Expression, purification and structural analysis of the Pyrococcus abyssi RNA binding protein PAB1135

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The gene coding for the uncharacterized protein PAB1135 in the archaeon <it>Pyrococcus abyssi </it>is in the same operon as the ribonuclease P (RNase P) subunit Rpp30.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Here we report the expression, purification and structural analysis of PAB1135. We analyzed the interaction of PAB1135 with RNA and show that it binds efficiently double-stranded RNAs in a non-sequence specific manner. We also performed molecular modeling of the PAB1135 structure using the crystal structure of the protein Af2318 from <it>Archaeoglobus fulgidus </it>(<ext-link ext-link-id="2OGK" ext-link-type="pdb">2OGK</ext-link>) as the template.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Comparison of this model has lead to the identification of a region in PAB1135 that could be involved in recognizing double-stranded RNA.</p

Pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system for acyclovir

Herpes simplex virus is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections. Acyclovir is a potent, selective inhibitor of herpes viruses and it is indicated for the treatment and management of recurrent cold sores on the lips and face, genital herpes, among other diseases. The problem of the oral bioavailability of acyclovir is limited because of the low permeability across the gastrointestinal membrane. The use of nanoparticles of pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system in vitro assays is a promising approach to further the permeability of acyclovir release. Here we report the synthesis of high purity pseudoboehmite from aluminium nitrate and ammonium hydroxide containing nanoparticles, using the sol–gel method, as a drug delivery system to improve the systemic bioavailability of acyclovir. The presence of pseudoboehmite nanoparticles were verified by infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques. In vivo tests were performed with Wistar rats to compare the release of acyclovir, with and without the addition of pseudoboehmite. The administration of acyclovir with the addition of pseudoboehmite increased the drug content by 4.6 times in the plasma of Wistar rats after 4 h administration. We determined that the toxicity of pseudoboehmite is low up to 10 mg/mL, in gel and the dried pseudoboehmite nanoparticles.The authors thank the Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Texas Tech University, Mack Pesquisa, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES), Cnpq, and FAPESP (grant 2010/19157-9 and grant 2017/22396-4) for the sponsorship to this project

The Role of Sarcopenic Obesity in Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease: A Synthesis of the Evidence on Pathophysiological Aspects and Clinical Implications

Obesity is globally a serious public health concern and is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and various types of cancers. It is important to evaluate various types of obesity, such as visceral and sarcopenic obesity. The evidence on the associated risk of CVD, cancer and sarcopenic obesity, including pathophysiological aspects, occurrence, clinical implications and survival, needs further investigation. Sarcopenic obesity is a relatively new term. It is a clinical condition that primarily affects older adults. There are several endocrine-hormonal, metabolic and lifestyle aspects involved in the occurrence of sarcopenic obesity that affect pathophysiological aspects that, in turn, contribute to CVD and neoplasms. However, there is no available evidence on the role of sarcopenic obesity in the occurrence of CVD and cancer and its pathophysiological interplay. Therefore, this review aims to describe the pathophysiological aspects and the clinical and epidemiological evidence on the role of sarcopenic obesity related to the occurrence and mortality risk of various types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. This literature review highlights the need for further research on sarcopenic obesity to demonstrate the interrelation of these various associations

Oxidative stress in the brain and arterial hypertension

Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, BR-04023060 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, BR-04023060 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Process Monitoring of Moisture Content and Mass Transfer Rate in a Fluidised Bed with a Low Cost Inline MEMS NIR Sensor

Purpose The current trend for continuous drug product manufacturing requires new, affordable process analytical techniques (PAT) to ensure control of processing. This work evaluates whether property models based on spectral data from recent Fabry–Pérot Interferometer based NIR sensors can generate a high-resolution moisture signal suitable for process control. Methods Spectral data and offline moisture content were recorded for 14 fluid bed dryer batches of pharmaceutical granules. A PLS moisture model was constructed resulting in a high resolution moisture signal, used to demonstrate (i) endpoint determination and (ii) evaluation of mass transfer performance. Results The sensors appear robust with respect to vibration and ambient temperature changes, and the accuracy of water content predictions (±13 % ) is similar to those reported for high specification NIR sensors. Fusion of temperature and moisture content signal allowed monitoring of water transport rates in the fluidised bed and highlighted the importance water transport within the solid phase at low moisture levels. The NIR data was also successfully used with PCA-based MSPC models for endpoint detection. Conclusions The spectral quality of the small form factor NIR sensor and its robustness is clearly sufficient for the construction and application of PLS models as well as PCA-based MSPC moisture models. The resulting high resolution moisture content signal was successfully used for endpoint detection and monitoring the mass transfer rate

Light propagation and Anderson localization in disordered superlattices containing dispersive metamaterials: Effects of correlated disorder

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)We have investigated the effects of disorder correlations on light propagation and Anderson localization in one-dimensional dispersive metamaterials. We consider and compare the cases where disorder is uncorrelated to situations where it is totally correlated and anticorrelated. The photonic gaps of the corresponding periodic structure are not completely destroyed by the presence of disorder, which leads to minima in the localization length. In the vicinities of a gap, the behavior of the localization length depends crucially on the physical origin of the gap (Bragg or non-Bragg gaps). Within a Bragg gap, the localization length increases as the degree of disorder increases, an anomalous behavior that only occurs for the uncorrelated and completely correlated cases. In these cases, minima of the localization length at the positions of Bragg gaps are shifted by increasing disorder, which does not occur for the anticorrelated case, where the positions of the minima remain unaltered. Minima in the localization length corresponding to non-Bragg gaps are not shifted by increasing disorder, albeit the widths of these minima are changed. We have found that the asymptotic behavior for the localization length xi proportional to lambda(6) for disordered metamaterials is not affected by correlations. Finally, we have investigated the role of absorption on the delocalized Brewster modes and argue that it could be mitigated in light of the state-of-the-art of metamaterials research.849Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Brazilian Agency FUJBConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP