Structure of lymphostatin, a large multi-functional virulence factor of pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Lymphostatin is a key virulence factor of enteropathogenic and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli, playing roles in bacterial colonisation of the gut and in the inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation and proinflammatory responses. The protein's glycosyltransferase and cysteine protease motifs are required for activity against lymphocytes, but high-resolution structural information has proven elusive. Here, we describe the structure of lymphostatin from enteropathogenic E.

Binding of a Pocket Factor to Hepatitis B Virus Capsids Changes the Rotamer Conformation of Phenylalanine 97.

(1) Background: During maturation of the Hepatitis B virus, a viral polymerase inside the capsid transcribes a pre-genomic RNA into a partly double stranded DNA-genome. This is followed by envelopment with surface proteins inserted into a membrane. Envelopment is hypothetically regulated by a structural signal that reports the maturation state of the genome.

DL-Methadone as an Enhancer of Chemotherapeutic Drugs in Head and Neck Cancer Cell Lines.

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of DL-methadone on enhancing the action of the chemotherapeutic drugs cisplatin, doxorubicin, 5-fluoruracil (5-FU) and paclitaxel on head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines.

Materials And Methods: The chemotherapeutic drugs were applied alone or in combination with DL-methadone and cytotoxicity was analyzed by XTT assays. Expression of the μ-opioid receptor and the drug transporter p-glycoprotein were analyzed by qRT-PCR.