This study was aimed at predicting and analyzing the structural and functional properties of the persistence-associated secretory protein PaaX in Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M.tb),identifying its interacting partners,and elucidating its biological roles.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that PaaX comprises 240 amino acids with a molecular mass of 26.54 kDa(C1158H1866N354O334S14).The protein lacks transmembrane domains but contains a signal peptide.Its secondary structure is dominated by α-helices(53.33%),fol-lowed by random coils(36.25%)and extended strands(10.42%),thereby forming a homotetrameric spatial configuration.Potential PaaX-interacting proteins,including Rv0406c,EchA4,EchA5,HsaE,FadE8,LpqP,and End,were predicted.These candidate genes and the paaX gene were cloned into bacterial two-hybrid vectors and co-transformed into Escherichia coli BTH101 cells.Colony PCR and sequencing confirmed the accuracy of the recombinant constructs.Bacterial two-hybrid assays demonstrated direct interac-tions of PaaX with EchA4,HsaE,FadE8,and LpqP.Moreover,gradient dilution experiments indicated that the strongest binding af-finity occurred between PaaX and EchA4.AlphaFold 3 modeling further validated these interactions,thus providing high-confidence predictions of binding interfaces.Our findings revealed that PaaX,a secreted α-helix-rich protein,engages in specific interactions with key metabolic enzymes(EchA4,HsaE,and FadE8)and a lipoprotein(LpqP),thus suggesting its potential involvement in lipid metabolism,stress adaptation,and host-pathogen interactions.This study provides novel insights into PaaX's contribution to M.tb per-sistence and pathogenicity,and highlights its value as a potential target for tuberculosis diagnostics and therapeutic development.

This study was aimed at predicting and analyzing the structural and functional properties of the persistence-associated secretory protein PaaX in Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M.tb),identifying its interacting partners,and elucidating its biological roles.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that PaaX comprises 240 amino acids with a molecular mass of 26.54 kDa(C1158H1866N354O334S14).The protein lacks transmembrane domains but contains a signal peptide.Its secondary structure is dominated by α-helices(53.33%),fol-lowed by random coils(36.25%)and extended strands(10.42%),thereby forming a homotetrameric spatial configuration.Potential PaaX-interacting proteins,including Rv0406c,EchA4,EchA5,HsaE,FadE8,LpqP,and End,were predicted.These candidate genes and the paaX gene were cloned into bacterial two-hybrid vectors and co-transformed into Escherichia coli BTH101 cells.Colony PCR and sequencing confirmed the accuracy of the recombinant constructs.Bacterial two-hybrid assays demonstrated direct interac-tions of PaaX with EchA4,HsaE,FadE8,and LpqP.Moreover,gradient dilution experiments indicated that the strongest binding af-finity occurred between PaaX and EchA4.AlphaFold 3 modeling further validated these interactions,thus providing high-confidence predictions of binding interfaces.Our findings revealed that PaaX,a secreted α-helix-rich protein,engages in specific interactions with key metabolic enzymes(EchA4,HsaE,and FadE8)and a lipoprotein(LpqP),thus suggesting its potential involvement in lipid metabolism,stress adaptation,and host-pathogen interactions.This study provides novel insights into PaaX's contribution to M.tb per-sistence and pathogenicity,and highlights its value as a potential target for tuberculosis diagnostics and therapeutic development.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safe distance range of clear corneal incision (CCI) from the corneal limbus and how different CCI sites affect surgery efficacy and anterior segment parameters in patients undergoing phacoemulsification. METHODS: This retrospective case-control study was conducted in 44 patients (44 eyes) undergoing phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. The patients were divided into two groups with CCI distances ranging from 1 mm to 1.5 mm (group A, = 22) and from 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm (group B, = 22). The visual acuity, surgically induced astigmatism (SIA), corneal aberration, and anterior segment parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the preoperative data, all the patients showed significant improvements in the postoperative uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and anterior chamber angle (ACA) after the surgery ( < 0.05). No significant differences were found between the two groups in postoperative UCVA, BCVA, SIA, total corneal aberration RMS, lower- and higher-order aberration RMS, spherical aberration (Z), horizontal three leaf clover (Z), vertical three leaf clover(Z), horizontal coma(Z), vertical coma(Z), ACD, ACA, anterior chamber volume, or central corneal thickness (>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Phacoemulsification is an effective therapy for cataract with a CCI distance range either of 1-1.5 mm or 0.5-1.0 mm. These two CCI distance ranges produce no significant differences in the visual quality following phacoemulsification, indicating that a CCI distance range of 0.5-1.5 mm can be safe for phacoemulsification.
Anterior Eye Segment ; Astigmatism ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cornea ; surgery ; Humans ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Limbus Corneae ; Phacoemulsification ; adverse effects ; methods ; Postoperative Complications ; etiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Surgical Wound ; Treatment Outcome ; Visual Acuity

Objective:To investigate the value of color Doppler ultrasound in the evaluation of carotid artery restenosis after ca-rotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) .Methods :A total of 53 patients with 62 carotid artery stenosis diagnosed by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were enrolled .All of them underwent CAS and CEA .The postoperative and preoperative ultrasound datum including the minimum luminal diameter ,the peak systolic velocity (PSV )of the internal ca-rotid artery (ICA) and common carotid artery (CCA) ,end diastolic velocity (EDV) of ICA were retrospectively analyzed . Results:A total of 52 arteries were normal or had <50% restenosis ,while 10 arteries had ≥50% restenosis after the treat-ment .Compared with those before treatment ,the minimum luminal diameter was significantly wider ,and PSVICA decreased significantly in patients with <50% restenosis(P<0 .01) ,whereas the minimum luminal diameter and PSVICA were not sig-nificantly changed in patients with≥50% restenosis(P>0 .05) .PSVICA ,EDVICA and PSVICA/PSVCCA in patients with≥50% restenosis significantly increased compared with that in patients with <50% restenosis(P<0 .01) .PSVICA/PSVCCA≥2 was set as the cut-off point ,the sensitivity and specificity for detecting ≥50% restenosis were 80 .0% and 98 .1% respective-ly .Conclusions :Color Doppler ultrasound can effectively evaluate carotid artery restenosis after CAS or CEA .