Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and Early Embryogenesis: Review

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has four major isoforms: classical hCG, hyperglycosylated hCG, free β subunit, and sulphated hCG. Classical hCG is the first molecule synthesized by the embryo. Its RNA is transcribed as early as the eight-cell stage and the blastocyst produces the protein before its implantation. This review synthetizes everything currently known on this multi-effect hormone: hCG levels, angiogenetic activity, immunological actions, and effects on miscarriages and thyroid function.     

Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: What Do We Currently Know in 2020?

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin cancer that predominantly arises in chronically sun-damaged skin. Immunosuppression, genetic disorders such as xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), exposure to certain drugs and environmental noxae have been identified as major risk factors. Surgical removal of cSCC is the therapy of choice and mostly curative in early stages. However, a minority of patients develop locally advanced tumors or distant metastases that are still challenging to treat. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) targeting CTLA-4, PD-L1 and PD-1 has tremendously changed the field of oncological therapy and especially the treatment of skin cancers as tumors with a high mutational burden. In this review, we focus on the differences between cSCC and cutaneous melanoma (CM) and their implications on therapy, summarize the current evidence on ICB for the treatment of advanced cSCC and discuss the chances and pitfalls of this therapy option for this cancer entity. Furthermore, we focus on special subgroups of interest such as organ transplant recipients, patients with hematologic malignancies, XP and field cancerization.     

Mining the Wheat Grain Proteome

Bread wheat is the most widely cultivated crop worldwide, used in the production of food products and a feed source for animals. Selection tools that can be applied early in the breeding cycle are needed to accelerate genetic gain for increased wheat production while maintaining or improving grain quality if demand from human population growth is to be fulfilled. Proteomics screening assays of wheat flour can assist breeders to select the best performing breeding lines and discard the worst lines. In this study, we optimised a robust LC–MS shotgun quantitative proteomics method to screen thousands of wheat genotypes. Using 6 cultivars and 4 replicates, we tested 3 resuspension ratios (50, 25, and 17 µL/mg), 2 extraction buffers (with urea or guanidine-hydrochloride), 3 sets of proteases (chymotrypsin, Glu-C, and trypsin/Lys-C), and multiple LC settings. Protein identifications by LC–MS/MS were used to select the best parameters. A total 8738 wheat proteins were identified. The best method was validated on an independent set of 96 cultivars and peptides quantities were normalised using sample weights, an internal standard, and quality controls. Data mining tools found particularly useful to explore the flour proteome are presented (UniProt Retrieve/ID mapping tool, KEGG, AgriGO, REVIGO, and Pathway Tools).     

Analysis of Integrin αIIb Subunit Dynamics Reveals Long-Range Effects of Missense Mutations on Calf Domains

Integrin α_IIbβ₃, a glycoprotein complex expressed at the platelet surface, is involved in platelet aggregation and contributes to primary haemostasis. Several integrin α_IIbβ₃ polymorphisms prevent the aggregation that causes haemorrhagic syndromes, such as Glanzmann thrombasthenia (GT). Access to 3D structure allows understanding the structural effects of polymorphisms related to GT. In a previous analysis using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of α_IIb Calf-1 domain structure, it was observed that GT associated with single amino acid variation affects distant loops, but not the mutated position. In this study, experiments are extended to Calf-1, Thigh, and Calf-2 domains. Two loops in Calf-2 are unstructured and therefore are modelled expertly using biophysical restraints. Surprisingly, MD revealed the presence of rigid zones in these loops. Detailed analysis with structural alphabet, the Proteins Blocks (PBs), allowed observing local changes in highly flexible regions. The variant P741R located at C-terminal of Calf-1 revealed that the Calf-2 presence did not affect the results obtained with isolated Calf-1 domain. Simulations for Calf-1 + Calf-2, and Thigh + Calf-1 variant systems are designed to comprehend the impact of five single amino acid variations in these domains. Distant conformational changes are observed, thus highlighting the potential role of allostery in the structural basis of GT.     

Cell-Based Chemical Safety Assessment and Therapeutic Discovery Using Array-Based Sensors

Synthetic chemicals are widely used in food, agriculture, and medicine, making chemical safety assessments necessary for environmental exposure. In addition, the rapid determination of chemical drug efficacy and safety is a key step in therapeutic discoveries. Cell-based screening methods are non-invasive as compared with animal studies. Cellular phenotypic changes can also provide more sensitive indicators of chemical effects than conventional cell viability. Array-based cell sensors can be engineered to maximize sensitivity to changes in cell phenotypes, lowering the threshold for detecting cellular responses under external stimuli. Overall, array-based sensing can provide a robust strategy for both cell-based chemical risk assessments and therapeutics discovery.     

Proof of usage: user-centric consensus for data provision and exchange

Annals of Telecommunications - This paper presents a new consensus algorithm, Proof of Usage (PoU), for the blockchain technology. This consensus is introduced for permissioned (or private)...     

Identification of ritual blood in African artifacts using TOF-SIMS and synchrotron radiation microspectroscopies

A new protocol is implemented to demonstrate the presence of blood in the patina of African art objects from Mali. Divided into three steps, the protocol first consists in demonstrating the presence of proteins and localizing them in the sample's cross sections using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and synchrotron-based infrared microspectrometry (microFT-IR). In a second time, TOF-SIMS is used to investigate heme, which is a blood marker. If heme is missing, which could mean that it is too degraded to be detected, X-ray microfluorescence (microXRF) and X-ray absorption near-edge microspectroscopy (microXANES) are used to prove the presence of iron in the protein area and to get a fingerprint of its chemical environment. This permits us thus to demonstrate that iron is indeed linked with proteins and not with mineral phases of the sample. Coupled with the ritual context of the objects, this constitutes a proof of the use of blood. Thanks to this protocol, which has the major advantage of avoiding false positive results, the presence of blood has been demonstrated in seven out of the eight studied samples.     

High-entropy oxides: Harnessing crystalline disorder for emergent functionality

High-entropy materials defy historical materials design paradigms by leveraging chemical disorder to kinetically stabilize novel crystalline solid solutions comprised of many end-members. Formulational diversity results in local crystal structures that are seldom found in conventional materials and can strongly influence macroscopic physical properties. Thermodynamically prescribed chemical flexibility provides a means to tune such properties. Additionally, kinetic metastability results in many possible atomic arrangements, including both solid-solution configurations and heterogeneous phase assemblies, depending on synthesis conditions. Local disorder induced by metastability, and extensive cation solubilities allowed by thermodynamics combine to give many high-entropy oxide systems utility as electrochemical, magnetic, thermal, dielectric, and optical materials. Though high-entropy materials research is maturing rapidly, much remains to be understood and many compositions still await discovery, exploration, and implementation.     

Design and Discovery of Plasmepsin II Inhibitors Using an Automated Workflow on Large‐Scale Grids

Novel and potent inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum plasmepsin II were identified by post‐processing the results of a docking screening with BEAR, a recently reported procedure for the refinement and rescoring of docked ligands in virtual screening. FRET substrate degradation assays performed on the 30 most promising compounds resulted in 26 inhibitors with IC₅₀ values ranging from 4.3 nM to 1.8 μM .