Microreviews, Review
Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cancer research: modeling tumor biology and enabling drug discovery
Graziana Assalve1,a, Paola Lunetti1,a, Annalisa Fai1, Luca Frattaruolo2, Anna Rita Cappello2, Alessandra Ferramosca1,* and Vincenzo Zara1
By combining genetic tractability with conservation of key cellular pathways, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is emerging as a versatile model for cancer biology and a scalable platform for identifying therapeutic targets and vulnerabilities.
Prohibitins: emerging host targets of bacteria and viruses at the plasma membrane, mitochondria, and cytoplasm
Grecia O. Rivera-Palomino1,2 and Arianne L. Theiss1,2,3
Prohibitins are emerging as central host hubs exploited by bacteria and viruses to rewire signaling and mitochondrial dynamics. The current review discusses Prohibitins in host-pathogen interplay and their potential as novel anti-infective targets.
Outer membrane vesicles in Vibrio species: Roles in biofilm formation and pathogenesis
Kumari Shambhavi and Durg Vijai Singh
This review explores current knowledge on outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) in Vibrio species, highlighting their roles in pathogenesis, host interaction, and marine ecology; and identifies major knowledge gaps, outlining key methodological challenges and future prospects for OMV-based applications.
The mechanism of Tat-dependent protein translocation
Thomas Brüser1,* and Carsten Sanders2,3,4
This review integrates mechanistically relevant biochemical, molecular, and structural studies on Tat-dependent translocation of folded proteins into an in its molecular detail new comprehensive explanation of how the Tat system mediates protein transport.
From the gut to the lungs: The role of gut microbiota in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related research progress
Simin Yang1,2, Shuting Zeng1,2, Yongan Deng1,2, Xiaodong Duan1,2, Chengkai Chen1,2, Luyun Sun2, Yongkang Qiao2 and Zunpeng Shu1,2
This article provides new ideas and directions for the basic research and clinical practice of COPD by comprehensively sorting out the association between gut microbiota and COPD.
Protein arginine methyltransferases in protozoan parasites: a new path for antiparasitic chemotherapy?
Gustavo D. Campagnaro1,* and Sébastien Pomel2
This review discusses the activity and the relevance of arginine methyltransferases for the survival of pathogenic kinetoplastids, apicomplexans and amoebas, and how these enzymes could be exploited as drug targets.
Gut microbiota and ankylosing spondylitis: current insights and future challenges
Andrei Lobiuc1, Liliana Groppa2, Lia Chislari2, Eugeniu Russu2,3, Marinela Homitchi2,3, Camelia Ciorescu2,3, Sevag Hamamah4, I. Codruta Bran1 and Mihai Covasa1
This review explores the growing role of gut microbiota in AS and its potential to reshape targeted treatment strategies and facilitate development of adjunct therapies to address disease onset and progression.
Advancements in vaginal microbiota, Trichomonas vaginalis, and vaginal cell interactions: Insights from co-culture assays
Fernanda Gomes Cardoso and Tiana Tasca
This review updates co-culture and co-incubation techniques for studying interactions of Lactobacillus spp., representing a pre-dominant member of the healthy vaginal microbiota; Candida spp., the most abundant yeast in the vagina, and T. vaginalis, responsible for the most widespread nonviral STI worldwide.
Influence of cervicovaginal microbiota on Chlamydia trachomatis infection dynamics
Emily Hand1, Indriati Hood-Pishchany1,2, Toni Darville1,2 and Catherine M. O’Connell2
This review examines the complex interplay between the cervicovaginal microbiome, C. trachomatis infection, and host immune responses, highlighting the role of metabolites such as short-chain and long-chain fatty acids, indole, and iron in modulating pathogen survival and host defenses.
Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus
December 29, 2016
This article comments on work published by Joo et al. (MBio, 2016), which describes the first molecular regulatory mechanism exerted by an S. aureus toxin, setting a paradigmatic example of how S. aureus toxins may influence cell functions to adjust them to times of toxin production.
NprR, a moonlighting quorum sensor shifting from a phosphatase activity to a transcriptional activator
November 5, 2016
This article comments on work published by Perchat et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrates that, in the absence of the signaling peptide NprX, the sensor NprR is a dimer, which negatively controls sporulation in Bacillus thuringiensis, independently of its transcription factor activity.
The interaction between herpes simplex virus 1 genome and promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) as a hallmark of the entry in latency
November 4, 2016
This article comments on work published by Maroul et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrates that the interaction of the viral genomes with the nuclear architecture and specifically the promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies is a major determinant for the entry of HSV-1 into latency.
Francisella IglG protein and the DUF4280 proteins: PAAR-like proteins in non-canonical Type VI secretion systems?
October 30, 2016
This article comments on work published by Rigard et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2013), which identified the function of IgIG, a protein of unknown function, encoded within the Francisella Pathogenicity Island.
B cell-helping functions of gut microbial metabolites
September 23, 2016
This article comments on work published by Kim et al. (Cell Host & Microbe, 2016), which showed that the microbial metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) regulate the metabolism and gene expression in B cells to promote antibody production.
Cryptococcus flips its lid – membrane phospholipid asymmetry modulates antifungal drug resistance and virulence
August 1, 2016
This article comments on work published by Huang et al. (MBio, 2016), which reported that in the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans loss of lipid flippase activity sensitized cryptococcal cells to multiple classes of antifungal drugs and abolished fungal virulence in murine models.
A novel component of the mitochondrial genome segregation machinery in trypanosomes
July 28, 2016
This article comments on work published by Trikin et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which described a new component of the mitochondrial genome segregation machinery in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei.
Bacterial genotoxin functions as immune-modulator and promotes host survival
July 28, 2016
This article comments on work published by Del Bel Belluz et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrated that the typhoid toxin of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi esembles an immune-modulatory molecule rather than a toxic agent.
Inhibition of Zika virus by Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti
June 27, 2016
This article comments on work published by Dutra et al. (Cell Host Microbe, 2016), which investigated the potential of Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti to restrict infection and transmission of Zika virus.
House of cellulose – a new hideout for drug tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
June 23, 2016
This article comments on work published by Trivedi et al. (Nat Commun, 2016), which shows that Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells organise themselves into biofilms in response to intracellular thiol reductive stress.