Month: September 2022

New plastic-eating bacteria could help save planet http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/world/bacteria-discovery-plastic/index.html View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT IN NATURE for the next three weekends focuses on how viruses, and then parasites, can hijack their host's molecular machinery in order to complete their lifestyles. Over the course of millions of years, a molecular arms race has been gamed by parasites and their hosts, and will continue. The biochemical and genetic strategies employed point to exquisite fine-tuning of evolutionary capabilities. View in LinkedIn

SELECTIVE PRESSURE. "Viruses can affect the fitness of their hosts and thus often impose a selection pressure. Cellular organisms have evolved a variety of defense systems against invading viruses." https://lnkd.in/eZfCdmN View in LinkedIn

TWO-WAY BATTLE. "Virus-specific molecular patterns, such as dsRNA or the RNA 5′-tri-phosphate, are targets of host innate immune systems that have broad antiviral specificity; whereas individual viral proteins may be targeted by a specific host resistance system." https://lnkd.in/eZfCdmN View in LinkedIn

VIRUS-HOST INTERACTOME. "From a systems biology perspective, a viral infection can be viewed at the cell level, as a combination of molecular perturbations allowing viral component production and assembly while generating minor or massive cellular dysfunctions. These perturbations are at least in part introduced into the host protein network through interactions of cellular proteins with viral proteins." https://lnkd.in/eMcnYAH View in LinkedIn

VIRAL STRATEGIES. "Viruses seem to have evolved strategies to efficiently adapt to the scale-free and small-world architecture of the human interactome. By interacting with host hubs, viruses target the “Achilles’ heel” of the host interactome. Because of the multi-functionality of these hubs, viruses manipulate a wide range of functions. In addition, some viral proteins have also evolved the ability to interact with numerous cellular proteins." https://lnkd.in/eMcnYAH View in LinkedIn

VIRAL ENTRY. "Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites: they must enter a cell to reproduce. To gain access to the cell interior, a virus must first bind to one or more specific receptor molecules on the cell surface. Cell receptors for viruses do not exist only to serve viruses: they also have cellular functions." https://lnkd.in/ePqG64s View in LinkedIn

KEY PROTEINS. "Some pathogen- and parasite-host pairs are locked in reiterative cat-and-mouse chases, with molecular mimicry sometimes propelling the dynamics. Virus-host interactions drive a constant cycle of mutual evasion and pursuit, rapidly introducing changes into key proteins from both sources that interact with one another." https://lnkd.in/ehHgzCK View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE REACTION. "It is not uncommon to observe about half of a cell’s transcriptome or protein abundance to change significantly during cellular transitions or infection." https://lnkd.in/eVepjNC View in LinkedIn

ANCIENT INFECTION. "Genes from Ebola Virus Family Found in Human Genome." https://lnkd.in/bX9m4fJ View in LinkedIn