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The structural variability data of drug transporter (DT) are key for research on precision medicine and rational drug use. However, these valuable data are not sufficiently covered by the available databases. In this study, a major update of VARIDT (a database previously constructed to provide DTs’ variability data) was thus described. First, the experimentally resolved structures of all DTs reported in the original VARIDT were discovered from PubMed and Protein Data Bank. Second, the structural variability data of each DT were collected by literature review, which included: (a) mutation-induced spatial variations in folded state, (b) difference among DT structures of human and model organisms, (c) outward/inward-facing DT conformations and (d) xenobiotics-driven alterations in the 3D complexes. Third, for those DTs without experimentally resolved structural variabilities, homology modeling was further applied as well-established protocol to enrich such valuable data. As a result, 145 mutation-induced spatial variations of 42 DTs, 1622 inter-species structures originating from 292 DTs, 118 outward/inward-facing conformations belonging to 59 DTs, and 822 xenobiotics-regulated structures in complex with 57 DTs were updated to VARIDT (https://idrblab.org/varidt/ and http://varidt.idrblab.net/). All in all, the newly collected structural variabilities will be indispensable for explaining drug sensitivity/selectivity, bridging preclinical research with clinical trial, revealing the mechanism underlying drug-drug interaction, and so on., Graphical Abstract Graphical AbstractStructural variability of drug transporter (VARIDT 2.0).

Besides the environmental factors having tremendous impacts on the composition of microbial community, the host factors have recently gained extensive attentions on their roles in shaping human microbiota. There are two major types of host factors: host genetic factors (HGFs) and host immune factors (HIFs). These factors of each type are essential for defining the chemical and physical landscapes inhabited by microbiota, and the collective consideration of both types have great implication to serve comprehensive health management. However, no database was available to provide the comprehensive factors of both types. Herein, a database entitled ‘Host Genetic and Immune Factors Shaping Human Microbiota (GIMICA)’ was constructed. Based on the 4257 microbes confirmed to inhabit nine sites of human body, 2851 HGFs (1368 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 186 copy number variations (CNVs), and 1297 non-coding ribonucleic acids (RNAs)) modulating the expression of 370 microbes were collected, and 549 HIFs (126 lymphocytes and phagocytes, 387 immune proteins, and 36 immune pathways) regulating the abundance of 455 microbes were also provided. All in all, GIMICA enabled the collective consideration not only between different types of host factor but also between the host and environmental ones, which is freely accessible without login requirement at: https://idrblab.org/gimica/, Graphical Abstract Graphical AbstractGIMICA is unique in: (i) providing both host genetic and immune factors shaping human microbiota and (ii) enabling collective consideration not only among various host factors but also between the host and environmental ones.

The absorption, distribution and excretion of drugs are largely determined by their transporters (DTs), the variability of which has thus attracted considerable attention. There are three aspects of variability: epigenetic regulation and genetic polymorphism, species/tissue/disease-specific DT abundances, and exogenous factors modulating DT activity. The variability data of each aspect are essential for clinical study, and a collective consideration among multiple aspects becomes crucial in precision medicine. However, no database is constructed to provide the comprehensive data of all aspects of DT variability. Herein, the Variability of Drug Transporter Database (VARIDT) was introduced to provide such data. First, 177 and 146 DTs were confirmed, for the first time, by the transporting drugs approved and in clinical/preclinical, respectively. Second, for the confirmed DTs, VARIDT comprehensively collected all aspects of their variability (23 947 DNA methylations, 7317 noncoding RNA/histone regulations, 1278 genetic polymorphisms, differential abundance profiles of 257 DTs in 21 781 patients/healthy individuals, expression of 245 DTs in 67 tissues of human/model organism, 1225 exogenous factors altering the activity of 148 DTs), which allowed mutual connection between any aspects. Due to huge amount of accumulated data, VARIDT made it possible to generalize characteristics to reveal disease etiology and optimize clinical treatment, and is freely accessible at: https://db.idrblab.org/varidt/ and http://varidt.idrblab.net/.

Drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) are critical determinant of drug safety and efficacy, and the interactome of DMEs has attracted extensive attention. There are 3 major interaction types in an interactome: microbiome–DME interaction (MICBIO), xenobiotics–DME interaction (XEOTIC) and host protein–DME interaction (HOSPPI). The interaction data of each type are essential for drug metabolism, and the collective consideration of multiple types has implication for the future practice of precision medicine. However, no database was designed to systematically provide the data of all types of DME interactions. Here, a database of the Interactome of Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes (INTEDE) was therefore constructed to offer these interaction data. First, 1047 unique DMEs (448 host and 599 microbial) were confirmed, for the first time, using their metabolizing drugs. Second, for these newly confirmed DMEs, all types of their interactions (3359 MICBIOs between 225 microbial species and 185 DMEs; 47 778 XEOTICs between 4150 xenobiotics and 501 DMEs; 7849 HOSPPIs between 565 human proteins and 566 DMEs) were comprehensively collected and then provided, which enabled the crosstalk analysis among multiple types. Because of the huge amount of accumulated data, the INTEDE made it possible to generalize key features for revealing disease etiology and optimizing clinical treatment. INTEDE is freely accessible at: https://idrblab.org/intede/, Graphical Abstract Graphical AbstractThe Interactome Database of Drug-Metabolizing Enzyme (INTEDE) provides the comprehensive interactome data from three perspectives for both human and microbial drug-metabolizing enzymes.

Viruses with filamentous morphologies, such as tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and M13 bacteriophage, have long been studied as multivalent nanoscaffolds for loading functional motifs. Structural assembly of the capsid proteins (CPs) of filamentous viruses often requires the presence of DNA or RNA molecules, which has limited their applications. Here, we describe a strategy for controllable assembly of flexible bio-nanotubes consisting of Escherichia coli expressed CP of baculovirus Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) in vitro. These protein-only nanotubes were studied as a new structural platform for high-density presentation of multiple active molecules on the exterior surface by direct fusion of the protein of interest to the N-terminus of HearNPV CP (HaCP). Structural characterization using cryoelectron microscopy demonstrated that the HaCP could assemble into two closely related but structurally distinct tube types, suggesting the tunable HaCP interaction network is the major contributor to the flexibility of HaCP nanotubes. Our flexible nanotubes could tolerate larger molecular modifications compared with TMV-based templates and could be used as promising candidates for versatile molecular loading applications.

The archaeon Natronobacterium gregoryi SP2 is both an extreme halophile and alkaliphile. Its Argonaute protein functions as a potential tool for genome editing is controversial in recent years. Here, the genome of N. gregoryi SP2 purchased from China General Microbiology Culture Collection Center under the accession number 1.1967 is presented with Illumina sequencing and the draft genome sequences have been deposited at GenBank. The genome statistics of three submissions for N. gregoryi SP2 are summarized. Clusters of Orthologous Groups, Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway classification analyses of all genes in N. gregoryi SP2 were performed. We also identified and annotated three proteins in the genome as type II secretion system protein E, SirA family protein and uncharacterized membrane protein YeiH, which were only annotated as hypothetical proteins previously.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. Upregulation of metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) has been reported to contribute to the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Therefore, the objective of our study was to identify the molecular mechanisms of MTA1 underlying the invasion and metastasis of ESCC. We overexpressed MTA1 in ESCC cells to examine the role of MTA1 in the regulation of the cell invasion. In addition, using luciferase reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we evaluated the binding of MTA1 to the promoter of E-cadherin. We found that MTA1 overexpression promotes invasiveness of the human esophageal carcinoma cell line EC-9706. This effect was accompanied by downregulation of the epithelial cell marker E-cadherin and upregulation of vimentin and MMP-9 luciferase reporter assays showed that MTA1 inhibited the promoter activity of E-cadherin and that this was dependent on Snail, Slug and HDAC1. We also found that Snail and Slug bound the E-boxes in the promoter of E-cadherin and recruited MTA1 and HDAC1 to suppress E-cadherin expression, as confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. MTA1 promotes tumor invasion by downregulation of E-cadherin. These results demonstrate a novel role for MTA1 in the regulation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma invasion and provide insight into the mechanisms involved in this process.