The role of beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) in cholesterol removal primarily from mammalian cells and secondly from dairy products has been studied thoroughly in recent years. Although the physicochemical characterization of the inclusion compound of cholesterol in β-CD has been achieved by various methods, no crystal structure has been determined so far. We report here the crystal structure of the inclusion compound of cholesterol in β-CD. The inclusion complex crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 forming head-to-head dimers which are stacked along the c-axis. One well-defined cholesterol molecule ‘axially’ encapsulated inside the β-CD dimer and 22 water molecules that stabilize the complexes in the crystalline state comprise the asymmetric unit of the structure. The dimers are arranged in an intermediate (IM) channel packing mode in the crystal. Moreover, MD simulations, at 300 and 340 K, based on the crystallographically determined coordinates of the complex show that the formed cholesterol/β-CD inclusion compound remains very stable in aqueous solution at both temperatures.

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The crystal structures of the inclusion compounds of thymol, carvacrol and eugenol, (components of essential oils of vegetable origin) in -cyclodextrin have been determined. Thymol/-CD crystallizes in the space group P1 containing two host molecules in its asymmetric unit whereas both carvacrol/-CD and eugenol/-CD complexes crystallize in the space group C2. In all three complexes two host molecules form head-to-head dimers their guest/host stoichiometry being: 1/2 (carvacrol/-CD), 2/2 (thymol/-CD) and 3/2 (eugenol/-CD). In the cases of the thymol/-CD and the carvacrol/-CD complexes the -CD dimers are arranged according to the channel packing mode. The accommodation of the geometrical isomer guests is performed solely by their hydrophobic groups revealing the leading role of the hydrophobic driving forces in the complexation process whereas the position of their hydroxyl group affects the stoichiometry of the formed dimeric complexes. In the case of the eugenol/-CD dimeric complex one guest molecule is found lying between the -CD groups in a sandwich fashion whereas the other two symmetry related guests protrude outwards the narrower rim of the hosts with only their hydrophobic allylchain located inside the hosts' cavities. This arrangement prohibits the formation of a channel and the observed crystal packing is that of a Tetrad mode.

Functional and folding constraints impose interdependence between interacting sites along the protein chain that are envisaged through protein sequence evolution. Studying the influence of structure in phylogenetic models requires detailed and reliable structural models. Polysaccharide deacetylases (PDAs), members of the carbohydrate esterase family 4, perform mainly metal-dependent deacetylation of O- or N-acetylated polysaccharides such as peptidoglycan, chitin and acetylxylan through a conserved catalytic core termed the NodB homology domain. Genomes of Bacillus anthracis and its relative Bacillus cereus contain multiple genes of putative or known PDAs. A comparison of the functional domains of the recently determined PDAs from B. anthracis and B. cereus and multiple amino acid and nucleotide sequence alignments and phylogenetic analysis performed on these closely related species showed that there were distinct differences in binding site formation, despite the high conservation on the protein sequence, the folding level and the active site assembly. This may indicate that, subject to biochemical verification, the binding site-forming sequence fragments are under functionally driven evolutionary pressure to accommodate and recognize distinct polysaccharide residues according to cell location, use, or environment. Finally, we discuss the suggestion of the paralogous nature of at least two genes of B. anthracis, ba0330 and ba0331, via specific differences in gene sequence, protein structure, selection pressure and available localization patterns. This study may contribute to understanding the mechanisms under which sequences evolve in their structures and how evolutionary processes enable structural variations.

Phytocannabinoids possess anticancer properties, as established in vitro and in vivo. However, they are characterized by high lipophilicity. To improve the properties of cannabidiol (CBD), such as solubility, stability, and bioavailability, CBD inclusion complexes with cyclodextrins (CDs) might be employed, offering targeted, faster, and prolonged CBD release. The aim of the present study is to investigate the in vitro effects of CBD and its inclusion complexes in randomly methylated β-CD (RM-β-CD) and 2-hyroxypropyl-β-CD (HP-β-CD). The enhanced solubility of CBD upon complexation with CDs was examined by phase solubility study, and the structure of the inclusion complexes of CBD in 2,6-di-O-methyl-β-CD (DM-β-CD) and 2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-β-CD (TM-β-CD) was determined by X-ray crystallography. The structural investigation was complemented by molecular dynamics simulations. The cytotoxicity of CBD and its complexes with RM-β-CD and HP-β-CD was tested on two cell lines, the A172 glioblastoma and TE671 rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines. Methylated β-CDs exhibited the best inclusion ability for CBD. A dose-dependent effect of CBD on both cancer cell lines and improved efficacy of the CBD–CDs complexes were verified. Thus, cannabinoids may be considered in future clinical trials beyond their palliative use as possible inhibitors of cancer growth.