No abstract

In the present investigation, biological crusts from the surface of eight historical monuments of Varanasi, India, were examined for the presence of scytonemin (a cyanobacterial photoprotective pigment) containing cyanobacterial species. Lyngbya sp. and Scytonema sp. were the dominant cyanobacteria present in all crust samples. The absorption spectroscopic data of chlorophyll, carotenoids and scytonemin showed that scytonemin was more abundant than the carotene and chlorophyll in all the crusts. Identification of these compounds was done using UV-Vis spectroscopy and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of scytonemin in seven out of eight samples and peaks of scytonemin with retention time ranging from 1.4-1.9 min with corresponding absorbance maxima at 386, 300 and 252±2 nm. As per our knowledge this is the first report of its kind from monuments of Varanasi. From this study, it can be concluded that synthesis of photoprotective compounds like scytonemin and its derivatives counteract the damaging effects of solar radiation which enable cyanobacteria to colonize and inhabit almost all kinds of habitats, including extreme lithic habitats, such as rocks and walls of monuments which face prolonged high intensity solar radiation.

THAP9 is a transposable element-derived gene that encodes the THAP9 protein. It is a homolog of Drosophila P-element transposase (DmTNP). hTHAP9 belongs to the THAP (Thanatos-associated protein) protein family in humans, which has twelve proteins (hTHAP0-hTHAP11). Human THAP proteins have a ~90 amino acid long conserved THAP domain located at the N-terminal end of the protein. The THAP domain is a C2CH type Zinc Finger domain that binds specific DNA sequences and has a conserved secondary structure, namely a characteristic β-α-β fold. THAP family proteins are known to be involved in various human diseases like torsional dystonia, hemophilia, heart diseases, and multiple cancers. Also, the THAP9-AS1 gene, which is the neighboring gene in the 5' upstream region of THAP9, is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. But the exact functional role of THAP9 and its association with various diseases remains a significant gap in our understanding. Here, we present the evolutionary analysis and extensive in silico characterization, including predicting domains and putative post-translational modification sites for THAP9 to understand its function better. Our studies identified some previously unreported functional features in the THAP9 protein sequence, including four adjacent motifs following the THAP domain: N-glycosylation site, Protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation site, Leucine zipper domain, and Bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS). These motifs, which are highly conserved in mammals, may play a role in the subcellular localization of THAP9. The study also revealed two N-myristoylation sites within the THAP domain, pointing towards the post-translational modification of THAP9. We also observed that the THAP9 has evolved under a strong pervasive purifying selection, yielding high conservation of THAP9. Furthermore, investigation of THAP9 expression profiles in various cancer and matched normal datasets demonstrated overexpression and underexpression in Testicular cancers and Thymic Epithelial Tumors respectively. These findings make Testicular cancer and Thymic Epithelial Tumor good candidates for further examination on the role of THAP9 in cancer.

No abstract

Human THAP9 is a domesticated transposon homologous to the Drosophila P-element transposase (DmTNP). However, the exact functional role of THAP9 is unknown. THAP9-AS1 (THAP9-anti sense1) is a lncRNA involved in various cancers. Together they are arranged head-to-head on opposite DNA strands forming a sense and anti-sense gene pair. No studies have analyzed THAP9 and THAP9-AS1 from a pan-cancer perspective. First, we analyzed the bidirectional promoter region between THAP9 and THAP9-AS1 for core promoter elements and CPG Islands. Moreover, we analyzed the expression, prognosis, and biological function of the two genes across different types of tumors included in The Cancer Genome Atlas and GTEx datasets. The results showed that the expression of both genes varies in different tumors. Expression of the THAP9 and THAP9-AS1 gene pair was observed to be strongly correlated with prognosis in patients with tumors; higher expression of the two genes was usually linked to poor overall and disease-free survival. Therefore, they may serve as a potential biomarker of clinical tumor prognosis. Further, we performed gene coexpression analysis using WGCNA followed by differential gene correlation analysis (DGCA) across 22 cancers to study which genes share the expression pattern THAP9 and THAP9-AS1 and if their interacting partners change in various conditions. Gene ontology & KEGG pathway analysis of genes coexpressed with the two genes identified gene enrichment related to DNA binding and Herpes simplex virus 1 infection.