Recent Publications by AGS Members
2026-10-22
Published in: Hlife
No abstract
2026-10-22
Published in: Acs Chemical Biology
Heparanase (Hpse) is an endo-β-glucuronidase that specifically cleaves heparan sulfate (HS) and plays critical roles in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases, making it a well-validated therapeutic target. To identify novel Hpse inhibitors, we developed a rule-based computational pipeline to construct a rigorously curated database of HS oligosaccharides ranging from disaccharides to hexasaccharides. This database systematically encompasses all possible sulfation patterns and stereochemical...
2026-10-20
Published in: Biochemistry
WalKR is a two-component system that regulates cell wall homeostasis and other processes in low-GC Gram-positive bacteria. It is essential for viability in Staphylococcus aureus and regulates genes that encode the autolysins and other critical proteins. The sensor kinase WalK phosphorylates WalR at the aspartic acid residue 53 (D53) in the receiver domain, stimulating promoter DNA binding. Unlike most response regulators, WalR is reported to have a second kinase, the serine/threonine kinase...
2026-10-16
Published in: Journal of Biosocial Science
No abstract
2026-10-15
Published in: Trends in Biochemical Sciences
A weakness in glycobiology research is the insufficient integration of approaches used to connect glycan structure to function. From glycogene knockouts to understanding glycan structures, dynamics, and interactions, to determining whether a single glycan structure underlies a specific cellular function, no single approach provides sufficient information to establish these relationships. We argue that resolving glycan structure-function relationships requires the integration of complementary...
2026-10-10
Published in: Glycobiology
N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) has been repeatedly associated with human cancer, but reliable detection in mass-spectrometric studies has remained elusive, but its low abundance has led to inconsistent detection in studies of human samples. To address this, matrix-matched calibration curves, which have been pioneered in proteomics and metabolomics for assessing changes in complex mixtures, were measured of released N-glycans at four orders of magnitude dynamic range in defined mixtures,...
2026-10-09
Published in: Sexually Transmitted Infections
No abstract
2026-10-07
Published in: Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry
New, rapid and inexpensive syntheses of 4-methylumbelliferyl fluorogenic substrates for α-L-iduronidase and iduronate-2-sulfatase, have been developed from a common β-D-glucuronosyl fluoride intermediate. The syntheses feature an efficient purple light-promoted, CCl(4)-free, one-pot Ferrier photobromination/radical debromination sequence for the key C-5 epimerization. The substrates are useful chemical tools for studying mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) and type II (MPS II).
2026-10-05
Published in: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Sequential extraction has recently emerged as an alternative strategy for the comprehensive utilization of brown seaweed biomass, enabling the recovery of multiple bioactive compounds, including fucoidan. However, its influence on fucoidan structure and bioactivity remains insufficiently understood. In this study, fucoidan was isolated from Turbinaria spp. using a sequential extraction approach involving a prior removal of protein, and the impact of this process on fucoidan structure and...
2026-09-27
Published in: Cureus
Background Post-intubation hypotension (PIH) is a common and clinically significant complication of emergency airway management in critically ill patients and is associated with adverse short-term outcomes. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, clinical outcomes, and factors associated with post-intubation hypotension among critically ill adults undergoing emergency endotracheal intubation. Methodology This retrospective observational study was conducted at Mayo...
2026-09-26
Published in: The Journal of Infectious Diseases
CONCLUSIONS: Gonorrhoea CHIS are an underutilised but valuable research tool with potential to accelerate translational research against gonorrhoea. With robust ethical oversight, community engagement and international collaboration, expanded and harmonised CHIS could substantially advance prevention and treatment strategies.
2026-09-25
Published in: Cell Reports. Medicine
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes substantial respiratory disease, while treatment is limited by drug resistance. Molecular docking of a 3,880-compound natural-product library identifies punicalin (PUN) as a dual-target RSV entry inhibitor. PUN inhibits the evaluated RSV-A and RSV-B strains, including a clinical isolate, and retains activity against strains resistant to ziresovir, ribavirin, nirsevimab, and palivizumab. After 20 passages under PUN selection, the half-maximal inhibitory...
2026-09-24
Published in: Slas Discovery : Advancing Life Sciences R & D
Macrophages play central roles in tissue repair and remodelling, host defence and immunopathology. Their ability to rapidly reprogram key functions in response to local cues makes them attractive targets for drug discovery. While this plasticity creates therapeutic opportunities, it also complicates high-throughput screening since multiple, transient functional states can coexist. To address this challenge, we developed a 384-well, single-cell pipeline that uses two well-established biomarkers,...
2026-09-23
Published in: Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
No abstract
2026-09-22
Published in: Drugs
Gonorrhoea, caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is a common bacterial sexually transmitted infection and a major global health burden, with more than 80 million new cases estimated annually. There is currently no licensed vaccine, and increasing antimicrobial resistance has renewed the urgency of vaccine development. However, vaccines licensed to prevent invasive meningococcal disease, caused by the closely related bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, may provide cross-protection against N....
2026-09-21
Published in: Microbiologyopen
Epitranscriptomics has recently gained significant momentum due to technological advances and translational applications; however, studies on bacterial RNA modifications remain limited. Bacterial RNA is notoriously prone to degradation, and methodologies to investigate the epitranscriptome are challenging. Prior research has shown RNA modifications modulate antimicrobial resistance, virulence and pathogenicity. This research employed CRISPR interference to knock down five known Escherichia coli...
2026-09-18
Published in: The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Macrophage polarization by type-2 cytokines is central to anti-helminth immunity and tissue repair. While some hallmark changes in macrophages are well-characterized and associated with protection against helminths, it is still unclear how macrophages exert their anti-helminth effects. In this context, we investigated arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase (LOX) (Alox15), a LOX well known for its role in macrophage polarization in the context of metabolic diseases, and a hallmark of type-2 macrophage (M2)...
2026-09-16
Published in: Rsc Chemical Biology
Herein we report a divergent route from a single diazido precursor to four 6-deoxy-l-altdiamides, converted on preparative scale by promiscuous C. jejuni PseI into pseudaminic acid derivatives Pse5Ac7Ac, Pse5Ac7Fm, Pse5Ac7Hb and Pse5Hb7Fm. Surface plasmon resonance revealed the 1E8 monoclonal antibody tolerates varied C7 amides but not a C5 3-hydroxybutyryl group.
2026-09-16
Published in: Sexual Health
CONCLUSION: Vaccination could lead to substantial reductions in N. gonorrhoeae prevalence among remote Indigenous communities, even with a vaccine that offers only partial efficacy, if vaccination is provided annually to a moderately large proportion (≥40%) of unvaccinated individuals.
2026-09-11
Published in: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Fifteen starches with distinct molecular structures were used to synthesize starch-g-polyacrylamide copolymers via horseradish-peroxidase-catalyzed graft copolymerization. Starch fine structures, including amylose content and the chain-length distributions (CLDs) of both amylose and amylopectin, were quantitatively analyzed using size-exclusion chromatography, and the data interpreted with biosynthesis-based mathematical models. Successful grafting was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared...
2026-09-02
Published in: Methods in Molecular Biology (clifton, N.j.)
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) can play vital roles in the protein's structure, function, localization, and interactions, enabling dynamic control of cellular processes. As such, understanding these modifications is essential to elucidate key biological mechanisms. This chapter discusses an unbiased, mass spectrometry-based approach using wildcard (open) searches in the Byonic platform to detect and identify nondisulfide cysteine PTMs. By targeting individual cysteines and scanning for...
2026-09-02
Published in: Methods in Molecular Biology (clifton, N.j.)
The mechano-redox phenomenon-where mechanical forces and redox reactions synergistically regulate protein function-has been demonstrated in several mammalian proteins. Integrins, which mediate cellular adhesion to ligands, are particularly sensitive to redox modulation via thiol-disulfide exchange catalyzed by enzymes such as thiol isomerases. These redox-driven modifications can alter integrin conformation and ligand-binding affinity, ultimately leading to dynamic regulation of cell adhesion...
2026-09-02
Published in: The Journal of Organic Chemistry
A new light-promoted method for the preparation of glycosyl bromides has been developed, exhibiting broad applicability to commonly used substrates. Upon irradiation with purple LEDs, bromine reacts with benzotrifluoride (PhCF3) to generate hydrogen bromide (HBr) in situ, which subsequently transforms the substrate into the glycosyl bromide in excellent yield. Unlike classical methods, the new strategy generates minimal acidic waste and features a simple workup. Notably, its scalability was...
2026-09-02
Published in: Biochemical Society Transactions
Unlike the cornea and tear fluid, glycosylation within the retina remains remarkably underexplored. This review highlights the diverse roles of glycans in retinal development and vision, with a focus on major glycan classes, including glycosphingolipids (GSLs; glycans attached to lipids), N- and O-linked glycans on proteins, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on proteoglycans, O-mannosylated proteoglycans, and intracellular O-GlcNAcylation. Together, these components provide a comprehensive framework for...
2026-09-02
Published in: Methods in Molecular Biology (clifton, N.j.)
Proteomic studies are highly informative for identifying biological signatures. The data generated from such experiments are highly complex and require substantial computational expertise to analyze appropriately. Rigorous analysis is further confounded by the presence of missing values and multiple sources of technical variance. Here, we present a methodical walkthrough of a workflow for the analysis of Data Independent Acquisition (DIA) proteomics data. The workflow is derived from the...
2026-08-28
Published in: Microbiology Resource Announcements
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are major foodborne pathogens. We announce the deposition of Sequential Window Acquisition of All Theoretical Mass Spectra (SWATH-MS) proteomic data sets from PBT2-treated and untreated cultures. These data sets provide a resource for investigating the proteomic response of Campylobacter spp. to the antimicrobial ionophore PBT2.
2026-08-27
Published in: Viruses
Filoviruses cause highly lethal infectious diseases with hemorrhagic symptoms and extremely high fatality rate (up to 90%). Although two vaccines against Ebola virus (EBOV) are licensed for application in endemic areas, vaccines against other filoviruses (SUDV, BDBV, MARV) are still at pre-clinical or clinical stages. The development of vaccines requires protective efficacy studies using animal models of infection. However, animal studies using wild-type filoviruses require maximum biosafety...
2026-08-25
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are functionally diverse effector cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Pro- and anti-inflammatory TAMs are central to cancer progression by shaping inflammation and immune homeostasis, but it remains unknown if polarization-induced remodeling of the TAM glycocalyx critical for cellular communication and interactions occurs within the TME. Taking a systems glycobiology approach, we first used cell surface-focused glycomics and lectin flow cytometry of ex...
2026-08-25
Published in: Chemphyschem : a European Journal of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry
Caffeine is one of the most consumed stimulants with pharmaceutical benefits; however, its varied pH-dependent solubility (120-500 µg/mL) and moderate stability hinder bioavailability. In this study, a 1:1:1 cocrystal hydrate of caffeine with 4-hydroxybenzoic acid was crystallized and systematically reevaluated. SCXRD and PXRD revealed a triclinic system sustained by O─H···O and C─H···O hydrogen bonds. The Hirshfeld surface showed increased H···O/O···H interactions from 11.0% in caffeine to...
2026-08-25
Published in: Nature Communications
Critical illness, including COVID-19 and trauma, induce immune dysregulation associated with morbidity and mortality. Direct comparison is crucial to identify shared pathobiological mechanisms to guide precision therapies. This prospective cohort study undertook a comprehensive, longitudinal comparison of innate immune cell function and plasma protein expression in critically ill patients at days 1, 3, and 5 of intensive care unit admission. We enrolled 26 COVID-19 patients, 20 trauma patients,...
2026-08-20
Published in: The Biochemical Journal
Stress granules are transient biomolecular condensates of proteins and RNA formed during stress. Stress granules support cell survival by sequestering components of the translational machinery, suppressing pro-apoptotic signaling, and conserving cellular resources. O-GlcNAcylation, a dynamic modification of cytoplasmic proteins, is an important regulator of stress responses, including stress-granule assembly. O-GlcNAcylation is protective in acute myocardial stress; however, whether...
2026-08-19
Published in: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
AIM: To identify shared and disorder-specific molecular alterations across encephalitis, Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomics.
2026-08-19
Published in: Current Biology : Cb
Fungi transition between cell morphologies to adapt to and colonize environments. For Candida albicans, commensal colonization of humans and virulence depend on a reversible switch between invasive hyphae and disseminating yeast cells. The yeast-to-hyphae transition is well understood, but comparatively little is known about the reverse transition from hyphae back to yeast. By developing an imaging assay to visualize and quantify the hyphae-to-yeast transition, we show that the bacterial natural...
2026-08-18
Published in: Health Science Reports
CONCLUSION: Among U.S. adults, higher TyG-WC was associated with a greater prevalence of self-reported physician-diagnosed gout. TyG-WC showed modest discriminative performance and a numerically higher AUC than other TyG-related indices. Because of the cross-sectional design, these findings should be interpreted as associations and require confirmation in prospective studies.
2026-08-12
Published in: Nature Communications
Immunity to Streptococcus pyogenes infection appears to develop progressively through repeated exposure during early life. However, the intensity or duration of exposure required is unknown, as to why some individuals appear to develop immunity, despite having few or no previously detected infections. Here, drawing on samples from a human model of pharyngeal S. pyogenes infection, we investigate whether symptomatic disease is required for induction of protective immune responses. We show that...
2026-08-11
Published in: The Journal of Infectious Diseases
CONCLUSIONS: The new diagnostic assay detects free and EV-associated Galf-containing glycans enabling urine testing for IA. Further analyses of the design-locked assay are needed for confirmation.
2026-08-04
Published in: Carbohydrate Research
Several synthetic strategies for obtaining C-2 functionalized l-idose or l-iduronic acid derivatives were investigated. Synthesis of protected derivatives with a C-2 hydroxy group proceeded smoothly, however, these compounds were prone to competing elimination reactions during subsequent oxidation and HWE steps. Elimination during oxidation could be minimized by replacing benzylidenes with alternative protecting groups, resulting in satisfactory overall yields of the corresponding unsaturated...
2026-08-04
Published in: Frontiers in Microbiology
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the greatest global health concerns and its threat to effective treatment of infectious diseases is accelerating. Biofilms remain a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance and persistence of infections. Bacterial biofilms are sessile communities of bacteria surrounded by a self-produced extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Bacterial cells in biofilms are less susceptible to conventional antibiotics and to host immune effector...
2026-07-27
Published in: Singapore Medical Journal
No abstract
2026-07-25
Published in: Journal of the International Aids Society
No abstract
2026-07-25
Published in: Journal of the International Aids Society
CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence from RCTs does not support the use of 4CMenB to prevent gonorrhoea in gay and bisexual men at high risk of acquisition. Results from ongoing RCTs will be critical to determine whether vaccine efficacy varies by population or epidemiological context and to inform future gonorrhoea vaccine policy and development.
2026-07-17
Published in: Acute Medicine & Surgery
No abstract
2026-07-17
Published in: Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
Controlling protein glycosylation as a critical quality attribute of biopharmaceuticals remains challenging when glycosylation is coupled to cellular production systems. Here, we present a proof-of-concept glycosyltransferase immobilised enzyme reactor (IMER) housed within a 3D-printed column that enables directed post-production glycan modification of purified glycoproteins. Using β-1,4-galactosyltransferase (β4GalT1-IMER) and α-2,6-sialyltransferase (ST6Gal1-IMER) immobilised on Ni-NTA resin,...
2026-07-15
Published in: Science Advances
Macrophages are key drivers of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, and their activation is shaped by interactions in their tissue microenvironment. However, dissecting the processes that drive immunopathology has proved challenging, as traditional two-dimensional (2D) culture methods fail to capture the complex molecular environment that macrophages inhabit in vivo. To address this, we generated a 3D in vitro model to better mimic the in vivo biophysical microenvironment. We show that the...
2026-07-15
Published in: Nature Communications
The emergence of mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes threatens the efficacy of polymyxins as last-resort antibiotics for treating multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Here, we identify a novel environmental mcr gene, mcr-12, discovered in Pigmentiphaga litoralis from Australian sediment, and evaluate its potential role in the intersection between environmental resistance reservoirs and clinically relevant bacteria. Gene mcr-12 was located within a metal-resistance gene cluster on plasmid...
2026-07-13
Published in: Chemical Science
Bacterial catabolism of 2,3-dihydroxypropanesulfonate (DHPS) links algal production to marine degradation and connects sulfosugar metabolism to sulfide production in the gut. In surface seawater, DHPS occurs as a dilute, mixed R/S pool, whereas in the anaerobic gut it is produced predominantly as S-DHPS through bacterial sulfoglycolysis pathways. Uptake is achieved via tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic (TRAP) transporters that employ periplasmic substrate-binding proteins (HpsK), but the...
2026-07-11
Published in: Small (weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
Stimuli-responsive delivery systems, particularly thermoresponsive platforms, are becoming increasingly important for physiological applications, but their development has been limited by poor biocompatibility, slow response, and non-scalable fabrication methods. Liposomes offer a biocompatible and adaptable foundation for this need, but no scalable approach exists to produce uniform thermosensitive liposomes that activate above 37°C. Here, we present the first scalable strategy for generating...
2026-07-08
Published in: The New England Journal of Medicine
CONCLUSIONS: 4CMenB did not result in a lower incidence of N. gonorrhoeae infection than placebo among MSM who were at high risk for gonorrhea. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and GSK; GoGoVax ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04415424.).
2026-07-03
Published in: Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology : the Official Journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc
No abstract