substrate-free and substrate-engaged forms. These conformational transitions demonstrate that proteasome is a highly dynamic machinery during substrate processing that can be also controlled by a number of proteasome-associated factors. Essentially, three distinct family of deubiquitinases-USP14, RPN11, and UCH37-are associated with the 19S regulatory particle of human proteasome. USP14 and UCH37 are capable of editing ubiquitin conjugates during the process of their dynamic engagement into the proteasome prior to the catalytic commitment. In contrast, RPN11-mediated deubiquitination is directly coupled to substrate degradation by sensing the proteasome's conformational switch into the commitment steps. Therefore, proteasome-bound deubiquitinases are likely to tailor the degradation events in accordance with substrate processing steps and for dynamic proteolysis outcomes. Recent chemical screening efforts have yielded highly selective small-molecule inhibitors for targeting proteasomal deubiquitinases, such as USP14 and RPN11. USP14 inhibitors, IU1 and its progeny, were found to promote the degradation of a subset of substrates probably by overriding USP14-imposed checkpoint on the proteasome. On the other hand, capzimin, a RPN11 inhibitor, stabilized the proteasome substrates and showed the anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells. It is highly conceivable that these specific inhibitors will aid to dissect the role of each deubiquitinase on the proteasome. Moreover, customized targeting of proteasome-associated deubiquitinases may also provide versatile therapeutic strategies for induced or repressed protein degradation depending on proteolytic demand and cellular context.

Chemically Induced Cellular Proteolysis: An Emerging Therapeutic Strategy for Undruggable Targets.

Traditionally, small-molecule or antibody-based therapies against human diseases have been designed to inhibit the enzymatic activity or compete for the ligand binding sites of pathological target proteins. Despite its demonstrated effectiveness, such as in cancer treatment, this approach is often limited by recurring drug resistance. More importantly, not all molecular targets are enzymes or receptors with druggable 'hot spots' that can be directly occupied by active site-directed inhibitors. Recently, a promising new paradigm has been created, in which small-molecule chemicals harness the naturally occurring protein quality control machinery of the ubiquitin-proteasome system to specifically eradicate disease-causing proteins in cells. Such 'chemically induced protein degradation' may provide unprecedented opportunities for targeting proteins that are inherently undruggable, such as structural scaffolds and other non-enzymatic molecules, for therapeutic purposes. This review focuses on surveying recent progress in developing E3-guided proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and small-molecule chemical modulators of deubiquitinating enzymes upstream of or on the proteasome.