Characterization of the ATP transporter in the reconstituted rough endoplasmic reticulum proteoliposomes

AbstractAdenosine triphosphate (ATP) transporter from rat liver rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) was solubilized and reconstituted into phosphatidylcholine liposomes. The RER proteoliposomes, resulting from optimizing some reconstitution parameters, had an apparent Km value of 1.5 μM and a Vmax of 286 pmol min−1 (mg protein)−1 and showed higher affinity for ATP and a lower Vmax value than intact RER (Km of 6.5 μM and Vmax of 1 nmol). ATP transport was time- and temperature-dependent, inhibited by 4,4′-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid, which is known as an inhibitor of anion transporters including ATP transporter, but was not affected by atractyloside, a specific inhibitor of mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier. The internal and external effects of various nucleotides on the ATP transport were examined. ATP transport was cis-inhibited strongly by ADP and weakly by AMP. ADP-preloaded RER proteoliposomes showed a specific increase of ATP transport activity while AMP-preloaded RER proteoliposomes did not show the enhanced overshoot peak in the ATP uptake plot. These results demonstrate the ADP/ATP antiport mechanism of ATP transport in rat liver RER

Proteome-Level Responses of Escherichia coli to Long-Chain Fatty Acids and Use of Fatty Acid Inducible Promoter in Protein Production

In Escherichia coli, a long-chain acyl-CoA is a regulatory signal that modulates gene expression through its binding to a transcription factor FadR. In this study, comparative proteomic analysis of E. coli in the presence of glucose and oleic acid was performed to understand cell physiology in response to oleic acid. Among total of 52 proteins showing altered expression levels with oleic acid presence, 9 proteins including AldA, Cdd, FadA, FadB, FadL, MalE, RbsB, Udp, and YccU were newly synthesized. Among the genes that were induced by oleic acid, the promoter of the aldA gene was used for the production of a green fluorescent protein (GFP). Analysis of fluorescence intensities and confocal microscopic images revealed that soluble GFP was highly expressed under the control of the aldA promoter. These results suggest that proteomics is playing an important role not only in biological research but also in various biotechnological applications

FLUIDIZATION TECHNOLOGY FOR STABLE STARTUP OF COMMERCIAL FCC UNIT

Conditions for maintaining good fluidization in the start-up of FCC have been determined. Catalyst defluidization and consequent catalyst losses from reactor cyclone are mainly affected by catalyst properties and stripper operating condition based on previous commercial startup experiences. Effect of fine catalyst contents on bed fluidity was determined. Bed fluidity in stripper was analyzed with slip velocity. Finally new startup guide was proposed and it was successfully applied to commercial FCC process of SK energy, Korea

High grade anorectal stricture complicating Crohn's disease: endoscopic treatment using insulated-tip knife

Endoscopic treatments have emerged as an alternative to surgery, in the treatment of benign colorectal stricture. Unlike endoscopic balloon dilatation, there is limited data on endoscopic electrocautery incision therapy for benign colorectal stricture, especially with regards to safety and long-term patency. We present a case of a 29-year-old female with Crohn's disease who had difficulty in defecation and passing thin stools. A pelvic magnetic resonance imaging scan, gastrograffin enema, and sigmoidoscopy showed a high-grade anorectal stricture. An endoscopic insulated-tip knife incision was successfully performed to resolve the problem. From our experience, we suggest that endoscopic insulated-tip knife treatment may be a feasible and effective modality for patients with short-segment, very rigid, fibrotic anorectal stricture

Alteration of laboratory findings after radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: relationship to severity of the underlying liver disease and the ablation volume

Background/AimsTo investigate sequential changes in laboratory markers after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the relationship of these changes to the severity of the underlying liver disease.MethodsThis retrospective analysis included 65 patients (44 males, 21 females) who underwent RFA of HCC. Hematologic and biochemical markers were assessed at the pre-RFA period and 1 day, 2-3 days, and 1-2 weeks after RFA. We classified the subjects into two groups: Child-Pugh A (n=41) and Child-Pugh B (n=24). The ablative margin volume (AMV) of each patient was measured. We analyzed the changes in laboratory profiles from the baseline, and investigated whether these laboratory changes were correlated with the AMV and the Child-Pugh classification.ResultsMost of the laboratory values peaked at 2-3 days after RFA. AMV was significantly correlated with changes in WBC count, hemoglobin level, and serum total bilirubin level (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.324-0.453; P<0.05). The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level varied significantly over time (P=0.023).ConclusionsMost of the measured laboratory markers changed from baseline, peaking at 2-3 days. The ALT level was the only parameter for which there was a significant difference after RFA between Child-Pugh A and B patients: it increased significantly more in the Child-Pugh A patients

High-Performance Screen-Printed Thermoelectric Films on Fabrics.

Printing techniques could offer a scalable approach to fabricate thermoelectric (TE) devices on flexible substrates for power generation used in wearable devices and personalized thermo-regulation. However, typical printing processes need a large concentration of binder additives, which often render a detrimental effect on electrical transport of the printed TE layers. Here, we report scalable screen-printing of TE layers on flexible fiber glass fabrics, by rationally optimizing the printing inks consisting of TE particles (p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 or n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3), binders, and organic solvents. We identified a suitable binder additive, methyl cellulose, which offers suitable viscosity for printability at a very small concentration (0.45-0.60 wt.%), thus minimizing its negative impact on electrical transport. Following printing, the binders were subsequently burnt off via sintering and hot pressing. We found that the nanoscale defects left behind after the binder burnt off became effective phonon scattering centers, leading to low lattice thermal conductivity in the printed n-type material. With the high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, the screen-printed TE layers showed high room-temperature ZT values of 0.65 and 0.81 for p-type and n-type, respectively