Structural studies on glycosyltransferases

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Structure of mouse IP-10, a chemokine

The structure of mouse IP-10 shows a novel tetrameric association

EXPRESSION AND ENZYMATIC PROPERTIES OF A UNIQUE RECOMBINANT ANTICOAGULANT AND FIBRINOLYTIC ENZYME FROM ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII TU04

Objective: The objective of this research is to clone and express a new fibrinolytic enzyme encoding serine protease gene in Escherichia coli thus, characterize such purified recombinant.Methods: The recombinant clone was successfully expressed in Lemo21 system and purified using immobilized nickel cation affinity chromatography on a His•bind resin®, followed by ammonium sulfate precipitation and protein filtration in combination. General properties of the purified enzyme were investigated, including the molecular weight, effects of inhibitors and metal ions, substrate specificity, amylolytic activity, fibrinolytic activity and effect of anticoagulant activity in-vitro.Results: The recombinant clone was expressed in Lemo21 system in the cytoplasm in a soluble and active form. The resulting enzyme, SERpro was purified to homogeneity with a purification of 19.35-fold and recovery yield of 4.85%. The enzyme exhibited maximal activity at 37 °C and at pH7.4, respectively. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was 82 kDa, determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The fibrinogenolysis peptide sequence analysis revealed that SERpro degraded Bβ chain of Fibrin at a much lower rate but cleaved Aα and γ-chain extensively. The enzyme was activated by metal ions such as Mg2+, Fe3+and Zn2+, and was inhibited strongly by PMSF. The clotting time of human blood serum in the presence of 1U SERpro reached a relative partial thromboplastin time of 13.9% with a 1.14-fold increase.Conclusion: The study deduced SERpro as a new protease with anti-thrombotic activity from Acinetobacter baumannii TU04.Â

Enhanced astaxanthin production by oxidative stress using methyl viologen as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) reagent in green microalgae Coelastrum sp.

Microalgae are known to be a potential resource of high-value metabolites that can be used in the growing field of biotechnology. These metabolites constitute valuable compounds with a wide range of applications that strongly enhance a bio-based economy. Among these metabolites, astaxanthin is considered the most important secondary metabolite, having superior antioxidant properties. For commercial feasibility, microalgae with enhanced astaxanthin production need to be developed. In this study, the tropical green microalgae strain, Coelastrum sp., isolated from the environment in Malaysia, was incubated with methyl viologen, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) reagent that generates superoxide anion radicals (O2-) as an enhancer to improve the accumulation of astaxanthin. The effect of different concentrations of methyl viologen on astaxanthin accumulation was investigated. The results suggested that the supplementation of methyl viologen at low concentration (0.001 mM) was successfully used as a ROS reagent in facilitating and thereby increasing the production of astaxanthin in Coelastrum sp. at a rate 1.3 times higher than in the control

Assessing respiratory inflammation among children living near to non-sanitary landfill using interleukin-6 (IL-6)

Aims: To determine the respiratory inflammation among children living near to non-sanitary municipal solid waste landfill area and the concentration of Interleukin-6 cytokine. Study Design: A cross-sectional comparative study design. Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Pajam, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, between September 2013 and April 2014. Methodology: A total of 72 children were randomly selected based on the inclusive and exclusive criteria. A set of pre-tested questionnaires were utilized to obtain socio-demographic information and to predict health risk faced by the respondents. Saliva samples of the respondents were collected and analyzed using Human Interleukin-6 (IL-6) Platinum ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) kit. Results: The PM10 concentration for the exposed group was higher than the unexposed group with the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of 152.31±31.07 μg/m3 and 87.77±30.77 μg/m3 respectively. The mean ± SD of the Interleukin-6 for the exposed group was slightly higher than the unexposed group with the mean ± SD of 6.34±1.95 pg/ml and 5.77±1.08 pg/ml respectively. The most common symptoms reported was sneezing and sore throat. There was no significant correlation between PM10 concentration and IL-6 in this study. Conclusion: The findings exhibit that there was no association between Interleukin-6 and PM10 concentration of the respondent. However, there are likely potential adverse health impacts arising from particulates exposure among exposed children in this study. Respondents are advised to have a medical check-up in order to determine respiratory health status thus elimination the risks of acquiring respiratory inflammation

Bioactive metabolites produced by cyanobacteria for growth adaptation and their pharmacological properties

Cyanobacteria are the most abundant oxygenic photosynthetic organisms inhabiting various ecosystems on earth. As with all other photosynthetic organisms, cyanobacteria release oxygen as a byproduct during photosynthesis. In fact, some cyanobacterial species are involved in the global nitrogen cycles by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Environmental factors influence the dynamic, physiological characteristics, and metabolic profiles of cyanobacteria, which results in their great adaptation ability to survive in diverse ecosystems. The evolution of these primitive bacteria resulted from the unique settings of photosynthetic machineries and the production of bioactive compounds. Specifically, bioactive compounds play roles as regulators to provide protection against extrinsic factors and act as intracellular signaling molecules to promote colonization. In addition to the roles of bioactive metabolites as indole alkaloids, terpenoids, mycosporine-like amino acids, non-ribosomal peptides, polyketides, ribosomal peptides, phenolic acid, flavonoids, vitamins, and antimetabolites for cyanobacterial survival in numerous habitats, which is the focus of this review, the bioactivities of these compounds for the treatment of various diseases are also discussed

Improvement of astaxanthin production in coelastrum sp. by optimization using taguchi method

Background and Objective: Astaxanthin is a keto-carotenoid pigment known as one of the most valuable compounds with great potentials in the market. It has widely been used in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries due to its strong antioxidant activity. Green microalgae seem as promising natural sources in production of astaxanthin. The aim of this study was to optimize astaxanthin production in Coelastrum sp. to overcome low productivity of microalgae. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out using experimentally statistical technique and Taguchi method to find optimum conditions for maximizing production of astaxanthin in green microalgae, Coelastrum sp. Effects of nutritional (carbon and nitrogen) and environmental (light and salinity) factors on biomass and astaxanthin production were investigated. Experiments were carried out for light intensity (250-550 μmol photons m-2 s-1), salinity using sodium chloride (1.0-3.0 g l-1), carbon source using sodium acetate (0.5-2.0 g l-1) and nitrogen source using sodium nitrate (0.1-0.3 g l-1). Results and Conclusion: Results showed that optimum conditions of astaxanthin production in Coelastrum sp. included 250 μmol photons m-2 s-1 of light intensity, 3 g l-1 salinity, 0.5 g l-1 carbon and 0.1 g l-1 nitrogen with a maximum yield of astaxanthin (14.44 mg l-1), which was 2-fold higher than that before optimization. This optimization resulted in high quantities of astaxanthin production using optimization of conditions that affected production yields of astaxanthin from Coelastrum sp

Jom Baca@PHS: Building Foundation for Lifelong Learning

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is a pioneering university that strives to empower future talent and next generation towards a sustainable knowledge transformation. Hamzah Sendut Library in supporting this effort has formed the Reading Campaign Committee with the tagline „Jombaca@PHS‟. This committee is established to promote love for books and reading culture to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) community in particular and society in general. The Library realizes that the expertise to manage reading materials shouldn‟t be keep by its own, but rather to be shared to others in need. Since its inception in 2009, various programs have been carried out to meet the objective. Numerous programs were conducted under three main programs, namely Community Network, Exhibition and Sharing is Caring. Starting as small-scale projects, now these initiatives have shown its positive impacts especially in building foundation for lifelong learning among USM community

Jom Baca@PHS: Inisiatif Perkongsian Ilmu

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) merupakan sebuah universiti perintis yang berusaha untuk memperkasakan bakat masa depan dan mengupayakan generasi awal demi mentransformasi kesejahteraan ilmu pengetahuan. Perpustakaan Hamzah Sendut (PHS) dalam usaha menyokong usaha tersebut telah menubuhkan Jawatankuasa Kempen Membaca (JKM) untuk menabur bakti dengan mengadakan program kesedaran tentang kepentingan membaca dan memanfaatkan Perpustakaan dari peringkat awal. Program Jombaca@PHS merupakan program utama yang dijalankan oleh Jawatankuasa Kempen Membaca (JKM) bertujuan berkongsi kepakaran tentang pengurusan Perpustakaan dengan masyarakat terutama komuniti dalaman USM

Review—Three dimensional zinc oxide nanostructures as an active site platform for biosensor: Recent trend in healthcare diagnosis

Morphology effect is one of the essential factors that influence the performance of electrochemical biosensors based on ZnO nanostructures. These nanostructures are characterized by anisotropic growth with different dimensionalities such as zerodimensional, one-dimensional, and two-dimensional. More interestingly, when combining each dimension into another advanced dimensionality, i.e. the three-dimensional (3-D), exceptional properties can be generated that are not otherwise found in low dimensionalities. The outstanding popularity of 3-D ZnO stems from many factors, with one of the most important being its synergic advantages from its low dimensional sub-unit and the additional surface area of the 3-D structure due to an increased geometric volume. This review briefly describes the principles and growth mechanism factors of 3-D ZnO via solution-based approaches and additional advanced methods. The paper further expands on the latest advancement of research into the 3-D ZnO nanostructure-based electrochemical biosensors to detect biomolecules that harm humankind. We also discussed the analytical performance of these biosensors using different nanocomposite materials. Additionally, limitations and suggestions on particular sensing works are proposed. Lastly, the five-year progress in research into 3-D ZnO-based electrochemical biosensors’ performance in healthcare diagnosis is compared and future challenges presente