Cell Wall-Microtubule Interactions in Plant Cell.

The plant cell wall, a rigid structural layer that surrounds each plant cell, is critical for regulating and controlling cell growth. Microtubules play a role in the production of cell walls by regulating the transport and deposition of cell wall components in a spatial and temporal manner. The dynamic behavior of microtubules and their anchoring to the plasma membrane are factors that contribute to the achievement of production of the cell wall and growth of the cell.

The link between hydrotropism and phototropism in Arabidopsis roots.

This article comments on: Pang L, Kobayashi A, Atsumi Y, Miyazawa Y, Fujii N, Dietrich D, Bennett MJ, Takahashi H. 2023. MIZU-KUSSEI1 (MIZ1) and GNOM/MIZ2 control not only positive hydrotropism but also phototropism in Arabidopsis roots.

Microsponges as Drug Delivery System: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives.

Microsponges are polymeric delivery devices composed of porous microspheres that range in size from 5 to 300 micrometers. These have been explored for biomedical applications such as targeted drug delivery, transdermal drug delivery, anticancer drug delivery, and bone substitutes. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of recent developments and prospects for a microsponge-based drug delivery system.

Flavonoids as promising anticancer agents: an investigation of ADMET, binding affinity by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.

Cancer is one of the most concerning diseases to humankind. Various treatment strategies are being employed for its treatment, out of which use of natural products is an essential one. Flavonoids have proven to be promising anticancer targets since decades.

Accelerating the discovery of the beyond rule of five compounds that have high affinities toward SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD.

The battle against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is the focal point for the global pandemic that has affected millions of lives worldwide. The need for effective and selective therapeutics for the treatment of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is critical. Herein, we performed a hierarchical computational approach incorporating molecular docking studies, molecular dynamics simulations, absolute binding energy calculations, and steered molecular dynamics simulations for the discovery of potential compounds with high affinity towards SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD.

B-box protein BBX32 integrates light and brassinosteroid signals to inhibit cotyledon opening.

Cotyledon opening is a key morphological change that occurs in seedlings during de-etiolation. Brassinosteroids (BRs) inhibit the opening of cotyledons in darkness while light promotes cotyledon opening. The molecular regulation of the interplay between light and BR to regulate cotyledon opening is not well understood.

High-throughput virtual screening of drug databanks for potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein.

COVID-19, which is caused by a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, has spread rapidly around the world, and it has infected more than 29 million individuals as recorded on 16 September 2020. Much effort has been made to stop the virus from spreading, and there are currently no approved pharmaceutical products to treat COVID-19. Here, we apply an approach to investigate more than 3800 FDA approved drugs on the viral RBD S-ACE2 interface as a target.

Discovery of potent inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2's main protease by ligand-based/structure-based virtual screening, MD simulations, and binding energy calculations.

COVID-19 has caused lockdowns all over the world in early 2020, as a global pandemic. Both theoretical and experimental efforts are seeking to find an effective treatment to suppress the virus. In silico drug design can play a vital role in identifying promising drug candidates against COVID-19.

Molecular level investigation of curcumin self-assembly induced by trigonelline and nanoparticle formation.

Nanoparticle-facilitated drug delivery forms the core of medicine nowadays with the drug being delivered right at the target, reducing side effects and enhancing therapeutic value. Nanoparticles derived from natural compounds are further a point of focus being biocompatible and safe by and large. In this study, we have performed HF/6-31G calculations coupled with intermolecular interaction calculations and nanoscale molecular dynamics simulations to investigate self-assemblage in curcumin induced by trigonelline.

Light signaling and UV-B-mediated plant growth regulation.

Light plays an important role in plants' growth and development throughout their life cycle. Plants alter their morphological features in response to light cues of varying intensity and quality. Dedicated photoreceptors help plants to perceive light signals of different wavelengths.

BBX31 promotes hypocotyl growth, primary root elongation and UV-B tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Photomorphogenesis is an important developmental process that helps the seedlings adapt to external light conditions. B-Box proteins are a family of transcription factors that regulate photomorphogenic responses. BBX31 negatively regulates photomorphogenesis under visible light.

The B-Box-Containing MicroProtein miP1a/BBX31 Regulates Photomorphogenesis and UV-B Protection.

The bZIP transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) represents a major hub in the light-signaling cascade both under visible and UV-B light. The mode of transcriptional regulation of , especially under UV-B light, is not well characterized. B-BOX (BBX) transcription factors regulate transcription and also posttranscriptionally modulate HY5 to control photomorphogenesis under white light.

The Remarkable Cationic Peptides: A Boon to Pharmaceutical Sciences?

In this opinion article, the authors discuss a number of interesting, beneficial properties of naturally occurring and synthetic cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with the prospective aim of bringing these compounds into therapeutic use to avoid antibiotic resistance and utilize their numerous properties. The structural diversity and the conformational freedom of these compounds adversely affects their mechanistic elucidation. Our molecular level mechanistic exploration of these peptides has shown their ion carriage properties and systematically explains their antibiotic activity through disruption of bacterial cell homeostasis and inhibition of 14-α demethylase enzyme.

Non-covalent carriage of anticancer agents by humanized antibody trastuzumab.

This article explores the internalization and non-covalent carriage of small molecule anticancer agents like vinca alkaloids by humanized monoclonal antibody trastuzumab. Such carriage is marked by significant reduction in side effects and increased therapeutic value of these anticancer agents. This study is coherent with few clinical observations of enhanced efficiency of these anticancer agents when co-administered with therapeutic antibodies.

Self-Assembled Surfactant Cyclic Peptide Nanostructures as Stabilizing Agents.

A number of cyclic peptides including [FR], [FK], [WR], [CR], [AK], and [WK] (n = 3-5) containing L-amino acids were produced using solid-phase peptide synthesis. We hypothesized that an optimal balance of hydrophobicity and charge could generate self-assembled nanostructures in aqueous solution by intramolecular and/or intermolecular interactions. Among all the designed peptides, [WR] (n = 3-5) generated self-assembled vesicle-like nanostructures at room temperature as shown by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and/or dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Efficient delivery of cell impermeable phosphopeptides by a cyclic peptide amphiphile containing tryptophan and arginine.

Phosphopeptides are valuable reagent probes for studying protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. The cellular delivery of phosphopeptides is challenging because of the presence of the negatively charged phosphate group. The cellular uptake of a number of fluorescent-labeled phosphopeptides, including F'-GpYLPQTV, F'-NEpYTARQ, F'-AEEEIYGEFEAKKKK, F'-PEpYLGLD, F'-pYVNVQN-NH2, and F'-GpYEEI (F' = fluorescein), was evaluated in the presence or absence of a [WR]4, a cyclic peptide containing alternative arginine (R) and tryptophan (W) residues, in human leukemia cells (CCRF-CEM) after 2 h incubation using flow cytometry.