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Ribeiro SS, Gnutt D, Azoulay-Ginsburg S, Fetahaj Z, Spurlock E, Lindner F, Kuz D, Cohen-Erez Y, Rapaport H, Israelson A, Gruzman AL, Ebbinghaus S. Intracellular spatially-targeted chemical chaperones increase native state stability of mutant SOD1 barrel. Biol Chem 2023; 404:909-930. [PMID: 37555646 DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2023-0198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurological disorder with currently no cure. Central to the cellular dysfunction associated with this fatal proteinopathy is the accumulation of unfolded/misfolded superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in various subcellular locations. The molecular mechanism driving the formation of SOD1 aggregates is not fully understood but numerous studies suggest that aberrant aggregation escalates with folding instability of mutant apoSOD1. Recent advances on combining organelle-targeting therapies with the anti-aggregation capacity of chemical chaperones have successfully reduce the subcellular load of misfolded/aggregated SOD1 as well as their downstream anomalous cellular processes at low concentrations (micromolar range). Nevertheless, if such local aggregate reduction directly correlates with increased folding stability remains to be explored. To fill this gap, we synthesized and tested here the effect of 9 ER-, mitochondria- and lysosome-targeted chemical chaperones on the folding stability of truncated monomeric SOD1 (SOD1bar) mutants directed to those organelles. We found that compound ER-15 specifically increased the native state stability of ER-SOD1bar-A4V, while scaffold compound FDA-approved 4-phenylbutyric acid (PBA) decreased it. Furthermore, our results suggested that ER15 mechanism of action is distinct from that of PBA, opening new therapeutic perspectives of this novel chemical chaperone on ALS treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara S Ribeiro
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - David Gnutt
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Institute of Physical Chemistry II, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
| | | | - Zamira Fetahaj
- Institute of Physical Chemistry II, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Ella Spurlock
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Felix Lindner
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Damon Kuz
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Yfat Cohen-Erez
- Department of Biotechnology Engineering, The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Hanna Rapaport
- Department of Biotechnology Engineering, The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Adrian Israelson
- Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Arie-Lev Gruzman
- Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Simon Ebbinghaus
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, TU Braunschweig, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
- Institute of Physical Chemistry II, Ruhr University, D-44780 Bochum, Germany
- Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability, Research Alliance Ruhr, Duisburg, Germany
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2
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Gruebele M. Protein folding and surface interaction phase diagrams in vitro and in cells. FEBS Lett 2021; 595:1267-1274. [PMID: 33576021 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.14058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Revised: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Protein stability is subject to environmental perturbations such as pressure and crowding, as well as sticking to other macromolecules and quinary structure. Thus, the environment inside and outside the cell plays a key role in how proteins fold, interact, and function on the scale from a few molecules to macroscopic ensembles. This review discusses three aspects of protein phase diagrams: first, the relevance of phase diagrams to protein folding and function in vitro and in cells; next, how the evolution of protein surfaces impacts on interaction phase diagrams; and finally, how phase separation plays a role on much larger length-scales than individual proteins or oligomers, when liquid phase-separated regions form to assist protein function and cell homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Gruebele
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
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3
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Davis CM, Deutsch J, Gruebele M. An in vitro mimic of in-cell solvation for protein folding studies. Protein Sci 2020; 29:1060-1068. [PMID: 31994240 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 01/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Ficoll, an inert macromolecule, is a common in vitro crowder, but by itself it does not reproduce in-cell stability or kinetic trends for protein folding. Lysis buffer, which contains ions, glycerol as a simple kosmotrope, and mimics small crowders with hydrophilic/hydrophobic patches, can reproduce sticking trends observed in cells but not the crowding. We previously suggested that the proper combination of Ficoll and lysis buffer could reproduce the opposite in-cell folding stability trend of two proteins: variable major protein-like sequence expressed (VlsE) is destabilized in eukaryotic cells and phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is stabilized. Here, to discover a well-characterized solvation environment that mimics in-cell stabilities for these two very differently behaved proteins, we conduct a two-dimensional scan of Ficoll (0-250 mg/ml) and lysis buffer (0-75%) mixtures. Contrary to our previous expectation, we show that mixtures of Ficoll and lysis buffer have a significant nonadditive effect on the folding stability. Lysis buffer enhances the stabilizing effect of Ficoll on PGK and inhibits the stabilizing effect of Ficoll on VlsE. We demonstrate that a combination of 150 mg/ml Ficoll and 60% lysis buffer can be used as an in vitro mimic to account for both crowding and non-steric effects on PGK and VlsE stability and folding kinetics in the cell. Our results also suggest that this mixture is close to the point where phase separation will occur. The simple mixture proposed here, based on commercially available reagents, could be a useful tool to study a variety of cytoplasmic protein interactions, such as folding, binding and assembly, and enzymatic reactions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The complexity of the in-cell environment is difficult to reproduce in the test tube. Here we validate a mimic of cellular crowding and sticking interactions in a test tube using two proteins that are differently impacted by the cell: one is stabilized and the other is destabilized. This mimic is a starting point to reproduce cellular effects on a variety of protein and biomolecular interactions, such as folding and binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin M Davis
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.,Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Jonathan Deutsch
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Martin Gruebele
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.,Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.,Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
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4
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Dave K, Gasic AG, Cheung MS, Gruebele M. Competition of individual domain folding with inter-domain interaction in WW domain engineered repeat proteins. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:24393-24405. [PMID: 31663524 DOI: 10.1039/c8cp07775d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Engineered repeat proteins have proven to be a fertile ground for studying the competition between folding, misfolding and transient aggregation of tethered protein domains. We examine the interplay between folding and inter-domain interactions of engineered FiP35 WW domain repeat proteins with n = 1 through 5 repeats. We characterize protein expression, thermal and guanidium melts, as well as laser T-jump kinetics. All experimental data is fitted by a global fitting model with two states per domain (U, N), plus a third state M to account for non-native states due to domain interactions present in all but the monomer. A detailed structural model is provided by coarse-grained simulated annealing using the AWSEM Hamiltonian. Tethered FiP35 WW domains with n = 2 and 3 domains are just slightly less stable than the monomer. The n = 4 oligomer is yet less stable, its expression yield is much lower than the monomer's, and depends on the purification tag used. The n = 5 plasmid did not express at all, indicating the sudden onset of aggregation past n = 4. Thus, tethered FiP35 has a critical nucleus size for inter-domain aggregation of n ≈ 4. According to our simulations, misfolded structures become increasingly prevalent as one proceeds from monomer to pentamer, with extended inter-domain beta sheets appearing first, then multi-sheet 'intramolecular amyloid' structures, and finally novel motifs containing alpha helices. We discuss the implications of our results for oligomeric aggregate formation and structure, transient aggregation of proteins whilst folding, as well as for protein evolution that starts with repeat proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kapil Dave
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USA
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5
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Quantifying protein dynamics and stability in a living organism. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1179. [PMID: 30862837 PMCID: PMC6414637 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09088-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
As an integral part of modern cell biology, fluorescence microscopy enables quantification of the stability and dynamics of fluorescence-labeled biomolecules inside cultured cells. However, obtaining time-resolved data from individual cells within a live vertebrate organism remains challenging. Here we demonstrate a customized pipeline that integrates meganuclease-mediated mosaic transformation with fluorescence-detected temperature-jump microscopy to probe dynamics and stability of endogenously expressed proteins in different tissues of living multicellular organisms.
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6
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Ribeiro S, Ebbinghaus S, Marcos JC. Protein folding and quinary interactions: creating cellular organisation through functional disorder. FEBS Lett 2018; 592:3040-3053. [DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Revised: 07/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ribeiro
- Centre of Chemistry University of Minho Braga Portugal
| | - Simon Ebbinghaus
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Technical University Braunschweig Germany
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7
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Davis CM, Gruebele M. Non-Steric Interactions Predict the Trend and Steric Interactions the Offset of Protein Stability in Cells. Chemphyschem 2018; 19:2290-2294. [PMID: 29877016 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201800534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Although biomolecules evolved to function in the cell, most biochemical assays are carried out in vitro. In-cell studies highlight how steric and non-steric interactions modulate protein folding and interactions. VlsE and PGK present two extremes of chemical behavior in the cell: the extracellular protein VlsE is destabilized in eukaryotic cells, whereas the cytoplasmic protein PGK is stabilized. VlsE and PGK are benchmarks in a systematic series of solvation environments to distinguish contributions from non-steric and steric interactions to protein stability, compactness, and folding rate by comparing cell lysate, a crowding agent, ionic buffer and lysate buffer with in-cell results. As anticipated, crowding stabilizes proteins, causes compaction, and can speed folding. Protein flexibility determines its sensitivity to steric interactions or crowding. Non-steric interactions alone predict in-cell stability trends, while crowding provides an offset towards greater stabilization. We suggest that a simple combination of lysis buffer and Ficoll is an effective new in vitro mimic of the intracellular environment on protein folding and stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin M Davis
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois, 61801, United States
| | - Martin Gruebele
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois, 61801, United States.,Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois, 61801, United States
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8
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Rivas G, Minton AP. Toward an understanding of biochemical equilibria within living cells. Biophys Rev 2018; 10:241-253. [PMID: 29235084 PMCID: PMC5899707 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-017-0347-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Four types of environmental effects that can affect macromolecular reactions in a living cell are defined: nonspecific intermolecular interactions, side reactions, partitioning between microenvironments, and surface interactions. Methods for investigating these interactions and their influence on target reactions in vitro are reviewed. Methods employed to characterize conformational and association equilibria in vivo are reviewed and difficulties in their interpretation cataloged. It is concluded that, in order to be amenable to unambiguous interpretation, in vivo studies must be complemented by in vitro studies carried out in well-characterized and controllable media designed to contain key elements of selected intracellular microenvironments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Germán Rivas
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Allen P. Minton
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
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9
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Chen T, Dave K, Gruebele M. Pressure- and heat-induced protein unfolding in bacterial cells: crowding vs. sticking. FEBS Lett 2018. [PMID: 29520756 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In-cell protein stability is increased by crowding, but can be reduced by destabilizing surface interactions. Will different denaturation techniques yield similar trends? Here, we apply pressure and thermal denaturation to green fluorescent protein/ReAsH-labeled yeast phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) in Escherichia coli cells. Pressure denaturation is more two state-like in E. coli than in vitro, stabilizing the native state. Thermal denaturation destabilizes PGK in E. coli, unlike in mammalian cells. Results in wild-type MG1655 strain are corroborated in pressure-resistant J1 strain, where PGK is less prone to aggregation. Thus, destabilizing surface interactions overcome stabilizing crowding in the E. coli cytoplasm under thermal denaturation, but not under pressure denaturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Kapil Dave
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Martin Gruebele
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.,Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.,Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
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10
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Feig M, Yu I, Wang PH, Nawrocki G, Sugita Y. Crowding in Cellular Environments at an Atomistic Level from Computer Simulations. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:8009-8025. [PMID: 28666087 PMCID: PMC5582368 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b03570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
![]()
The
effects of crowding in biological environments on biomolecular
structure, dynamics, and function remain not well understood. Computer
simulations of atomistic models of concentrated peptide and protein
systems at different levels of complexity are beginning to provide
new insights. Crowding, weak interactions with other macromolecules
and metabolites, and altered solvent properties within cellular environments
appear to remodel the energy landscape of peptides and proteins in
significant ways including the possibility of native state destabilization.
Crowding is also seen to affect dynamic properties, both conformational
dynamics and diffusional properties of macromolecules. Recent simulations
that address these questions are reviewed here and discussed in the
context of relevant experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Feig
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan, United States.,Quantitative Biology Center, RIKEN , Kobe, Japan
| | - Isseki Yu
- Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory, RIKEN , Wako, Japan.,iTHES Research Group, RIKEN , Wako, Japan
| | - Po-Hung Wang
- Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory, RIKEN , Wako, Japan
| | - Grzegorz Nawrocki
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan, United States
| | - Yuji Sugita
- Quantitative Biology Center, RIKEN , Kobe, Japan.,Theoretical Molecular Science Laboratory, RIKEN , Wako, Japan.,iTHES Research Group, RIKEN , Wako, Japan.,Advanced Institute for Computational Science, RIKEN , Kobe, Japan
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11
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Physicochemical code for quinary protein interactions in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E4556-E4563. [PMID: 28536196 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1621227114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
How proteins sense and navigate the cellular interior to find their functional partners remains poorly understood. An intriguing aspect of this search is that it relies on diffusive encounters with the crowded cellular background, made up of protein surfaces that are largely nonconserved. The question is then if/how this protein search is amenable to selection and biological control. To shed light on this issue, we examined the motions of three evolutionary divergent proteins in the Escherichia coli cytoplasm by in-cell NMR. The results show that the diffusive in-cell motions, after all, follow simplistic physical-chemical rules: The proteins reveal a common dependence on (i) net charge density, (ii) surface hydrophobicity, and (iii) the electric dipole moment. The bacterial protein is here biased to move relatively freely in the bacterial interior, whereas the human counterparts more easily stick. Even so, the in-cell motions respond predictably to surface mutation, allowing us to tune and intermix the protein's behavior at will. The findings show how evolution can swiftly optimize the diffuse background of protein encounter complexes by just single-point mutations, and provide a rational framework for adjusting the cytoplasmic motions of individual proteins, e.g., for rescuing poor in-cell NMR signals and for optimizing protein therapeutics.
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12
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Danielsson J, Oliveberg M. Comparing protein behaviour in vitro and in vivo , what does the data really tell us? Curr Opin Struct Biol 2017; 42:129-135. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2017.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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