ANTIOXIDANTS IN FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH

In this work we provide a general overview about the natural and synthetic antioxidants and studies carried out to improve their potential. These compounds are able to scavenge free radicals that cause deterioration of food and pharmaceutical products during processing and storage. Today there are several known natural compounds with antioxidant properties that are extracted from plants, which are mainly phenols and polyphenols. The limit for the use of these compounds in the food and pharmaceutical industry as antioxidants concerns their poor solubility in hydrophobic environment. This limitation was overcame in the past years by the introduction of synthetic antioxidants, such as BHA (butylated hidroxy anisole), BHT (butylated hydroxyl toluene), TBHQ (tert butyl hydroquinone) and PG (propyl gallate). Unfortunately several authors showed that BHA, BHT, TBHQ and PG may present adverse effects on the health of living organisms. In recent years novel antioxidants have been synthesized from natural polyphenols in order to modify the hydrophilicity/lipophilicity balance and increase their biological functionalities arising from insertion of new functional groups or molecule moieties in pre-existing natural polyphenols. The aim of these modifications was to avoid the major adverse effects associated with the use of BHT, BHA, TBHQ and PG

p63 threonine phosphorylation signals the interaction with the WW domain of the E3 ligase Itch

Both in epithelial development as well as in epithelial cancers, the p53 family member p63 plays a crucial role acting as a master transcriptional regulator. P63 steady state protein levels are regulated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch, via a physical interaction between the PPxY consensus sequence (PY motif) of p63 and one of the four WW domains of Itch; this substrate recognition process leads to protein-ubiquitylation and p63 proteasomal degradation. The interaction of the WW domains, a highly compact protein-protein binding module, with the short proline-rich sequences is therefore a crucial regulatory event that may offer innovative potential therapeutic opportunity. Previous molecular studies on the Itch-p63 recognition have been performed in vitro using the Itch-WW2 domain and the peptide interacting fragment of p63 (pep63), which includes the PY motif. Itch-WW2-pep63 interaction is also stabilized in vitro by the conformational constriction of the S-S cyclization in the p63 peptide. The PY motif of p63, as also for other proteins, is characterized by the nearby presence of a (T/S)P motif, which is a potential recognition site of the WW domain of the IV group present in the prolyl-isomerase Pin1. In this study, we demonstrate, by in silico and spectroscopical studies using both the linear pep63 and its cyclic form, that the threonine phosphorylation of the (T/S)PPPxY motif may represent a crucial regulatory event of the Itch-mediated p63 ubiquitylation, increasing the Itch-WW domains-p63 recognition event and stabilizing in vivo the Itch-WW-p63 complex. Moreover, our studies confirm that the subsequently trans/cis proline isomerization of (T/S)P motif by the Pin1 prolyl-isomerase, could modulate the E3-ligase interaction, and that the (T/S)pPtransPPxY motif represent the best conformer for the ItchWW-(T/S)PPPxY motif recognition

Chapter 5. NMR methodologies in food analysis

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methodologies offer a comprehensive characterization of foodstuffs owing to the possibility to study a sample from different points of view including structural, compositional, functional, morphological etc. aspects. High resolution NMR spectroscopy applied to semi-solid food samples or to extracts in solution is used to determine the foodstuff composition. Here, some features of high resolution NMR methodologies related to food analysis such as quantitative analysis, chemometrics, and use of databases are included. Other NMR methodologies such as relaxometry and imaging described in this chapter give precious information regarding morphology and texture of intact food samples

NMR applications in food analysis. Part B

Applications of low-field NMR relaxometry and NMR-imaging in the analysis of food samples are described using examples of different food matrices and different problems related to food processing, maturation and ageing, authenticity, shelf-life, perishability etc

NMR methodologies in food analysis

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methodologies offer a comprehensive characterization of foodstuffs owing to the possibility to study a sample from different points of view including structural, compositional, functional, morphological etc. aspects. High resolution NMR spectroscopy applied to semi-solid food samples or to extracts in solution is used to determine the foodstuff composition. Here, some features of high resolution NMR methodologies related to food analysis such as quantitative analysis, chemometrics, and use of databases are included. Other NMR methodologies such as relaxometry and imaging described in this chapter give precious information regarding morphology and texture of intact food samples

NMR Applications in Food Analysis: Part A

Applications of high-resolution NMR in liquid-state and in semi-solid matrices in the analysis of food components and entire food samples are described using examples of different food matrices and different problems related to food safety, traceability, geographical and botanical origin, farming methods, food processing, maturation and ageing, etc. Although NMR has not yet been recognized as an official methodology of food control for the numerous applications of NMR reported in the literature, the potenziality of this methodology also shows as an approach complementary to the other recognized conventional methodologies

NMR Applications in Food Analysis: Part B

Applications of low-field NMR relaxometry and NMR-imaging in the analysis of food samples are described using examples of different food matrices and different problems related to food processing, maturation and ageing, authenticity, shelf-life, perishability, etc