1
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Demir Özer E, Yildirim M. The modification of nisin with homocysteine thiolactone and its effect on antimicrobial activity. Braz J Microbiol 2024; 55:191-199. [PMID: 38082122 PMCID: PMC10920495 DOI: 10.1007/s42770-023-01207-8] [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: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to make an important contribution to the literature by focusing on the preparation of the N-homocysteine conjugate of nisin and evaluating the effect of the N-homocysteinylation reaction on its antimicriobial activity. The modification process was monitored using both acetic acid urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (AAU-PAGE) and tricine sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (tricine SDS-PAGE). The antibacterial effectiveness of modified nisin was assessed against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Enterococcus faecium ATCC 9097, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris AÜ, Listeria monocytogenes NCTC 5348, and Escherichia coli RSKK. Optimal conditions for achieving the highest N-homocysteinylation degree (6.30%) were determined as 6 mg/mL nisin, 150 mM homocysteine thiolactone, 150 rpm shaking rate, pH of 3.0, and a reaction time of 6 h. The modified nisin obtained did not have a significant inhibitory effect on the strains tested except E. faecium. E. faecium was inhibited by the modified nisin and its antibacterial activity was determined as approximately 10% of the antibacterial activity of unmodified nisin. On the other hand, hydrolysis of nisin by trypsin and thermolysin resulted in significant specific side chain modifications induced by the homocysteine-thiolactone reaction, especially at Lys12 and Lys22. The results provide valuable insights into the potential of N-homocysteinylation to improve the antibacterial properties of nisin and also suggest that the effects of specific modifications identified during the modification process should be investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezgi Demir Özer
- Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Cappadocia University, Nevşehir, Turkey.
| | - Metin Yildirim
- Department of Food Engineering, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Niğde, Turkey
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2
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Guo L, Wang C, Broos J, Kuipers OP. Lipidated variants of the antimicrobial peptide nisin produced via incorporation of methionine analogs for click chemistry show improved bioactivity. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:104845. [PMID: 37209826 PMCID: PMC10404616 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The increase in antibiotic resistance calls for accelerated molecular engineering strategies to diversify natural products for drug discovery. The incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) is an elegant strategy for this purpose, offering a diverse pool of building blocks to introduce desired properties into antimicrobial lanthipeptides. We here report an expression system using Lactococcus lactis as a host for non-canonical amino acid incorporation with high efficiency and yield. We show that incorporating the more hydrophobic analog ethionine (instead of methionine) into nisin improves its bioactivity against several Gram-positive strains we tested. New-to-nature variants were further created by click chemistry. By azidohomoalanine (Aha) incorporation and subsequent click chemistry, we obtained lipidated variants at different positions in nisin or in truncated nisin variants. Some of them show improved bioactivity and specificity against several pathogenic bacterial strains. These results highlight the ability of this methodology for lanthipeptide multi-site lipidation, to create new-to-nature antimicrobial products with diverse features, and extend the toolbox for (lanthi)peptide drug improvement and discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Longcheng Guo
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Chenhui Wang
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jaap Broos
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Oscar P Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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3
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Zhao X, Xu Y, Viel JH, Kuipers OP. Semisynthetic Macrocyclic Lipo-lanthipeptides Display Antimicrobial Activity Against Bacterial Pathogens. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:1980-1991. [PMID: 34347446 PMCID: PMC8383303 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
A large number of antimicrobial peptides depend on intramolecular disulfide bonds for their biological activity. However, the relative instability of disulfide bonds has limited the potential of some of these peptides to be developed into therapeutics. Conversely, peptides containing intramolecular (methyl)lanthionine-based bonds, lanthipeptides, are highly stable under a broader range of biological and physical conditions. Here, the class-II lanthipeptide synthetase CinM, from the cinnamycin gene cluster, was employed to create methyllanthionine stabilized analogues of disulfide-bond-containing antimicrobial peptides. The resulting analogues were subsequently modified in vitro by adding lipid tails of variable lengths through chemical addition. Finally, the created compounds were characterized by MIC tests against several relevant pathogens, killing assays, membrane permeability assays, and hemolysis assays. It was found that CinM could successfully install methyllanthionine bonds at the intended positions of the analogues and that the lipidated macrocyclic core peptides have bactericidal activity against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy assays revealed that the lipidated compounds disrupt the bacterial membrane and lyse bacterial cells, hinting toward a potential mode of action. Notably, the semisynthesized macrocyclic lipo-lanthipeptides show low hemolytic activity. These results show that the methods developed here extend the toolbox for novel antimicrobial development and might enable the further development of novel compounds with killing activity against relevant pathogenic bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinghong Zhao
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Yanli Xu
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Jakob H. Viel
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Oscar P. Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
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4
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Zhao X, Kuipers OP. Nisin- and Ripcin-Derived Hybrid Lanthipeptides Display Selective Antimicrobial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:1703-1714. [PMID: 34156232 PMCID: PMC8291769 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
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Lanthipeptides are
(methyl)lanthionine ring-containing ribosomally
synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Many
lanthipeptides show strong antimicrobial activity against bacterial
pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. The
group of disulfide-bond-containing antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is
well-known in nature and forms a rich source of templates for the
production of novel peptides with corresponding (methyl)lanthionine
analogues instead of disulfides. Here, we show that novel macrocyclic
lanthipeptides (termed thanacin and ripcin) can be synthesized using
the known antimicrobials thanatin and rip-thanatin as templates. Notably,
the synthesized nisin(1–20)–ripcin hybrid lanthipeptides
(ripcin B–G) showed selective antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, including an antibiotic-resistant MRSA
strain. Interestingly, ripcin B–G, which are hybrid peptides
of nisin(1–20) and ripcin that are each inactive against Gram-negative
pathogens, showed substantial antimicrobial activity against the tested
Gram-negative pathogens. Moreover, ripcin B–G was highly resistant
against the nisin resistance protein (NSR; a peptidase that removes
the C-terminal 6 amino acids of nisin and strongly reduces its antimicrobial
activity), opposed to nisin itself. This study provides an example
of converting disulfide-bond-based AMPs into (methyl)lanthionine-based
macrocyclic hybrid lanthipeptides and can yield antimicrobial peptides
with selective antimicrobial activity against S. aureus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinghong Zhao
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Oscar P. Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, The Netherlands
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Biosynthesis of lanthionine-constrained agonists of G protein-coupled receptors. Biochem Soc Trans 2020; 48:2195-2203. [PMID: 33125486 PMCID: PMC7609037 DOI: 10.1042/bst20200427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2020] [Revised: 09/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The conformation with which natural agonistic peptides interact with G protein-coupled receptor(s) (GPCR(s)) partly results from intramolecular interactions such as hydrogen bridges or is induced by ligand–receptor interactions. The conformational freedom of a peptide can be constrained by intramolecular cross-links. Conformational constraints enhance the receptor specificity, may lead to biased activity and confer proteolytic resistance to peptidic GPCR agonists. Chemical synthesis allows to introduce a variety of cross-links into a peptide and is suitable for bulk production of relatively simple lead peptides. Lanthionines are thioether bridged alanines of which the two alanines can be introduced at different distances in chosen positions in a peptide. Thioether bridges are much more stable than disulfide bridges. Biosynthesis of lanthionine-constrained peptides exploiting engineered Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria that contain lanthionine-introducing enzymes constitutes a convenient method for discovery of lanthionine-stabilized GPCR agonists. The presence of an N-terminal leader peptide enables dehydratases to dehydrate serines and threonines in the peptide of interest after which a cyclase can couple the formed dehydroamino acids to cysteines forming (methyl)lanthionines. The leader peptide also guides the export of the formed lanthionine-containing precursor peptide out of Gram-positive bacteria via a lanthipeptide transporter. An engineered cleavage site in the C-terminus of the leader peptide allows to cleave off the leader peptide yielding the modified peptide of interest. Lanthipeptide GPCR agonists are an emerging class of therapeutics of which a few examples have demonstrated high efficacy in animal models of a variety of diseases. One lanthipeptide GPCR agonist has successfully passed clinical Phase Ia.
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Mimicry of a Non-ribosomally Produced Antimicrobial, Brevicidine, by Ribosomal Synthesis and Post-translational Modification. Cell Chem Biol 2020; 27:1262-1271.e4. [PMID: 32707039 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The group of bacterial non-ribosomally produced peptides (NRPs) forms a rich source of antibiotics, such as daptomycin, vancomycin, and teixobactin. The difficulty of functionally expressing and engineering the corresponding large biosynthetic complexes is a bottleneck in developing variants of such peptides. Here, we apply a strategy to synthesize mimics of the recently discovered antimicrobial NRP brevicidine. We mimicked the molecular structure of brevicidine by ribosomally synthesized, post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) synthesis, introducing several relevant modifications, such as dehydration and thioether ring formation. Following this strategy, in two rounds peptides were engineered in vivo, which showed antibacterial activity against Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria susceptible to wild-type brevicidine. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a strategy to structurally and functionally mimic NRPs by employing the synthesis and post-translational modifications typical for RiPPs. This enables the future generation of large genetically encoded peptide libraries of NRP-mimicking structures to screen for antimicrobial activity against relevant pathogens.
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Zhao X, Cebrián R, Fu Y, Rink R, Bosma T, Moll GN, Kuipers OP. High-Throughput Screening for Substrate Specificity-Adapted Mutants of the Nisin Dehydratase NisB. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:1468-1478. [PMID: 32374981 PMCID: PMC7309312 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
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Microbial
lanthipeptides are formed by a two-step enzymatic introduction
of (methyl)lanthionine rings. A dehydratase catalyzes the dehydration
of serine and threonine residues, yielding dehydroalanine and dehydrobutyrine,
respectively. Cyclase-catalyzed coupling of the formed dehydroresidues
to cysteines forms (methyl)lanthionine rings in a peptide. Lanthipeptide
biosynthetic systems allow discovery of target-specific, lanthionine-stabilized
therapeutic peptides. However, the substrate specificity of existing
modification enzymes impose limitations on installing lanthionines
in non-natural substrates. The goal of the present study was to obtain
a lanthipeptide dehydratase with the capacity to dehydrate substrates
that are unsuitable for the nisin dehydratase NisB. We report high-throughput
screening for tailored specificity of intracellular, genetically encoded
NisB dehydratases. The principle is based on the screening of bacterially
displayed lanthionine-constrained streptavidin ligands, which have
a much higher affinity for streptavidin than linear ligands. The designed
NisC-cyclizable high-affinity ligands can be formed via mutant NisB-catalyzed
dehydration but less effectively via wild-type NisB activity. In Lactococcus lactis, a cell surface display precursor was
designed comprising DSHPQFC. The Asp residue preceding the serine
in this sequence disfavors its dehydration by wild-type NisB. The
cell surface display vector was coexpressed with a mutant NisB library
and NisTC. Subsequently, mutant NisB-containing bacteria that display
cyclized strep ligands on the cell surface were selected via panning
rounds with streptavidin-coupled magnetic beads. In this way, a NisB
variant with a tailored capacity of dehydration was obtained, which
was further evaluated with respect to its capacity to dehydrate nisin
mutants. These results demonstrate a powerful method for selecting
lanthipeptide modification enzymes with adapted substrate specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinghong Zhao
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
- Natural Medicine Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Rubén Cebrián
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Yuxin Fu
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
| | - Rick Rink
- Lanthio Pharma, Rozenburglaan 13 B, Groningen 9727 DL, The Netherlands
| | - Tjibbe Bosma
- Lanthio Pharma, Rozenburglaan 13 B, Groningen 9727 DL, The Netherlands
| | - Gert N. Moll
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
- Lanthio Pharma, Rozenburglaan 13 B, Groningen 9727 DL, The Netherlands
| | - Oscar P. Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands
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An Engineered Double Lipid II Binding Motifs-Containing Lantibiotic Displays Potent and Selective Antimicrobial Activity against Enterococcus faecium. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2020; 64:AAC.02050-19. [PMID: 32179527 PMCID: PMC7269505 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02050-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Lipid II is an essential precursor for bacterial cell wall biosynthesis and thereby an important target for various antibiotics. Several lanthionine-containing peptide antibiotics target lipid II with lanthionine-stabilized lipid II binding motifs. Here, we used the biosynthesis system of the lantibiotic nisin to synthesize a two-lipid II binding motifs-containing lantibiotic, termed TL19, which contains the N-terminal lipid II binding motif of nisin and the distinct C-terminal lipid II binding motif of one peptide of the two-component haloduracin (i. Lipid II is an essential precursor for bacterial cell wall biosynthesis and thereby an important target for various antibiotics. Several lanthionine-containing peptide antibiotics target lipid II with lanthionine-stabilized lipid II binding motifs. Here, we used the biosynthesis system of the lantibiotic nisin to synthesize a two-lipid II binding motifs-containing lantibiotic, termed TL19, which contains the N-terminal lipid II binding motif of nisin and the distinct C-terminal lipid II binding motif of one peptide of the two-component haloduracin (i.e., HalA1). Further characterization demonstrated that (i) TL19 exerts 64-fold stronger antimicrobial activity against Enterococcus faecium than nisin(1-22), which has only one lipid II binding site, and (ii) both the N- and C-terminal domains are essential for the potent antimicrobial activity of TL19, as evidenced by mutagenesis of each single and the double domains. These results show the feasibility of a new approach to synthesize potent lantibiotics with two different lipid II binding motifs to treat specific antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
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9
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Influence of nisin hinge-region variants on lantibiotic immunity and resistance proteins. Bioorg Med Chem 2019; 27:3947-3953. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Healy B, Field D, O'Connor PM, Hill C, Cotter PD, Ross RP. Intensive mutagenesis of the nisin hinge leads to the rational design of enhanced derivatives. PLoS One 2013; 8:e79563. [PMID: 24244524 PMCID: PMC3823697 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Accepted: 09/20/2013] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Nisin A is the most extensively studied lantibiotic and has been used as a preservative by the food industry since 1953. This 34 amino acid peptide contains three dehydrated amino acids and five thioether rings. These rings, resulting from one lanthionine and four methyllanthionine bridges, confer the peptide with its unique structure. Nisin A has two mechanisms of action, with the N-terminal domain of the peptide inhibiting cell wall synthesis through lipid II binding and the C-terminal domain responsible for pore-formation. The focus of this study is the three amino acid ‘hinge’ region (N 20, M 21 and K 22) which separates these two domains and allows for conformational flexibility. As all lantibiotics are gene encoded, novel variants can be generated through manipulation of the corresponding gene. A number of derivatives in which the hinge region was altered have previously been shown to possess enhanced antimicrobial activity. Here we take this approach further by employing simultaneous, indiscriminate site-saturation mutagenesis of all three hinge residues to create a novel bank of nisin derivative producers. Screening of this bank revealed that producers of peptides with hinge regions consisting of AAK, NAI and SLS displayed enhanced bioactivity against a variety of targets. These and other results suggested a preference for small, chiral amino acids within the hinge region, leading to the design and creation of producers of peptides with hinges consisting of AAA and SAA. These producers, and the corresponding peptides, exhibited enhanced bioactivity against Lactococcus lactis HP, Streptococcus agalactiae ATCC 13813, Mycobacterium smegmatis MC2155 and Staphylococcus aureus RF122 and thus represent the first example of nisin derivatives that possess enhanced activity as a consequence of rational design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Healy
- School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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Slootweg JC, Kemmink J, Liskamp RMJ, Rijkers DTS. Synthesis and structural characterization of the individual diastereoisomers of a cross-stapled alkene-bridged nisin DE-ring mimic. Org Biomol Chem 2013; 11:7486-96. [DOI: 10.1039/c3ob41359d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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