Bacteria produce the alarmone nucleotides ppGpp and pppGpp during stress to affect replication, transcription, and metabolism. ppGpp and pppGpp also attenuate translation by competitively binding translational GTPases to conserve resources during stress. Recently, pGpp was identified as a third alarmone, and important pathogens like Clostridioides difficile exclusively produce pGpp in response to stress. Despite its […]
Hibernation enables animals survive harsh environments by conserving energy through reduced metabolism and body temperature. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a critical role in non-shivering thermogenesis, crucial for warming up during arousal phase. The greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus nippon) are typical hibernators and non-shivering thermogenesis in BAT tissue may persist throughout the arousal process in […]
Desert lizards undergo hibernation (brumation) to survive extreme cold and food scarcity. This study investigated brumation-induced renal adaptations in four desert-dwelling species (Uromastyx aegyptia, Varanus griseus, Trapelus savignii, and Tarentola annularis) compared to their active states. Histological examination during brumation revealed kidney degeneration, including glomerulosclerosis, necrotic tubules, and cytoplasmic vacuolization. Morphometric analysis showed species‑specific renal...
Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in intensive care, yet decades of trials targeting individual inflammatory mediators have failed to reduce mortality. This failure may reflect a fundamental misunderstanding: sepsis may not be a disease of immune dysregulation but a centrally governed metabolic program, an evolved conservation response functionally analogous to bacterial sporulation. We […]
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) made impressive progress in resolving cellular macromolecules and their detailed interactions. Single-particle cryo-EM traditionally relies on purified macromolecules and lacks the complexity of cellular environments, whereas in situ cryo-EM and cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET) require extensive sample preparation and data acquisition, presenting challenges in achieving high resolution. We describe cryo-EM of […]