Codon Usage Evolution in Viruses: Implications for Survival and Pathogenicity.

Codon usage serves as a fundamental viral signature, influencing survival, adaptation, and pathogenicity. Viruses exhibit distinct codon usage patterns shaped by genome composition, host interactions, and evolutionary pressures. The differences between DNA and RNA viruses in codon usage reflect their replication strategies, host preferences, and genome constraints.

Recombinant Cell-Permeable Puromycin -Acetyltransferase Confers Puromycin Resistance by Direct Protein Transduction.

Puromycin N-acetyltransferase (PAC) is an enzyme that catalyzes the acetylation of puromycin, an inhibitor of protein synthesis. The PAC gene is often co-transfected with genes of interest in the same vector to serve as a selective marker, conferring puromycin resistance to mammalian cells. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), which are 5-30 amino acids in length, facilitate the translocation of functional cargoes across the cell membrane.

Gut microbiota-derived indole compounds attenuate metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease by improving fat metabolism and inflammation.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common chronic liver disease, and its prevalence has increased worldwide in recent years. Additionally, there is a close relationship between MASLD and gut microbiota-derived metabolites. However, the mechanisms of MASLD and its metabolites are still unclear.

Upregulation of the serine palmitoyltransferase subunit SPTLC2 by endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibits the hepatic insulin response.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is induced by various conditions, such as inflammation and the presence of excess nutrients. Abnormal accumulation of unfolded proteins leads to the activation of a collective signaling cascade, termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). ER stress is reported to perturb hepatic insulin response metabolism while promoting insulin resistance.

De Novo Sphingolipid Biosynthesis in Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is the formation of fibrofatty lesions in the arterial wall, and this inflammatory state of the artery is the main cause of advanced pathological processes, including myocardial infarction and stroke. Dyslipidemic conditions with excess cholesterol accumulate within the arterial vessel wall and initiate atherogenic processes. Following vascular reaction and lipid accumulation, the vascular wall gradually thickens.

Annona muricata leaf extract attenuates hepatic lipogenesis and adipogenesis.

Annona muricata (graviola) is a medicinal plant that can be used to alleviate chronic human diseases by providing antioxidants and inducing immunomodulation. In this study, we found that treatment of AML12 hepatocytes with steam (SGE) and ethanol (EGE) extracts of graviola leaf downregulated the expression of fatty acid (FA) oxidation genes, including ACOX1, CPT1, and PPARα, with no change in the expression of FA synthesis genes. However, whereas EGE inhibited the differentiation and lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes and downregulated FA synthesis genes, no similar changes were observed in response to treatment with SGE.