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Classically, chemokines coordinate leukocyte trafficking; however, many chemokines also have direct antibacterial activity. The bacterial killing mechanism of chemokines and the biochemical properties that define which members of the chemokine superfamily are antimicrobial remain poorly understood. We report that the antimicrobial activity of chemokines is defined by their ability to bind phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin, two anionic phospholipids commonly found in the bacterial plasma membrane. We show that only chemokines able to bind these two phospholipids kill bacteria and that they exert rapid bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects with a higher potency than the antimicrobial peptide β-defensin 3. Both biochemical and genetic interference with the chemokine-cardiolipin interaction impaired microbial growth arrest, bacterial killing, and membrane disruption by chemokines. Moreover, unlike conventional antibiotics,Escherichia colifailed to develop resistance when placed under increasing antimicrobial chemokine pressure in vitro. Thus, we have identified cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol as binding partners for chemokines responsible for chemokine antimicrobial action. 

Memorization is an essential functionality that enables today's machine learning algorithms to provide a high quality of learning and reasoning for each prediction. Memorization gives algorithms prior knowledge to keep the context and define confidence for their decision. Unfortunately, the existing deep learning algorithms have a weak and nontransparent notion of memorization. Brain-inspired HyperDimensional Computing (HDC) is introduced as a model of human memory. Therefore, it mimics several important functionalities of the brain memory by operating with a vector that is computationally tractable and mathematically rigorous in describing human cognition. In this manuscript, we introduce a brain-inspired system that represents HDC memorization capability over a graph of relations. We propose GrapHD , hyperdimensional memorization that represents graph-based information in high-dimensional space. GrapHD defines an encoding method representing complex graph structure while supporting both weighted and unweighted graphs. Our encoder spreads the information of all nodes and edges across into a full holistic representation so that no component is more responsible for storing any piece of information than another. Then, GrapHD defines several important cognitive functionalities over the encoded memory graph. These operations include memory reconstruction, information retrieval, graph matching, and shortest path. Our extensive evaluation shows that GrapHD : (1) significantly enhances learning capability by giving the notion of short/long term memorization to learning algorithms, (2) enables cognitive computing and reasoning over memorization graph, and (3) enables holographic brain-like computation with substantial robustness to noise and failure. 

Membrane bending is a ubiquitous cellular process that is required for membrane traffic, cell motility, organelle biogenesis, and cell division. Proteins that bind to membranes using specific structural features, such as wedge-like amphipathic helices and crescent-shaped scaffolds, are thought to be the primary drivers of membrane bending. However, many membrane-binding proteins have substantial regions of intrinsic disorder which lack a stable three-dimensional structure. Interestingly, many of these disordered domains have recently been found to form networks stabilized by weak, multivalent contacts, leading to assembly of protein liquid phases on membrane surfaces. Here we ask how membrane-associated protein liquids impact membrane curvature. We find that protein phase separation on the surfaces of synthetic and cell-derived membrane vesicles creates a substantial compressive stress in the plane of the membrane. This stress drives the membrane to bend inward, creating protein-lined membrane tubules. A simple mechanical model of this process accurately predicts the experimentally measured relationship between the rigidity of the membrane and the diameter of the membrane tubules. Discovery of this mechanism, which may be relevant to a broad range of cellular protrusions, illustrates that membrane remodeling is not exclusive to structured scaffolds but can also be driven by the rapidly emerging class of liquid-like protein networks that assemble at membranes.