In the last decades, transcriptome profiling has been one of the most utilized approaches to investigate human diseases at the molecular level. Through expression studies, many molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets have been found for several human pathologies. This number is continuously increasing thanks to total RNA sequencing. Indeed, this new technology has completely revolutionized transcriptome analysis allowing the quantification of gene expression levels and allele-specific expression in a single experiment, as well as to identify novel genes, splice isoforms, fusion transcripts, and to investigate the world of non-coding RNA at an unprecedented level. RNA sequencing has also been employed in important projects, like ENCODE (Encyclopedia of the regulatory elements) and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas), to provide a snapshot of the transcriptome of dozens of cell lines and thousands of primary tumor specimens. Moreover, these studies have also paved the way to the development of data integration approaches in order to facilitate management and analysis of data and to identify novel disease markers and molecular targets to use in the clinics. In this scenario, several ongoing clinical trials utilize transcriptome profiling through RNA sequencing strategies as an important instrument in the diagnosis of numerous human pathologies.

The recent characterization of the prokaryotic Cys2His2 zinc-finger domain, identified in Ros protein from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, has demonstrated that, although possessing a similar zinc coordination sphere, this domain is structurally very different from its eukaryotic counterpart. A search in the databases has identified Ϸ300 homologues with a high sequence identity to the Ros protein, including the amino acids that form the extensive hydrophobic core in Ros. Surprisingly, the Cys2His2 zinc coordination sphere is generally poorly conserved in the Ros homologues, raising the question of whether the zinc ion is always preserved in these proteins. Here, we present a functional and structural study of a point mutant of Ros protein, Ros56-142C82D, in which the second coordinating cysteine is replaced by an aspartate, 5 previously-uncharacterized representative Ros homologues from Mesorhizobium loti, and 2 mutants of the homologues. Our results indicate that the prokaryotic zinc-finger domain, which in Ros protein tetrahedrally coordinates Zn(II) through the typical Cys2His2 coordination, in Ros homologues can either exploit a CysAspHis2 coordination sphere, previously never described in DNA binding zinc finger domains to our knowledge, or lose the metal, while still preserving the DNA-binding activity. We demonstrate that this class of prokaryotic zinc-finger domains is structurally very adaptable, and surprisingly single mutations can transform a zinc-binding domain into a nonzinc-binding domain and vice versa, without affecting the DNA-binding ability. In light of our findings an evolutionary link between the prokaryotic and eukaryotic zinc-finger domains, based on bacteria-to-eukaryota horizontal gene transfer, is discussed.Cys2His2 zinc finger ͉ DNA binding proteins ͉ metal binding proteins ͉ Ros protein I n eukaryotic organisms the abundant Cys 2 His 2 zinc-finger domain, involved in relevant protein-nucleic acid and proteinprotein interactions, consists of Ͻ30 aa and a zinc ion, tetrahedrally coordinated by 2 histidine nitrogens and 2 cysteine sulfurs and essential for stabilizing the ␤␤␣ fold (1-5). In prokaryotic organisms, the first Cys 2 His 2 zinc-finger domain has been identified only recently in the transcriptional regulator Ros from Agrobacterium tumefaciens (6). The Ros zinc-binding domain contains 2 cysteines occupying the first 2 coordinating positions and 3 histidines (His-92, His-96, and His-97; see Fig. 1). We (7) demonstrated that in the Ros protein the histidines involved in zinc coordination are His-92, acting as the third coordinating residue, and His-97 as the fourth; when His-97 is mutated in Ala, the protein is still able to bind zinc and DNA with His-96 acting as the fourth coordinating residue. The NMR structure of Ros DNA-binding domain ) has shown that the prokaryotic Cys 2 His 2 zinc-finger domain, although having a similar zinc coordination sphere, possesses a novel protein fold, which is very different from that of the eukaryotic counterpart (8). In particular, Ros 56 -142 gl...

BackgroundRecent evidence suggests that a lower extent of the retronasal aroma release correspond to a higher amount of ad libitum food intake. This has been regarded as one of the bases of behavioral choices towards food consumption in obese people. In this pilot study we investigated the hypothesis that saliva from obese individuals could be responsible for an alteration of the retro-nasal aroma release. We tested this hypothesis in vitro, by comparing the release of volatiles from a liquid food matrix (wine) after its interaction with saliva from 28 obese (O) and 28 normal-weight (N) individuals.Methods and FindingsAmplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region indicated that Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were more abundant in O, while Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria dominated in N. Streptococcaceae were significantly more abundant in the O subjects and constituted 34% and 19% on average of the saliva microbiota of O and N subjects, respectively. The Total Antioxidant Capacity was higher in O vs N saliva samples. A model mouth system was used to test whether the in-mouth wine aroma release differs after the interaction with O or N saliva. In O samples, a 18% to 60% significant decrease in the mean concentration of wine volatiles was detected as a result of interaction with saliva, compared with N. This suppression was linked to biochemical differences in O and N saliva composition, which include protein content.ConclusionMicrobiological and biochemical differences were found in O vs N saliva samples. An impaired retronasal aroma release from white wine was detected in vitro and linked to compositional differences between saliva from obese and normal-weight subjects. Additional in vivo investigations on diverse food matrices could contribute to understanding whether a lower olfactory stimulation due to saliva composition can be a co-factor in the development/maintenance of obesity.

The first putative prokaryotic Cys2His2 zinc-finger domain has been identified in the transcriptional regulator Ros from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, indicating that the Cys2His2 zinc-finger domain, originally thought to be confined to the eukaryotic kingdom, could be widespread throughout the living kingdom from eukaryotic, both animal and plant, to prokaryotic. In this article we report the NMR solution structure of Ros DNA-binding domain (Ros87), providing 79 structural characterization of a prokaryotic Cys2His2 zinc-finger domain. The NMR structure of Ros87 shows that the putative prokaryotic Cys2His2 zinc-finger sequence is indeed part of a significantly larger zinc-binding globular domain that possesses a novel protein fold very different from the classical fold reported for the eukaryotic classical zinc-finger. The Ros87 globular domain consists of 58 aa (residues 9 -66), is arranged in a ␤␤␤␣␣ topology, and is stabilized by an extensive 15-residue hydrophobic core. A backbone dynamics study of Ros87, based on 15 N R1, 15 N R2, and heteronuclear 15 N-{ 1 H}-NOE measurements, has further confirmed that the globular domain is uniformly rigid and flanked by two flexible tails. Mapping of the amino acids necessary for the DNA binding onto Ros87 structure reveals the protein surface involved in the DNA recognition mechanism of this new zinc-binding protein domain.DNA binding proteins ͉ NMR spectroscopy ͉ Ros protein