NCAA

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) is a core component for genetic code expansion (GCE), a powerful technique that enables the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into a protein. The aaRS with polyspecificity can be exploited in incorporating additional ncAAs into a protein without the evolution of new, orthogonal aaRS/tRNA pair, which hence provides a useful tool for probing the enzyme mechanism or expanding protein function. A variant (N346A/C348A) of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase from Methanosarcina mazei (MmPylRS) exhibited a wide substrate scope of accepting over 40 phenylalanine derivatives...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if the 11+ injury prevention programme decreases the risk of hamstring injury and improves recovery time and determine whether compliance with the 11+ affects hamstring injury risk. METHODS: This study is a secondary analysis from a prospective cluster randomised controlled trial that included 65 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division I and II men's soccer teams over the fall 2012 season. Thirty-one teams were randomised to the intervention group that were using the 11+ as their warm-up and 35 teams to the control group that continued to use their traditional warm-up...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence rate of suicide from 2002 to 2022 among athletes from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and assess for potential differences by, sex, race, division and sport. METHODS: NCAA athlete deaths over a 20-year period from 2002 to 2022 were identified. Poisson regression models were built to assess changes in incidence rates over time. Linear and quadratic fits between year and suicide incidence for males and females were evaluated...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane bound signaling molecules that regulate many aspects of human physiology. Recent advances have demonstrated that GPCR signaling can occur both at the cell surface and internal cellular membranes. Our findings suggest that cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) signaling is highly dependent on its subcellular location. We find that intracellular CB1 receptors predominantly couple to Gαi while plasma membrane receptors couple to Gαs. Here we show subcellular location of CB1, and its signaling, is contingent on the choice of promoters and receptor tags...

The design and orderly layered co-immobilization of multiple enzymes on resin particles remain challenging. Herein, the SpyTag/SpyCatcher binding pair was fused to the N-terminus of an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and an aldo-keto reductase (AKR), respectively. A non-canonical amino acid (ncAA), i.e. p-azido-L-phenylalanine (p-AzF), as the anchor for covalent bonding enzymes, was genetically inserted into pre-selected sites in the AKR and ADH. Employing the two bioorthogonal counterparts of SpyTag/SpyCatcher and azido-alkynyl for the immobilization of AKR and ADH enabled the sequential dual-enzyme coating on porous microspheres...

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have emerged as a powerful class of anticancer therapeutics that enable the selective delivery of toxic payloads into target cells. There is increasing appreciation for the importance of synthesizing such ADCs in a defined manner where the payload is attached at specific permissive sites on the antibody with a defined drug to antibody ratio. Additionally, the ability to systematically alter the site of attachment is important to fine-tune the therapeutic properties of the ADC...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness, compliance, and side effect profile between daily or three times weekly (TIW) oral iron supplementation regimens in treating iron deficiency nonanemia (IDNA) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 female track and field or soccer athletes. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Division 1 collegiate athletics. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-three NCAA Division 1 female athletes (18 track and field, 15 soccer)...

Recent years have seen novel modalities emerge for the treatment of human diseases resulting in an increase in beyond rule of 5 (bRo5) chemical matter. As a result, synthetic innovations aiming to enable rapid access to complex bRo5 molecular entities have become increasingly valuable for medicinal chemists' toolkits. Herein, we report the general synthesis of a new class of noncanonical amino acids (ncAA) with a cyclopropyl backbone to achieve conformational constraint and bearing C( sp 3 )-rich benzene bioisosteres...

BACKGROUND: In National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer athletes, men have higher rates of hip and groin strains, whereas women have higher rates of knee ligament injuries. Strength imbalances of the hip and thigh, specifically in agonist-antagonist muscles, are known risk factors for these injuries. OBJECTIVE: To perform hip and thigh strength assessments in NCAA soccer players to evaluate for differences between genders and correlations with gender-specific injury patterns...

Amino acids (AAs) are modular building blocks which nature uses to synthesize both macromolecules, such as proteins, and small molecule natural products, such as alkaloids and non-ribosomal peptides. While the 20 main proteinogenic AAs display relatively limited side chain diversity, a wide range of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) exist that are not used by the ribosome for protein synthesis, but contain a broad array of structural features and functional groups. In this communication, we report the discovery of the biosynthetic pathway for a new ncAA, pazamine, which contains a cyclopropane ring formed in two steps...

Pre-injury migraines might be a risk factor for prolonged recovery after sport-related concussion (SRC). We sought to examine whether a pre-injury history of migraines is associated with worse recovery following SRC in collegiate athletes. Data were collected through a prospective concussion surveillance system in 11 NCAA Division III college athletic programs between 09/2014-03/2020. Our primary independent variable, pre-injury migraines, were self-reported by the athletes. Between those with and without migraines, the outcomes of days to return-to-learn (RTL) without academic accommodations and return-to-play (RTP) and were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests...

Merrigan, JJ, Stone, JD, Kraemer, WJ, Friend, C, Lennon, K, Vatne, EA, and Hagen, JA. Analysis of sleep, nocturnal physiology, and physical demands of NCAA women's ice hockey across a championship season. J Strength Cond Res 38(4): 694-703, 2024-The aims of this study were to evaluate the (a) relationships between daily physical demands and nighttime sleep, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV); (b) weekly changes in physical demands and sleep; and (c) differences among positions and between training and competition during a competitive season in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's ice hockey...

There are two largely competing models for an athletics organization at both the collegiate and professional levels: the High Performance Model and the Medical Model. The High Performance Model arises from international Football perspective that places a "Performance Director" at the center of teams supporting the athletes. The Medical Model, supported by both the National Athletic Trainers Association and the NCAA, separates off medical staff (athletic trainers, physical therapists, and physicians, predominantly) and emphasizes the autonomy of medical decisions...

Expanding the genetic code beyond the 20 canonical amino acids enables access to a wide range of chemical functionality that is inaccessible within conventionally biosynthesized proteins. The vast majority of efforts to expand the genetic code have focused on the orthogonal translation systems required to achieve the genetically encoded addition of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins. There remain tremendous opportunities for identifying genetic and genomic factors that enhance ncAA incorporation...

Emerging microorganism Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is utilized for the synthesis of biobased chemicals from renewable feedstocks and for bioremediation. However, the methods for analyzing, engineering, and regulating the biosynthetic enzymes and protein complexes in this organism remain underdeveloped.Such attempts can be advanced by the genetic code expansion-enabled incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins, which also enables further controls over the strain's biological processes. Here, we give a step-by-step account of the incorporation of two ncAAs into any protein of interest (POI) in response to a UAG stop codon by two commonly used orthogonal archaeal tRNA synthetase and tRNA pairs...

BACKGROUND: Previous research has demonstrated that concussions increase the risk of subsequent lower extremity musculoskeletal injury in athletes. However, the risk of upper extremity injury in athletes' post-concussion is poorly understood. METHODS: All concussed football players within a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I conference athletic database were identified between 2017 and 2021. After exclusions, each athlete experiencing their first concussion was then retrospectively reviewed for upper extremity injuries in the year prior to their concussion and in the year beginning at 90 days after their concussion...

UNLABELLED: The incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins can enhance their function beyond the abilities of canonical amino acids and even generate new functions. However, the ncAAs used for such research are usually chemically synthesized, which is expensive and hinders their application on large industrial scales. We believe that the biosynthesis of ncAAs using metabolic engineering and their employment in situ in target protein engineering with genetic code expansion could overcome these limitations...

Genetic code expansion (GCE) can enable the site-selective incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins. GCE has advanced tremendously in the last decade and can be used to create biorthogonal handles, monitor and control proteins inside cells, study post-translational modifications, and engineer new protein functions. Since establishing our laboratory, our research has focused on applications of GCE in protein and enzyme engineering using aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA (aaRS/tRNA) pairs...

PURPOSE: The aim was to describe the demographic and post-injury factors that influence time to return to learn (RTL) among student-athletes enrolled in the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium. METHODS: A total of 47,860 student-athletes enrolled in the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense (NCAA-DoD) CARE Consortium study from 2014 to 2020, with 1485 sport-related concussions (SRCs) analyzed in the present dataset...

OBJECTIVE: Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T), an emerging National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) sport, involves athletes with rigorous training backgrounds, usually extending from youth through early adulthood. This study examines the sleep health, diet quality, and lipid profile of A&T athletes clustered by their performance position. METHODS: Forty-two A&T athletes, clustered as tops ( n  = 19; age = 19.6 ± 1...