| 1. |
- Aura, Anna-Marja, et al.
(författare)
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Drug metabolome of the simvastatin formed by human intestinal microbiota in vitro
- 2011
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Ingår i: Molecular Biosystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 7:2, s. 437-446
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The human colon contains a diverse microbial population which contributes to degradation and metabolism of food components. Drug metabolism in the colon is generally poorly understood. Metabolomics techniques and in vitro colon models are now available which afford detailed characterization of drug metabolites in the context of colon metabolism. The aim of this work was to identify novel drug metabolites of Simvastatin (SV) by using an anaerobic human in vitro colon model at body temperature coupled with systems biology platform, excluding the metabolism of the host liver and intestinal epithelia. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with a time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) was used for the metabolomic analysis. Metabolites showing the most significant differences in the active faecal suspension were elucidated in reference with SV fragmentation and compared with controls: inactive suspension or buffer with SV, or with active suspension alone. Finally, time courses of selected metabolites were investigated. Our data suggest that SV is degraded by hydrolytic cleavage of methylbutanoic acid from the SV backbone. Metabolism involves demethylation of dimethylbutanoic acid, hydroxylation/dehydroxylation and β-oxidation resulting in the production of 2-hydroxyisovaleric acid (3-methyl-2-hydroxybutanoic acid), 3-hydroxybutanoic acid and lactic acid (2-hydroxypropanoic acid), and finally re-cyclisation of heptanoic acid (possibly de-esterified and cleaved methylpyranyl arm) to produce cyclohexanecarboxylic acid. Our study elucidates a pathway of colonic microbial metabolism of SV as well as demonstrates the applicability of the in vitro colon model and metabolomics to the discovery of novel drug metabolites from drug response profiles.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- De Maeyer, Dries, et al.
(författare)
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PheNetic : Network-based interpretation of unstructured gene lists in E. coli
- 2013
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Ingår i: Molecular Biosystems. - Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 9:7, s. 1594-1603
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the present time, omics experiments are commonly used in wet lab practice to identify leads involved in interesting phenotypes. These omics experiments often result in unstructured gene lists, the interpretation of which in terms of pathways or the mode of action is challenging. To aid in the interpretation of such gene lists, we developed PheNetic, a decision theoretic method that exploits publicly available information, captured in a comprehensive interaction network to obtain a mechanistic view of the listed genes. PheNetic selects from an interaction network the sub-networks highlighted by these gene lists. We applied PheNetic to an Escherichia coli interaction network to reanalyse a previously published KO compendium, assessing gene expression of 27 E. coli knock-out mutants under mild acidic conditions. Being able to unveil previously described mechanisms involved in acid resistance demonstrated both the performance of our method and the added value of our integrated E. coli network.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Frey, S, et al.
(författare)
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A mathematical analysis of nuclear intensity dynamics for Mig1-GFP under consideration of bleaching effects and background noise in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- 2011
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Ingår i: MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 7:1, s. 215-223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract: Fluorescence microscopy is an imaging technique that provides insights into signal transduction pathways through the generation of quantitative data, such as the spatiotemporal distribution of GFP-tagged proteins in signaling pathways. The data acquired are, however, usually a composition of both the GFP-tagged proteins of interest and of an autofluorescent background, which both undergo photobleaching during imaging. We here present a mathematical model based on ordinary differential equations that successfully describes the shuttling of intracellular Mig1-GFP under changing environmental conditions regarding glucose concentration. Our analysis separates the different bleaching rates of Mig1-GFP and background, and the background-to-Mig1-GFP ratio. By applying our model to experimental data, we can thus extract the Mig1-GFP signal from the overall acquired signal and investigate the influence of kinase and phosphatase on Mig1. We found a stronger regulation of Mig1 through its kinase than through its phosphatase when controlled by the glucose concentration, with a constant (de)phosphorylation rate independent of the glucose concentration. By replacing the term for decreasing excited Mig1-GFP concentration with a constant, we were able to reconstruct the dynamics of Mig1-GFP, as it would occur without bleaching and background noise. Our model effectively demonstrates how data, acquired with an optical microscope, can be processed and used for a systems biology analysis of signal transduction pathways.
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| 6. |
- Frings, Oliver, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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MGclus : Network clustering employing shared neighbors
- 2013
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Ingår i: Molecular BioSystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 9:7, s. 1670-1675
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Network analysis is an important tool for functional annotation of genes and proteins. A common approach to discern structure in a global network is to infer network clusters, or modules, and assume a functional coherence within each module, which may represent a complex or a pathway. It is however not trivial to define optimal modules. Although many methods have been proposed, it is unclear which methods perform best in general. It seems that most methods produce far from optimal results but in different ways. MGclus is a new algorithm designed to detect modules with a strongly interconnected neighborhood in large scale biological interaction networks. In our benchmarks we found MGclus to outperform other methods when applied to random graphs with varying degree of noise, and to perform equally or better when applied to biological protein interaction networks. MGclus is implemented in Java and utilizes the JGraphT graph library. It has an easy to use command-line interface and is available for download from http://sonnhammer.sbc.su.se/download/software/ MGclus/.
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| 7. |
- Ghosh, S., et al.
(författare)
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Rule-based modelling of iron homeostasis in tuberculosis
- 2011
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Ingår i: Molecular BioSystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1742-2051 .- 1742-206X. ; 7:10, s. 2750-2768
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To establish itself within the host system, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has formulated various means of attacking the host system. One such crucial strategy is the exploitation of the iron resources of the host system. Obtaining and maintaining the required concentration of iron becomes a matter of contest between the host and the pathogen, both trying to achieve this through complex molecular networks. The extent of complexity makes it important to obtain a systems perspective of the interplay between the host and the pathogen with respect to iron homeostasis. We have reconstructed a systems model comprising 92 components and 85 protein-protein or protein-metabolite interactions, which have been captured as a set of 194 rules. Apart from the interactions, these rules also account for protein synthesis and decay, RBC circulation and bacterial production and death rates. We have used a rule-based modelling approach, Kappa, to simulate the system separately under infection and non-infection conditions. Various perturbations including knock-outs and dual perturbation were also carried out to monitor the behavioral change of important proteins and metabolites. From this, key components as well as the required controlling factors in the model that are critical for maintaining iron homeostasis were identified. The model is able to re-establish the importance of iron-dependent regulator (ideR) in Mtb and transferrin (Tf) in the host. Perturbations, where iron storage is increased, appear to enhance nutritional immunity and the analysis indicates how they can be harmful for the host. Instead, decreasing the rate of iron uptake by Tf may prove to be helpful. Simulation and perturbation studies help in identifying Tf as a possible drug target. Regulating the mycobactin (myB) concentration was also identified as a possible strategy to control bacterial growth. The simulations thus provide significant insight into iron homeostasis and also for identifying possible drug targets for tuberculosis.
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| 8. |
- Hyötyläinen, Tuulia, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Metabolomic analysis of polar metabolites in lipoprotein fractions identifies lipoprotein-specific metabolic profiles and their association with insulin resistance
- 2012
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Ingår i: Molecular Biosystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 8:10, s. 2559-2565
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While the molecular lipid composition of lipoproteins has been investigated in detail, little is known about associations of small polar metabolites with specific lipoproteins. The aim of the present study was to investigate the profiles of polar metabolites in different lipoprotein fractions, i.e., very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and two sub-fractions of the high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The VLDL, IDL, LDL, HDL(2), and HDL(3) fractions were isolated from serum of sixteen individuals having a broad range of insulin sensitivity and characterized using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS). The lipoprotein fractions had clearly different metabolite profiles, which correlated with the particle size and surface charge. Lipoprotein-specific associations of individual metabolites with insulin resistance were identified, particularly in VLDL and IDL fractions, even in the absence of such associations in serum. The results indicate that the polar molecules are strongly attached to the surface of the lipoproteins. Furthermore, strong lipoprotein-specific associations of metabolites with insulin resistance, as compared to their serum profiles, indicate that lipoproteins may be a rich source of tissue-specific metabolic biomarkers.
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| 9. |
- Igl, Wilmar, et al.
(författare)
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Glycomics meets lipidomics-associations of N-glycans with classical lipids, glycerophospholipids, and sphingolipids in three European populations
- 2011
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Ingår i: Molecular BioSystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1742-206X .- 1742-2051. ; 7:6, s. 1852-1862
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recently, high-throughput technologies have been made available which allow the measurement of a broad spectrum of glycomics and lipidomics parameters in many samples. The aim of this study was to apply these methods and investigate associations between 46 glycan and 183 lipid traits measured in blood of 2041 Europeans from three different local populations (Croatia - VIS cohort; Sweden - NSPHS cohort; Great Britain - ORCADES cohort). N-glycans have been analyzed with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and lipids with Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) covering sterol lipids, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids in eight subclasses. Overall, 8418 associations were calculated using linear mixed effect models adjusted for pedigree, sex, age and multiple testing. We found 330 significant correlations in VIS. Pearson's correlation coefficient r ranged from -0.27 to 0.34 with corresponding p-values between 1.45 x 10(-19) and 4.83 x 10(-6), indicating statistical significance. A total of 71 correlations in VIS could be replicated in NSPHS (r = [-0.19; 0.35], p = [4.16 x 10(-18); 9.38 x 10(-5)]) and 31 correlations in VIS were also found in ORCADES (r = [-0.20; 0.24], p = [2.69 x 10(-10); 7.55 x 10(-5)]). However, in total only 10 correlations between a subset of triantennary glycans and unsaturated phosphatidylcholine, saturated ceramide, and sphingomyelin lipids in VIS (r = [0.18; 0.34], p = [2.98 x 10(-21); 1.69 x 10(-06)]) could be replicated in both NSPHS and ORCADES. In summary, the results show strong and consistent associations between certain glycans and lipids in all populations, but also population-specific correlations which may be caused by environmental and genetic differences. These associations point towards potential interactive metabolic pathways.
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| 10. |
- Linse, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Monte Carlo simulations of protein amyloid formation reveal origin of sigmoidal aggregation kinetics.
- 2011
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Ingår i: Molecular BioSystems. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1742-2051 .- 1742-206X. ; 7, s. 2296-2303
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Severe conditions and lack of cure for many amyloid diseases make it highly desired to understand the underlying principles of formation of fibrillar aggregates (amyloid). Here, amyloid formation from peptides was studied using Monte Carlo simulations. Systems of 20, 50, 100, 200 or 500 hexapeptides were simulated. Association kinetics were modeled equal for fibrillar and other (inter- and intra-peptide) contacts and assumed to be faster the lower the effective contact order, which represents the distance in space. Attempts to form contacts were thus accepted with higher probability the lower the effective contact order, whereby formation of new contacts next to preexisting ones is favored by shorter physical separation. Kinetic discrimination was invoked by using two different life-times for formed contacts. Contacts within amyloid fibrils were assumed to have on average longer life-time than other contacts. We find that the model produces fibrillation kinetics with a distinct lag phase, and that the fibrillar contacts need to dissociate on average 5-20 times slower than all other contacts for the fibrillar structure to dominate at equilibrium. Analysis of the species distribution along the aggregation process shows that no other intermediate is ever more populated than the dimer. Instead of a single nucleation event there is a concomitant increase in average aggregate size over the whole system, and the occurrence of multiple parallel processes makes the process more reproducible the larger the simulated system. The sigmoidal shape of the aggregation curves arises from cooperativity among multiple interactions within each pair of peptides in a fibril. A governing factor is the increasing probability as the aggregation process proceeds of neighboring reinforcing contacts. The results explain the very strong bias towards cross β-sheet fibrils in which the possibilities for cooperativity among interactions involving neighboring residues and the repetitive use of optimal side-chain interactions are explored at maximum.
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