Chronic inflammation is a major driver of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), with a tremendous impact worldwide. Besides its function as a pathological calcification inhibitor, vitamin K-dependent protein Gla-rich protein (GRP) was shown to act as an anti-inflammatory agent independently of its gamma-carboxylation status. Although GRP’s therapeutic potential has been highlighted, its low solubility at physio...
Chronic inflammation is a major driver of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), with a tremendous impact worldwide. Besides its function as a pathological calcification inhibitor, vitamin K-dependent protein Gla-rich protein (GRP) was shown to act as an anti-inflammatory agent independently of its gamma-carboxylation status. Although GRP’s therapeutic potential has been highlighted, its low solubility at physio...
Protein aggregation into insoluble amyloid fibrils is the hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, chief among them Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Although caused by different proteins, these pathologies share some basic molecular mechanisms with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), a rare hereditary neuropathy caused by amyloid formation and deposition by transthyretin (TTR) in the peripheral and au...
Protein aggregation into insoluble amyloid fibrils is the hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, chief among them Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Although caused by different proteins, these pathologies share some basic molecular mechanisms with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), a rare hereditary neuropathy caused by amyloid formation and deposition by transthyretin (TTR) in the peripheral and au...
The use of enzymes in laundry and dish detergent products is growing. Such tendency implies dedicated studies to understand surfactant-enzyme interactions. The interactions between surfactants and enzymes and their impact on the catalytic efficiency represent a central problem and were here evaluated using circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, and enzyme activity determinations. This work focuses on thi...
Some microorganisms accumulate glucosylglycerate (GG) during growth under nitrogen deprivation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of GG and the regulation of its levels in the nitrogen stress response are elusive. Since GG is required for biosynthesis of mycobacterial methylglucose lipopolysaccharides (MGLP) we examined the molecular mechanisms linking replenishment of assimilable nitrogen t...
Steinernema carpocapsae is an entomopathogenic nematode widely used for the control of insect pests due to its virulence, which is mainly attributed to the ability the parasitic stage has to overcome insect defences. To identify the mechanisms underlying such a characteristic, we studied a novel serpin-like inhibitor (sc-srp-6) that was detected in a transcriptome analysis. Recombinant Sc-SRP-6 produced in Esch...
AIP56 (apoptosis-inducing protein of 56 kDa) is a major virulence factor of Photobacterium damselae piscicida (Phdp), a Gram-negative pathogen that causes septicemic infections, which are among the most threatening diseases in mariculture. The toxin triggers apoptosis of host macrophages and neutrophils through a process that, in vivo, culminates with secondary necrosis of the apoptotic cells contributing to th...
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine, which active form is a non-covalent homodimer with two intramolecular disulphide bonds essential for its biological activity. A mutated form of murine IL-10 was successfully expressed in E. coli, recovered and purified from inclusion bodies. Its ability to reduce tumor necrosis factor synthesis and down-regulate class II major histocompatibility complex m...