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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

Acetobixan, An Inhibitor Of Cellulose Synthesis Identified By Microbial Bioprospecting, Ye Xia, Lei Lei, Chad Brabham, Jozsef Stork, James R. Strickland, Adam Ladak, Ying Gu, Ian Wallace, Seth Debolt Apr 2014

Acetobixan, An Inhibitor Of Cellulose Synthesis Identified By Microbial Bioprospecting, Ye Xia, Lei Lei, Chad Brabham, Jozsef Stork, James R. Strickland, Adam Ladak, Ying Gu, Ian Wallace, Seth Debolt

Horticulture Faculty Publications

In plants, cellulose biosynthesis is an essential process for anisotropic growth and therefore is an ideal target for inhibition. Based on the documented utility of small-molecule inhibitors to dissect complex cellular processes we identified a cellulose biosynthesis inhibitor (CBI), named acetobixan, by bio-prospecting among compounds secreted by endophytic microorganisms. Acetobixan was identified using a drug-gene interaction screen to sift through hundreds of endophytic microbial secretions for one that caused synergistic reduction in root expansion of the leaky AtcesA6prc1-1 mutant. We then mined this microbial secretion for compounds that were differentially abundant compared with Bacilli that failed to mimic CBI action …


Computational Design Of The Affinity And Specificity Of A Therapeutic T Cell Receptor, Brian G. Pierce, Lance M. Hellman, Moushumi Hossain, Nishant K. Singh, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Zhiping Weng, Brian M. Baker Feb 2014

Computational Design Of The Affinity And Specificity Of A Therapeutic T Cell Receptor, Brian G. Pierce, Lance M. Hellman, Moushumi Hossain, Nishant K. Singh, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Zhiping Weng, Brian M. Baker

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

T cell receptors (TCRs) are key to antigen-specific immunity and are increasingly being explored as therapeutics, most visibly in cancer immunotherapy. As TCRs typically possess only low-to-moderate affinity for their peptide/MHC (pMHC) ligands, there is a recognized need to develop affinity-enhanced TCR variants. Previous in vitro engineering efforts have yielded remarkable improvements in TCR affinity, yet concerns exist about the maintenance of peptide specificity and the biological impacts of ultra-high affinity. As opposed to in vitro engineering, computational design can directly address these issues, in theory permitting the rational control of peptide specificity together with relatively controlled increments in affinity. …