Structural study of CUG-repeating small RNAs complexed with silencing suppressor P19

The study is focused on structural aspects of interaction between silencing suppressor p19 and CUG-repeating small RNAs. The work involves crystal structure determination of a protein-unbound RNA form and RNA fragments of various lengths (19, 20, 21 nucleotides) complexed with p19-suppressor. Results prove the ability of silencing suppressor p19 to bind CUG-repeating small RNAs, as well as reveal features of U•U mismatches flanked by Watson-Crick C•G base pairs in p19-bound and p19-unbound states. In addition, structural data reveal a p19 specific site for anchoring extra nucleotides in small RNAs. In general, the study extends our knowledge about the mechanism of small RNA recognition by silencing suppressor p19.

Structural Integrity of the Contralesional Hemisphere Predicts Cognitive Impairment in Ischemic Stroke at Three Months

After stroke, white matter integrity can be affected both locally and distally to the primary lesion location. It has been shown that tract disruption in mirror's regions of the contralateral hemisphere is associated with degree of functional impairment. Fourteen patients suffering right hemispheric focal stroke (S) and eighteen healthy controls (HC) underwent Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and neuropsychological assessment. The stroke patient group was divided into poor (SP; n = 8) and good (SG; n = 6) cognitive recovery groups according to their cognitive improvement from the acute phase (72 hours after stroke) to the subacute phase (3 months post-stroke). Whole-brain DWI data analysis was performed by computing Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) followed by Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Assessment of effects was obtained computing the correlation of the projections on TBSS skeleton of Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and Radial Diffusivity (RD) with cognitive test results. Significant decrease of FA was found only in right brain anatomical areas for the S group when compared to the HC group. Analyzed separately, stroke patients with poor cognitive recovery showed additional significant FA decrease in several left hemisphere regions; whereas SG patients showed significant decrease only in the left genu of corpus callosum when compared to the HC. For the SG group, whole brain analysis revealed significant correlation between the performance in the Semantic Fluency test and the FA in the right hemisphere as well as between the performance in the Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) and theTrail Making Test-part A and the FA in the left hemisphere. For the SP group, correlation analysis revealed significant correlation between the performance in the GPT and the FA in the right hemisphere. Palabras clave

Synthesis and structural characterisation of [Cu2[(PDC)2(bpa)(H2O)2]•nH2O•mDMF (n=3 and m=1 for 1, n=7 and m=0 for 2, PDC=2,5-pyrindinedicarboxylate and bpa= 1,2-di(4-pyridil)ethane))

[EN] Combination of polycarboxylate anions and dipyridyl ligands is an effective strategy to produce solid coordination frameworks (SCF) which are crystalline materials based on connections between metal ions through organic ligands. In this sense, combination of polycarboxylate anions and dipyridyl ligands is an effective strategy to produce extended structures. In this context, this work is focused on two novel CuII-based SCFs exhibiting PDC (2,5-pyridinedicarboxylate) and bpa (1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethane), being the first structures reported in literature containing both ligands. Chemical formula are [Cu2[(PDC)2(bpa)(H2O)2]•3H2O•DMF (1), and [Cu2(PDC)2(bpa)(H2O)2]•7H2O (2), where DMF is dimethylformamide. Compounds 1 and 2 have been characterized by means of XRD, IR, TG/DTG, and DTA analysis.

Structural studies of the hipersaline adaptation of proteins belonging to halophilic archaea

183 p.

Structural Synthesis of 3-DoF Spatial Fully Parallel Manipulators

In this paper, the architectures of three degrees of freedom (3-DoF) spatial, fully parallel manipulators (PMs), whose limbs are structurally identical, are obtained systematically. To do this, the methodology followed makes use of the concepts of the displacement group theory of rigid body motion. This theory works with so-called 'motion generators'. That is, every limb is a kinematic chain that produces a certain type of displacement in the mobile platform or end-effector. The laws of group algebra will determine the actual motion pattern of the end-effector. The structural synthesis is a combinatorial process of different kinematic chains' topologies employed in order to get all of the 3-DoF motion pattern possibilities in the end-effector of the fully parallel manipulator.

Structural Integrity of the Contralesional Hemisphere Predicts Cognitive Impairment in Ischemic Stroke at Three Months

After stroke, white matter integrity can be affected both locally and distally to the primary lesion location. It has been shown that tract disruption in mirror's regions of the contralateral hemisphere is associated with degree of functional impairment. Fourteen patients suffering right hemispheric focal stroke (S) and eighteen healthy controls (HC) underwent Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and neuropsychological assessment. The stroke patient group was divided into poor (SP; n = 8) and good (SG; n = 6) cognitive recovery groups according to their cognitive improvement from the acute phase (72 hours after stroke) to the subacute phase (3 months post-stroke). Whole-brain DWI data analysis was performed by computing Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) followed by Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Assessment of effects was obtained computing the correlation of the projections on TBSS skeleton of Fractional Anisotropy (FA) and Radial Diffusivity (RD) with cognitive test results. Significant decrease of FA was found only in right brain anatomical areas for the S group when compared to the HC group. Analyzed separately, stroke patients with poor cognitive recovery showed additional significant FA decrease in several left hemisphere regions; whereas SG patients showed significant decrease only in the left genu of corpus callosum when compared to the HC. For the SG group, whole brain analysis revealed significant correlation between the performance in the Semantic Fluency test and the FA in the right hemisphere as well as between the performance in the Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) and theTrail Making Test-part A and the FA in the left hemisphere. For the SP group, correlation analysis revealed significant correlation between the performance in the GPT and the FA in the right hemisphere.

Energetics and Structural Characterization of the large-scale Functional Motion of Adenylate Kinase

Adenylate Kinase (AK) is a signal transducing protein that regulates cellular energy homeostasis balancing between different conformations. An alteration of its activity can lead to severe pathologies such as heart failure, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. A comprehensive elucidation of the large-scale conformational motions that rule the functional mechanism of this enzyme is of great value to guide rationally the development of new medications. Here using a metadynamics-based computational protocol we elucidate the thermodynamics and structural properties underlying the AK functional transitions. The free energy estimation of the conformational motions of the enzyme allows characterizing the sequence of events that regulate its action. We reveal the atomistic details of the most relevant enzyme states, identifying residues such as Arg119 and Lys13, which play a key role during the conformational transitions and represent druggable spots to design enzyme inhibitors. Our study offers tools that open new areas of investigation on large-scale motion in proteins.