alpha -Lactalbumin (LA) Stimulates Milk beta-1,4-Galactosyltransferase I (beta 4Gal-T1) to Transfer Glucose from UDP-glucose to N-Acetylglucosamine: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF beta 4Gal-T1·LA COMPLEX WITH UDP-Glc*

beta-1,4-Galactosyltransferase 1 (Gal-T1) transfers galactose (Gal) from UDP-Gal to N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), which constitutes its normal galactosyltransferase (Gal-T) activity. In the presence of alpha -lactalbumin (LA), it transfers Gal to Glc, which is its lactose synthase (LS) activity. It also transfers glucose (Glc) from UDP-Glc to GlcNAc, constituting the glucosyltransferase (Glc-T) activity, albeit at an efficiency of only 0.3-0.4% of Gal-T activity. In the present study, we show that LA increases this activity almost 30-fold. It also enhances the Glc-T activity toward various N-acyl substituted glucosamine acceptors. Steady state kinetic studies of Glc-T reaction show that the Km for the donor and acceptor substrates are high in the absence of LA. In the presence of LA, the Km for the acceptor substrate is reduced 30-fold, whereas for UDP-Glc it is reduced only 5-fold. In order to understand this property, we have determined the crystal structures of the Gal-T1·LA complex with UDP-Glc·Mn2+ and with N-butanoyl-glucosamine (N-butanoyl-GlcN), a preferred sugar acceptor in the Glc-T activity. The crystal structures reveal that although the binding of UDP-Glc is quite similar to UDP-Gal, there are few significant differences observed in the hydrogen bonding interactions between UDP-Glc and Gal-T1. Based on the present kinetic and crystal structural studies, a possible explanation for the role of LA in the Glc-T activity has been proposed

A peptidase activity exhibited by human serum pseudocholinesterase

The identity of a peptidase activity with human serum pseudocholinesterase (PsChE) purified to apparent homogeneity was demonstrated by (a) co-elution of both peptidase and PsChE activities from procainamide-Sepharose and concanavalin-A-Sepharose affinity chromatographic columns; (b) comigration on polyacryl-amide gel electrophoresis; (c) co-elution on Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and (d) coprecipitation at different dilutions of an antibody raised against purified PsChE. The purified enzyme showed a single protein band on gel electrophoresis under non-denaturing conditions. SDS gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions, followed by silver staining, also gave a single protein band (Mr∼90000). Peptidase activity using different peptides showed the release of C-terminal amino acids. Blocking the carboxy terminal by an amide or ester group did not prevent the hydrolysis of peptides. There was no evidence for release of N-terminal amino acids. Potent anionic or esteratic site inhibitors of PsChE, such as eserine sulphate, neostigmine, procainamide. ethopropazine, imipramine, diisopropylfluorophosphate, tetra-isopropylpyrophosphoramide and phenyl boronic acid, did not inhibit the peptidase activity. An anionic site inhibitor (neostigmine or eserine) in combination with an esteratic site inhibitor (diisopropylfluorophosphate) also did not inhibit the peptidase. However, the choline esters (acetylcholine, butyrylcholine, propionylcholine, benzoylcholine and succinylcholine) markedly inhibited the peptidase activity in parallel to PsChE. Choline alone or in combination with acetate, butyrate, propionate. benzoate or succinate did not significantly inhibit the peptidase activity. It appeared that inhibitor compounds which bind to both the anionic and esteratic sites simultaneously (like the substrate analogues choline esters) could inhibit the peptidase activity possibly through conformational changes affecting a peptidase domain

DELAMINATION PREDICTION IN DRILLING OF CFRP COMPOSITES USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials play a major role in the applications of aeronautic, aerospace, sporting and transportation industries. Machining is indispensible and hence drilling of CFRP materials is considered in this present study with respect to spindle speed in rpm, drill size in mm and feed in mm/min. Delamination is one of the major defects to be dealt with. The experiments are carried out using computer numerical control machine and the results are applied to an artificial neural network (ANN) for the prediction of delamination factor at the exit plane of the CFRP material. It is found that ANN model predicts the delamination for any given set of machining parameters with a maximum error of 0.81% and a minimum error of 0.03%. Thus an ANN model is highly suitable for the prediction of delamination in CFRP materials

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis of Cinnamomum Tamala Leaf Extract

Objective: The purpose of the study is to assess the properties and bioactive components of Cinnamomum tamala leaves. Methods: The leaves of Cinnamomum tamala were extracted. Different experimental methods have been used to study the phytochemicals (qualitative and quantitative). The phytochemical screening was evaluated in different extractions such as aqueous, hexane, ethanol, petroleum ether and hydroethanolic to compare the solubility of various bioactive components. Further, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were also performed to study the presence of flavonoids and secondary metabolites respectively. Results: The Qualitative analysis showed the presence of phytochemical compounds in higher concentration in hydroethanolic extract of the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala. In comparison with other extracts, hydroethanolic extract had larger yields of flavonoids (186.42 ± 13.04 mg/g QE), phenols (226.34 ± 15.84 mg/g GAE), saponins (112.10 ± 7.84 mg/g) and steroids (161.30 ± 11.29 mg/g CL). HPLC analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids in hydroethanolic extracts of the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala. GC-MS analysis proved the presence of various bioactive compounds in the hydroethanolic extract of the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated the significance of the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala. We concluded that Cinnamomum tamala leaves have various biological activities which can treat diseases.

Implementation of Vector Quantization for Image Compression - A Survey

This paper presents a survey on vector quantization for image compression. Moreover it provides a means of decomposition of the signal in an approach which takes the improvement of inter and intra band correlation as more lithe partition for higher dimension vector spaces. Thus, the image is compressed without information loss using artificial neural networks (ANN). Since 1988, a growing body of research has examined the use of VQ for the image compression. This paper discusses about vector quantization, its principle and examples, its various techniques and image compression its advantages and applications. Additionally this paper also provides a comparative table in the view of simplicity, storage space, robustness and transfer time of various vector quantization methods. In addition the proposed paper also presents a survey on different methods of vector quantization for image compression

Lymphocytic Mastitis with Fibroadenoma – A Case Report

Diabetic mastopathy is an uncommon fibrous tissue lesion of the breast which is usually seen in patients with longstanding type 1 diabetes mellitus. We report a case of diabetic mastopathy in an insulin dependent type 2 diabetes mellitus patient. 47-year-old postmenopausal woman, presented with two lumps, one firm mobile mass and another, a firm-hard mass in the upper inner quadrant of the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography came out to be BIRADS III lesion. Fine-needle aspiration cytology [FNAC] was performed showing features of fibroadenoma with fibrocystic change. Histopathological examination and Immunohistochemistry studies revealed it to be fibroadenoma along with lymphocytic mastopathy. Keywords: Fibroadenoma, Lymphocytic mastitis, Mimicker, Diabete

Modulation of actin polymerization affects nucleocytoplasmic transport in multiple forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of unknown etiology. Although defects in nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT) may be central to the pathogenesis of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, the molecular mechanisms modulating the nuclear pore function are still largely unknown. Here we show that genetic and pharmacological modulation of actin polymerization disrupts nuclear pore integrity, nuclear import, and downstream pathways such as mRNA post-transcriptional regulation. Importantly, we demonstrate that modulation of actin homeostasis can rescue nuclear pore instability and dysfunction caused by mutant PFN1 as well as by C9ORF72 repeat expansion, the most common mutation in ALS patients. Collectively, our data link NCT defects to ALS-associated cellular pathology and propose the regulation of actin homeostasis as a novel therapeutic strategy for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases