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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 11, 2022 at 8:41am

Only 3% of potential bacterial drug sources known
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the increasing difficulty in developing new drugs has contributed to global challenges in combating infectious diseases. An extensive bioinformatics survey of around 170,000 bacterial genomes indicates that only three percent of the genomic potential for microbial natural products—chemically diverse bacterial metabolites that form the basis of antibiotic drugs—have been discovered so far. Co-led by Prof Nadine Ziemert of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the survey identified several bacterial genera as producers of highly diverse natural products that could help to overcome the bottleneck in drug development.

Bacterial producers of natural products as sources of drugs such as antibiotics have been studied for decades. However, the rate of new drug discovery has stagnated in recent years. There is uncertainty on how much chemical diversity exists in nature and how many new compounds can still be discovered. Additionally, assumptions that a large portion of natural product-producers and respective biosynthetic pathways have been discovered already have not been investigated.

To understand the true potential of useful biosynthetic pathways and natural products in the bacterial world, an international team of researchers from Germany, the Netherlands and the United States surveyed a large amount of genomic data—around 170,000 bacterial genomes and several thousands of so-called Metagenome Assembled Genomes representing individual microbial taxa from diverse environments. Using a genome mining strategy, the team identified so-called Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs)—clusters of genes in bacterial genomes that jointly encode the biosynthesis pathways of natural products. Grouping the BGCs into gene cluster families according to similarity, the researchers developed tools that allow the study of the biosynthetic diversity represented in the bacterial genome database.

This bioinformatics genome mining approach reveals that only three percent or even less of the genomic potential for the production of natural products has been discovered so far.

Based on the mined data, the researchers identified bacterial taxa that showed high biosynthetic potential, among them multiple unexplored taxonomic groups. 

Athina Gavriilidou et al, Compendium of specialized metabolite biosynthetic diversity encoded in bacterial genomes, Nature Microbiology (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01110-2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 10, 2022 at 12:32pm

What is watermelon snow?

Otherwise known as glacier blood, watermelon snow is found worldwide in mountains and polar regions. The pink-red snow has a faintly fruity smell but is reported to have laxative effects if eaten.

The watermelon colour comes from freshwater green algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. In summer, the algae produce a red pigment to protect themselves from the Sun’s intense rays. This pigment belongs to a large group of carotenoid substances, many of which are found in brightly coloured fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes and carrots.

Unfortunately, the pigment reduces snow’s ability to reflect heat, leading to faster melting rates.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 10, 2022 at 11:59am

Researchers invent chameleon metal that acts like many others

A team of energy researchers  has invented a device that electronically converts one metal so that it behaves like another for use as a catalyst in chemical reactions. The device, called a "catalytic condenser," is the first to demonstrate that alternative materials that are electronically modified to provide new properties can yield faster, more efficient chemical processing.

The invention opens the door for new catalytic technologies using non-precious metal catalysts for important applications such as storing renewable energy, making renewable fuels, and manufacturing sustainable materials.

In order to develop this method for tuning the catalytic properties of alternative materials, the researchers relied on their knowledge of how electrons behave at surfaces. The team successfully tested a theory that adding and removing electrons to one material could turn the metal oxide into something that mimicked the properties of another.

Tzia Ming Onn et al, Alumina Graphene Catalytic Condenser for Programmable Solid Acids, JACS Au (2022). DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.2c00114

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2022 at 9:26am

Combining certain meds with ibuprofen can permanently injure kidneys

Anyone who is taking a diuretic and a renin-angiotensin system (RSA) inhibitor for high blood pressure should be cautious about also taking ibuprofen, according to new research.

Diuretics and RSA inhibitors are commonly prescribed together for people with hypertension and are available under various pharmaceutical brand names. Painkillers such as ibuprofen are available over-the-counter in most pharmacies and stores in popular brands.

Researchers used computer-simulated drug trials to model the interactions of the three drugs and the impact on the kidney. They found that in people with certain medical profiles, the combination can cause acute kidney injury, which in some cases can be permanent.

It's not that everyone who happens to take this combination of drugs is going to have problems. But the research shows it's enough of a problem that you should exercise caution.

Computer-simulated drug trials can quickly produce results that would take much longer in human clinical trials.

The research, in this case, can also speak directly to the many people who are taking drugs for hypertension and may reach for a painkiller with ibuprofen without giving it much thought.

Diuretics are a family of drugs that make the body hold less water. Being dehydrated is a major factor in acute kidney injury, and then the RAS inhibitor and ibuprofen hit the kidney with this triple whammy.

So scientists advice: If you happen to be on these hypertension drugs and need a painkiller, consider acetaminophen instead.

Jessica Leete et al, Determining risk factors for triple whammy acute kidney injury, Mathematical Biosciences (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2022.108809

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 8, 2022 at 1:41pm

Depending on your parents and very little on how you live, your longevity or, as our paper claims, your response to COVID-19 is a function of who you were when you were born," he said, "which is kind of a big deal."

To build this model the researchers used publicly available data on COVID-19 mortality from the Center for Disease Control and US Census Bureau and studies on telomeres, many of which were published by the co-authors over the past two decades.

Assembling telomere length information about a person or specific demographic, he said, could help doctors know who was less susceptible. And then they could allocate resources, such as booster shots, according to which populations and individuals may be more susceptible to COVID-19.

https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/05/06/model-finds-covid-19-dea...'s%20ability%20to,virus%20that%20causes%20the%20disease.

Part 2

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 8, 2022 at 1:39pm

Model finds COVID-19 deaths among elderly may be due to genetic limit on cell division

 Your immune system's ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease. These cloned immune cells cannot be infinitely created, and a key hypothesis of a new University of Washington study is that the body's ability to create these cloned cells falls off significantly in old age.

According to a model created by UW research professor James Anderson, this genetically predetermined limit on your immune system may be the key to why COVID-19 has such a devastating effect on the elderly. Anderson is the lead author of a paper published March 31 in The Lancet eBioMedicine detailing this modeled link between aging, COVID-19 and mortality.

"When DNA split in cell division, the end cap—called a telomere—gets a little shorter with each division," explains Anderson, who is a modeler of biological systems in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "After a series of replications of a cell, it gets too short and stops further division. Not all cells or all animals have this limit, but immune cells in humans have this cell life."

The average person's immune system coasts along pretty good despite this limit until about 50 years old. That's when enough core immune cells, called T cells, have shortened telomeres and cannot quickly clone themselves through cellular division in big enough numbers to attack and clear the COVID-19 virus, which has the trait of sharply reducing immune cell numbers, Anderson said. Importantly, he added, telomere lengths are inherited from your parents. Consequently, there are some differences in these lengths between people at every age as well as how old a person becomes before these lengths are mostly used up.

Anderson said the key difference between this understanding of aging, which has a threshold for when your immune system has run out of collective telomere length, and the idea that we all age consistently over time is the "most exciting" discovery of his research.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2022 at 9:19am

Global bird populations steadily declining

Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world. So concludes a study from scientists at multiple institutions, published recently in the journal Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species are cited as the key threats to avian biodiversity. Climate change is identified as an emerging driver of bird population declines.

We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird species. Avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics and it is there that we also find the highest number of threatened species.

The study says approximately 48% of existing bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines. Populations are stable for 39% of species. Only 6% are showing increasing population trends, and the status of 7% is still unknown. The study authors reviewed changes in avian biodiversity using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List" to reveal population changes among the world's 11,000 bird species.

Because birds are highly visible and sensitive indicators of environmental health, we know their loss signals a much wider loss of biodiversity and threats to human health and well-being.

The fate of bird populations is strongly dependent on stopping the loss and degradation of habitats.

Alexander C. Lees et al, State of the World's Birds, Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2022). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-112420-014642

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 7, 2022 at 8:45am

Drugs targeting cell recycling could be used to suffocate cancer cells

Pancreatic cancers recycle resources to fuel their survival and growth, opening up the possibility of new treatments aimed at stopping them from doing so, scientists report.

New findings show that pancreatic cancers make use of a key "recycler" protein to keep pace with their constant demand for oxygen and energy, as they grow and spread. Blocking the recycler could suffocate pancreatic cancer cells by starving them of oxygen and energy—and the researchers now plan to create new drugs aimed at suffocating tumors. The new study is the first to investigate the role in pancreatic cancer of "deubiquitylating enzymes" (DUBs)—which stop other proteins from being "binned" by the body so they can be recycled instead.

Researchers identified a DUB called USP25 as a key "recycler" protein which supported the survival and growth of cancer cells.

Pancreatic tumors are known to have low oxygen "micro-environments." This is because the rapid growth of pancreatic cancer often outstrips the oxygen supply, which cancer cells need to survive and grow. Researchers found that USP25 can regulate a protein known as HIF-1a to help pancreatic cancer cells adapt to low oxygen levels in the tumor. USP25 does this by preventing HIF-1a from being "binned," so it can form new blood vessels to supply the cancer with oxygenated blood.

Scientists showed that genetically deleting USP25, or blocking it using drugs, meant mini-tumors were unable to grow, as they were starved of oxygen. They believe that by acting as a "recycler" protein, USP25 can reverse the protein modifications on HIF-1a that destine it to be degraded by the body, stabilizing HIF-1a and allowing it to continue supplying oxygen and nutrients to cancer cells. In this way, USP25 plays a role in helping pancreatic cancer grow and spread. Researchers think the mechanism may also be important for other low-oxygen tumor types, such as breast cancer, and plan to explore it further. They will seek to design USP25 inhibitors and ultimately to assess the new approach to treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer. They are also planning to investigate the role of other druggable DUBs in pancreatic cancer.

Jessica K. Nelson et al, USP25 promotes pathological HIF-1-driven metabolic reprogramming and is a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29684-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2022 at 12:11pm

Miracle plant seagrass

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 6, 2022 at 9:46am

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