Microorganisms can transfer electrons directly to extracellular acceptors, during which organic compounds are oxidized to carbon dioxide. One of these microbes, Geobacter sulfurreducens, is well known for the metallic-like conductivity of its type IV pili. However, there is no consensus on what the mechanism for electron transfer along these conductive pili is. Based on the aromatic distances and orientations of our predicted models, the mechanism of electron transfer in the Geobacter sulfurreducens (GS) pili was explored by quantum chemical calculations with Marcus theory of electron transfer reactions. Three aromatic residues from the N-terminal α-helix of the GS pilin subunit are packed together, resulting in a continuous pi-pi interaction chain. The theoretical conductance (4.69 μS/3.85 μS) of the predicted models is very similar to that in the experiments reported recently (3.40 μS). These findings offer a new concept that the GS pili belongs to a new class of proteins that can transport electrons through pi-pi interaction between aromatic residues and also provide a valuable tool for guiding further researches of these conductive pili, to investigate their roles in biogeochemical cycling, and potential applications in biomaterials, bioelectronics, and bioenergy.

The phospholipase D3 (PLD3) gene has shown association with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the role of PLD3 common variants in amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology remains unclear. We examined the association of thirteen common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ(1- 42) levels and florbetapir retention on florbetapir 18F amyloid positron emission tomography (AV45-PET) in a large population. We found that one SNP (rs11667768) was significantly associated with CSF Aβ(1- 42) levels in the normal cognition group. We did not observe an association of any SNP with florbetapir retention. Our study predicted the potential role of PLD3 variants in Aβ pathology.

Background

A large proportion of genetic risk remains unexplained for structural heart disease involving the interventricular septum (IVS) including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and ventricular septal defects. This study sought to develop a reproducible proxy of IVS structure from standard medical imaging, discover novel genetic determinants of IVS structure, and relate these loci to diseases of the IVS, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and ventricular septal defect.

Methods

We estimated the cross-sectional area of the IVS from the 4-chamber view of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in 32 219 individuals from the UK Biobank which was used as the basis of genome wide association studies and Mendelian randomization.

Results

Measures of IVS cross-sectional area at diastole were a strong proxy for the 3-dimensional volume of the IVS (Pearson r=0.814, P=0.004), and correlated with anthropometric measures, blood pressure, and diagnostic codes related to cardiovascular physiology. Seven loci with clear genomic consequence and relevance to cardiovascular biology were uncovered by genome wide association studies, most notably a single nucleotide polymorphism in an intron of CDKN1A (rs2376620; β, 7.7 mm² [95% CI, 5.8-11.0]; P=6.0×10^-10), and a common inversion incorporating KANSL1 predicted to disrupt local chromatin structure (β, 8.4 mm² [95% CI, 6.3-10.9]; P=4.2×10^-14). Mendelian randomization suggested that inheritance of larger IVS cross-sectional area at diastole was strongly associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy risk (p_IVW=4.6×10^-10) while inheritance of smaller IVS cross-sectional area at diastole was associated with risk for ventricular septal defect (p_IVW=0.007).

Conclusions

Automated estimates of cross-sectional area of the IVS supports discovery of novel loci related to cardiac development and Mendelian disease. Inheritance of genetic liability for either small or large IVS, appears to confer risk for ventricular septal defect or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, respectively. These data suggest that a proportion of risk for structural and congenital heart disease can be localized to the common genetic determinants of size and shape of cardiovascular anatomy.