The structural characterization of the Borrelia afzelii species by means FT-IR spectroscopy

A FT-IR study of the Borrelia afzelii species is reported for the first time. The FT-IR spectrum was obtained in the wavelength interval between 450-4000 cm-1, and the assignation of the absorption bands and the structural interpretation was performed. These spectral domains contain information about DNA, RNA, polysaccharides, proteins, phospholipids

The Molecular Restructuring of Classical Desserts by Using Food Industry By-Products

Fruit and vegetable by-products are in general thrown away and can cause environmental problems, even though they are a valuable source of bioactive compounds, which may be used for innovative food production.The present work focused on achieving a new type of dessert, a “Sweetburger”, by restructuring its molecular components with the aid of molecular gastronomy techniques and using agro-industrial wastes (beetroot and sour cherry pulp and peels, melon pomace). The innovative dessert has been obtained and the bioactive compounds contained in the agro-industrial wastes have been characterized using the HPLC method, Folin-Ciocalteu and spectrophotometry. The total polyphenol content from sour cherries waste was significant, 508,9 mg gallic acid/100 g. The total anthocyanin content from beetroot pulp was 0,117 mg/ 100 g

DHA production by Schizochytrium limacinum SR-21 using crude glycerol as carbon source

This study investigates the potential of low-cost substrates (crude glycerol) usage as carbon source for obtaining docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), through fermentation of the Schizochytrium limacinum SR-21 microalga. The fermentations were conducted on flask and bioreactor scale. To quantify the amount of DHA obtained, the amount of biomass and lipid production were monitored and simultaneously running fermentative processes on two substrates were carried out. In both processes (flask and bioreactor) the highest amount of dry biomass (DB) was obtained by using glucose as carbon source (6.9 g L -1 in flask and 10.65 g L -1 in bioreactor). Although the amount of DB was higher on blank substrate, the level of DHA from total lipids content was higher (27.69 % in flask and 36.06% in bioreactor) in the biomass obtained on glycerol as primal carbon source. The highest quantity of DHA was obtained by using crude glycerol as carbon source for the microalgae when carrying out the process on bioreactor scale, which allowed us to control the pH on a set value of 7.

Isolated Microorganisms for Bioconversion of Biodiesel-Derived Glycerol Into 1,3-Propanediol

During biodiesel production, massive amounts of raw glycerol are created generating an environmental issue and the same time an increase of biodiesel production cost at the same time. This raw glycerol could be converted by specific strains into value-added products, like 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), an important monomer used in the synthesis of biodegradable polyesters.The present work is based on recent scientific articles and experimental studies on the targeted topic, namely on the use of bacterial strains for bioconversion of biodiesel-derived glycerol into valuable products, like 1,3-PD. Concentrations, yields and productivity of 1,3-PD are presented for various bacterial strains. Important results as respects the microbial bioconversion of biodiesel-derived glycerol into 1,3-PD were registered for strains like Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii, Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus diolivorans.From this study can be concluded that waste glycerol may be used as a nutrient source for microbial development and the production of 1,3-propanediol with high concentrations and yields

T Cell Cancer Therapy Requires CD40-CD40L Activation of Tumor Necrosis Factor and Inducible Nitric-Oxide-Synthase-Producing Dendritic Cells

Effective cancer immunotherapy requires overcoming immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. We\ua0found that local nitric oxide (NO) production by tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells is important for adoptively transferred CD8(+) cytotoxic T\ua0cells to destroy tumors. These myeloid cells are phenotypically similar to inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2)- and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-producing dendritic cells (DC), or Tip-DCs. Depletion of immunosuppressive, colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R)-dependent arginase 1(+) myeloid cells enhanced NO-dependent tumor killing. Tumor elimination via NOS2 required the CD40-CD40L pathway. We also uncovered a strong correlation between survival of colorectal cancer patients and NOS2, CD40, and TNF expression in their tumors. Our results identify a network of pro-tumor factors that can be targeted to boost cancer immunotherapies

Differential Protein Expression in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Larvae: Underlying Caste Differentiation

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) exhibits divisions in both morphology and reproduction. The queen is larger in size and fully developed sexually, while the worker bees are smaller in size and nearly infertile. To better understand the specific time and underlying molecular mechanisms of caste differentiation, the proteomic profiles of larvae intended to grow into queen and worker castes were compared at 72 and 120 hours using two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), network, enrichment and quantitative PCR analysis. There were significant differences in protein expression between the two larvae castes at 72 and 120 hours, suggesting the queen and the worker larvae have already decided their fate before 72 hours. Specifically, at 72 hours, queen intended larvae over-expressed transketolase, aldehyde reductase, and enolase proteins which are involved in carbohydrate metabolism and energy production, imaginal disc growth factor 4 which is a developmental related protein, long-chain-fatty-acid CoA ligase and proteasome subunit alpha type 5 which metabolize fatty and amino acids, while worker intended larvae over-expressed ATP synthase beta subunit, aldehyde dehydrogenase, thioredoxin peroxidase 1 and peroxiredoxin 2540, lethal (2) 37 and 14-3-3 protein epsilon, fatty acid binding protein, and translational controlled tumor protein. This differential protein expression between the two caste intended larvae was more pronounced at 120 hours, with particular significant differences in proteins associated with carbohydrate metabolism and energy production. Functional enrichment analysis suggests that carbohydrate metabolism and energy production and anti-oxidation proteins play major roles in the formation of caste divergence. The constructed network and validated gene expression identified target proteins for further functional study. This new finding is in contrast to the existing notion that 72 hour old larvae has bipotential and can develop into either queen or worker based on epigenetics and can help us to gain new insight into the time of departure as well as caste trajectory influencing elements at the molecular level