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Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) affects 257 million individuals worldwide with an annual estimated mortality rate of 880,000 individuals. Accurate diagnosis of the stage of disease is difficult, and there is considerable uncertainty concerning the optimal point in time, when treatment should be started. Objectives: By analyzing and comparing the metabolomes of patients at different stages of CHB and comparing them to healthy individuals, we want to determine the metabolic signature of disease progression and develop a more accurate metabolome-based method for diagnosis of disease progression ultimately giving a better basis for treatment decisions. Methods: In this study, we used the combination of transient elastography and serum metabolomics of 307 serum samples from a group of 90 patients with CHB before and under treatment (with a follow-up time up to 10 years) at different progression stages over the clinical phases and 43 healthy controls.. Results: Our data show that the metabolomics approach can successfully discover CHB changing from the immune tolerance to the immune clearance phase and show distinctive metabolomes from different medical treatment stages. Perturbations in ammonia detoxification, glutamine and glutamate metabolism, methionine metabolism, dysregulation of branched-chain amino acids, and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle are the main factors involved in the progression of the disease. Fluctuations increasing in aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, methionine and 13 other metabolites are fingerprints of progression. Conclusions: The metabolomics approach may expand the diagnostic armamentarium for patients with CHB. This method can provide a more detailed decision basis for starting medical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and cardiac surgery is a key treatment. This study explores metabolite changes as a consequence of ischemia-reperfusion due to cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). To describe the ischemia-reperfusion injury, metabolite changes were monitored in fifty patients before and after CPB at multiple time points. We describe a longitudinal metabolite dataset containing nearly 600 serum nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra obtained from samples collected simultaneously from the pulmonary artery (deoxygenated blood) and left atrium (oxygenated blood) before ischemia (pre-CPB), immediately after reperfusion (end-CPB), and the following 2, 4, 8, and 20 hours postoperatively. In addition, a longitudinal dataset including 57 quantified metabolites is also provided. These datasets will help researchers studying ischemia-reperfusion injury, as well as the time-dependent alterations related to the surgical trauma and the subsequent processes required in regaining metabolite balance. The datasets could also be used for the development of processing algorithms for NMR-based metabolomics studies and methods for the analysis of longitudinal multivariate data. Measurement(s) human blood serum metabolite Technology Type(s) one-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Factor Type(s) cardiac surgery • time series • pulmonary artery and left atrium Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12249065 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In our metabolomics studies we have noticed that repeated NMR acquisition on the same sample can result in altered metabolite signal intensities. Aims: To investigate the reproducibility of repeated NMR acquisition on selected metabolites in serum and plasma from two large human metabolomics studies. Methods: Two peak regions for each metabolite were integrated and changes occurring after reacquisition were correlated. Results: Integral changes were generally small, but serum citrate signals decreased significantly in some samples. Conclusions: Several metabolite integrals were not reproducible in some of the repeated spectra. Following established protocols, randomising analysis order and biomarker validation are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current methods for assessment of cellular uptake of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) often rely on detection of fluorophore-labeled CPPs. However, introduction of the fluorescent probe often confers changed physicochemical properties, so that the fluorophore-CPP conjugate may exhibit cytotoxic effects and membrane damage not exerted by the native CPP. In the present study, introduction of fluorine probes was investigated as an alternative to fluorophore labeling of a CPP, since this only confers minor changes to its overall physicochemical properties. The high sensitivity of 19F NMR spectroscopy and the absence of background signals from naturally occurring fluorine enabled detection of internalized CPP. Also, degradation of fluorine-labeled peptides during exposure to Caco-2 cells could be followed by using 19F NMR spectroscopy. In total, five fluorinated analogues of the model CPP penetratin were synthesized by using commercially available fluorinated amino acids as labels, including one analogue also carrying an N-terminal fluorophore. The apparent cellular uptake was considerably higher for the fluorophore-penetratin conjugate indicating that the fluorophore moiety promoted uptake of the peptide. The use of 19F NMR spectroscopy enabled monitoring of the fate of the CPPs over time by establishing molar balances, and by verifying CPP integrity upon uptake. Thus, the NMR-based method offers several advantages over currently widespread methods relying on fluorescence detection. The present findings provide guidelines for improved labeling strategies for CPPs, thereby expanding the repertoire of analytical techniques available for studying degradation and uptake of CPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apo-form of the 23.3 kDa catalytic domain of the AA9 family lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase NcLPMO9C from Neurospora crassa has been isotopically labeled and recombinantly expressed in Pichia pastoris. In this paper, we report the H, C, and N chemical shift assignments of this LPMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the genus Tetrasphaera are considered to be putative polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) from wastewater. Although abundant in Danish full-scale wastewater EBPR plants, how similar their ecophysiology is to 'Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis' is unclear, although they may occupy different ecological niches in EBPR communities. The genomes of four Tetrasphaera isolates (T. australiensis, T. japonica, T. elongata and T. jenkinsii) were sequenced and annotated, and the data used to construct metabolic models. These models incorporate central aspects of carbon and phosphorus metabolism critical to understanding their behavior under the alternating anaerobic/aerobic conditions encountered in EBPR systems. Key features of these metabolic pathways were investigated in pure cultures, although poor growth limited their analyses to T. japonica and T. elongata. Based on the models, we propose that under anaerobic conditions the Tetrasphaera-related PAOs take up glucose and ferment this to succinate and other components. They also synthesize glycogen as a storage polymer, using energy generated from the degradation of stored polyphosphate and substrate fermentation. During the aerobic phase, the stored glycogen is catabolized to provide energy for growth and to replenish the intracellular polyphosphate reserves needed for subsequent anaerobic metabolism. They are also able to denitrify. This physiology is markedly different to that displayed by 'Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis', and reveals Tetrasphaera populations to be unusual and physiologically versatile PAOs carrying out denitrification, fermentation and polyphosphate accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript, we present the backbone and side chain assignments of human brain-type fatty acid binding protein, also known as FABP7, in its apo form and in four different holo forms, bound to DHA, oleic acid, linoleic acid and elaidic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regioselective transesterification of native α- and β-Cyclodextrins (CDs) with vinyl acetate and vinyl laurate is presented in this paper. The reactions were carried out in dimethyl sulfoxide by using low molecular weight salts (Na2HPO4 and NaCl, respectively). MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and NMR analysis were applied to investigate the chemical structure and the degree of the modification of the final products. Results show that these salts catalyze regioselective transesterification between β-CDs and vinyl laurate aiming for the secondary C-2 hydroxyl group. The synthesis and separation of β-CD-laurate derivatives leads to a mixture of mono-2-O-dodecanoyl-β-CD and native β-CDs. Unreacted β-CDs could be selectively removed enzymatically by cyclodextrin glucosyl-transferase (CGTase) and β-amylase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A computer program (‘BBReader’) was developed which performs an inverse search in theBioMagResBank database. Given (cross) peak positions of a protein, the program searchesfor atoms with matching chemical shifts and suggests possible assignments for user-specifiedhomo- and heteronuclear one- to three-dimensional COSY- and NOESY-type experiments.It can handle 1H, 13C and 15N spectra. Distance information from PDB files can be utilizedfor filtering possible NOESY cross peak assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 19.9 kDa C-terminal module (R3) from Azotobacter vinelandii mannronan C5-epimerase AlgE6 has been C, N isotopically labelled and recombinantly expressed. We report here the H, C, N resonance assignment of AlgE6R3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. It has a long asymptomatic phase, where routine blood tests cannot identify early functional losses, and therefore identifying common mechanisms across the many etiologies is an important goal. Objectives: Our aim was to characterize serum, urine and tissue (kidney, lung, heart, spleen and liver) metabolomics changes in a rat model of CKD. Methods: A total of 17 male Wistar rats underwent 5/6 nephrectomy, whilst 13 rats underwent sham operation. Urine samples were collected weekly, for 6 weeks; blood was collected at weeks 0, 3 and 6; and tissue samples were collected at week 6. Samples were analyzed on a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy platform with multivariate and univariate data analysis. Results: Changes in several metabolites were statistically significant. Allantoin was affected in all compartments. Renal asparagine, creatine, hippurate and trimethylamine were significantly different; in other tissues creatine, dimethylamine, dimethylglycine, trigonelline and trimethylamine were significant. Benzoate, citrate, dimethylglycine, fumarate, guanidinoacetate, malate, myo-inositol and oxoglutarate were altered in urine or serum. Conclusion: Although the metabolic picture is complex, we suggest oxidative stress, the gut-kidney axis, acid–base balance, and energy metabolism as promising areas for future investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and patients with severe symptoms undergo cardiac surgery. Even after uncomplicated surgeries, some patients experience postoperative complications such as lung injury. We hypothesized that the procedure elicits metabolic activity that can be related to the disease progression, which is commonly observed two-three days postoperatively. More than 700 blood samples were collected from 50 patients at nine time points pre-, intra-, and postoperatively. Dramatic metabolite shifts were observed during and immediately after the intervention. Prolonged surgical stress was linked to an augmented anaerobic environment. Time series analysis showed shifts in purine-, nicotinic acid-, tyrosine-, hyaluronic acid-, ketone-, fatty acid, and lipid metabolism. A characteristic 'metabolic biosignature' was identified correlating with the risk of developing postoperative complications two days before the first clinical signs of lung injury. Hence, this study demonstrates the link between intra- and postoperative time-dependent metabolite changes and later postoperative outcome. In addition, the results indicate that metabotyping patients' journeys early, during or just after the end of surgery, may have potential impact in hospitals for the early diagnosis of postoperative lung injury, and for the monitoring of therapeutics targeting disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) assignment of the R-module from the Azotobacter vinelandii Mannuronan C5-epimerase AlgE4. Identification of a family of seven mannuronan C5-epimerases in Azotobacter vinelandii; Types of structural modules used; Side-chain resonances; Heteronuclear NMR experiment results.