Chemical Synthesis of Polypyrrole Nanotubes for Neural Microelectrodes

AbstractA low impedance electrode/tissue interface is critically important for neural microelectrodes recording to maintain signal quality. In this study, polypyrrole (PPy) nanotubes used to decrease the interface impedance. PPy nanotubes were chemically synthesized inside the alumina template. SEM analysis showed 70nm inside diameter of nanotubes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were performed for impedance measurement of PPy nanotubes coated microelectrode surface. The results showed that the impedance of the microelectrodes with PPy nanotubes coatings was four order of magnitude lower than the electrodes without coating in the neural frequency. EIS results also showed significant decrease in impedance of PPy nanotubes rather than PPy thin films

Improvement of Probiotic Survival in Fruit juice and under Gastrointestinal conditions using Pectin-Nanochitin-Nanolignocellulose as a Novel Prebiotic Gastrointestinal-Resistant Matrix

Background and Objective: Increasing survivability of probiotics in low pH juices and in gastrointestinal conditions is important for probiotic food industry. Nanofibers can reinforce the structure of entrapment matrices protecting probiotics in harsh conditions. This study investigated pectin-based bionanocomposites improved with nanochitin, nanolignocellulose and bacterial nanocellulose to introduce a prebiotic gastrointestinal-resistant matrix for enhancing the survival of Bacillus coagulans as a probiotic.Material and Methods: The bionanocomposites with various compositions were designed using mixture design method. These were fabricated based on cross-linking of calcium ions with pectin for entrapment of Bacillus coagulans. The survivability of probiotic was evaluated at 4°C or 25°C over a 5-week storage in peach juice and under simulated gastrointestinal conditions.Results and Conclusion: The prebiotic score of the pectin-nanochitin-nanolignocellulose (50:25:25% w w-1) was determined as 1.36. The survivability of Bacillus coagulans entrapped within the pectin-nanochitin-nanolignocellulose matrix was ~65% under gastrointestinal treatment. The surface structure of the matrix was relatively smooth coherent, compact and wrinkled due to the three-dimensional arrangement of the nanofibers of chitin and lignocellulose incorporated within pectin. The highest survivability of the entrapped bacteria was ~68% compared to the survivability of the free cell (~53%) at the end of 5-week storage period. After 21 day storage in the juice, the survivability of the entrapped bacteria treated under sequential digestion was ~58% as compared to that of the free cell (~43%). The present findings proposed a promising prebiotic matrix to protect probiotics in low pH fruit juice and the gastrointestinal tract.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

Optimization of Auto-induction Conditions for the Heterologous Expression of a Maltogenic Amylase in Escherichia coli

Background and Objectives: Auto-induction is usually employed to achieve high cell density and overproduction of proteins with a simple and low-cost operation. The efficiency of heterologous protein expression in Escherichia coli is determined by different parameters. Interactions between these parameters usually complicate the identification of those that contribute more to the improvement of protein expression. As optimal implementation of the auto-induction considerably relies on both the composition of the auto-induction medium and induction conditions, the present study focused on the optimization of related culture parameters through response surface methodology. Materials and Methods: In the first step, the optimum culture temperature and auto-induction duration were determined with the aim of achieving the highest specific activity. Then the culture composition was optimized through response surface methodology considering the concentration of carbon sources, glucose and lactose, as the variables for the simultaneous maximizing of the Maltogenic Amylase volumetric yield and specific activity. Results and Conclusion: Expression of recombinant Maltogenic Amylase under optimum conditions in the shake-flask cultures of Escherichia coli harboring pET 28a increased by 1.7 folds in comparison with an un-optimized auto-induction culture. The Maltogenic Amylase specific activity and volumetric yield were found to be 34.93 U mg-1 and 390.78 U ml-1 at optimum conditions, respectively

Application of the Taguchi Design for Production of Poly( -hydroxybutyrate) by Ralstonia eutropha

ABSTRACT: The Taguchi design of experiments was used to test the relative importance of medium components and environmental factors on poly( -hydroxybutyrate)(PHB) production by Ralstonia eutropha. The optimum condition was obtained as: fructose concentration, 15 g/L; C/N ratio, 7.4; agitation speed 200 rpm; culture time, 40 h; temperature, 25 ° C; seed age, 15 h. At optimum condition the yield of PHB production was found to be 92.36%

Bioleaching of Low Grade Uranium Ore of Saghand Mine

ABSTRACT: This study deals with bioleaching of the low grade uranium ore of Saghand mine in Iran using a mixed culture of mesophilic bacteria (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans). Experiments were carried out in shaking flask examining the effect of temperature, initial ferrous ion concentration, pulp density and particle size. Variations of pH, Eh, ferrous ion concentration, cells growth and uranium extraction were monitored. The highest rates of leaching and extraction were obtained at 35ºC, 2.5% (w/v) pulp density, 4 g/l ferrous ion and -106µm particle size

Using biotechnology and chemical approach extraction of chitin and conversion to chitosan from the cyst shells of Artemia urmiana

Chitin and chitosan are 2 very important products of biopolymer that enjoy high consumption in industry, but their production sources are very limited. In this study, Artemia urmiana cyst shells were obtained from previously collected and stored ones in Iranian Artemia Research Center. 20 kg of Artemia urmiana cyst shells were sampled, cleaned, separated, dried and transferred to Iranian Artemia Research Center Laboratory to extract their Chitin and chitosan. Their chitin and chitosan initially were extracted using optimized common chemical methods. Their properties were compared to 2 other types of Chitin and chitosan obtained from crab and shrimp manufactured by Vietnam and China, respectively. To determine their quality, elemental analysis device, infrared spectrophotometry, x –ray radiography, determination of viscosity , molecular weight, crystallinity percent, color, de stylization measure, empirical and molecular formulas were made. The results showed that the percentage of chitin obtained from Artemia cyst Shells in Chemical method was 28 ± 3 % by weight and efficiency into chitosan (grade steel relief) in this method was 50± 5%. To optimize the extraction procedure and the removal of proteins of chitin by biological practices that were done by sodium hydroxide in the chemical method, it was replaced by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. And in the bio- phase of chitosan de steelation fungus Aspergillus niger enzyme was replaced instead of sodium hydroxide at high temperatures. The results showed that chitin and chitosan can be extracted from Artemia cyst shell using biological method and their characteristics included as in chitin 49.6% C, 8.2 % N, 7.5 % H, and 34.5 %O. Also the same levels for chitosan were 44.4 %, 8.9, 7.2 and 39.5 %, respectively. Their other quality characteristics were included chitin average molecular weight 4.9×10^6 Dalton, crystallinity percentage of 36.4, viscosity at 20°C 31 centipoise and its color was gray to brown. In the biologic method, the average molecular weight of chitosan, crystallinity percentage, viscosity at 20°C, were 5.1×105 Dalton, 94.5, and 18 centipoises, respectively. Also, its color was pale brown. Chemical structure of extracted chitin and chitosan from the shell of Artemia urmiana cysts were C_7H_12NO_4 and C_6H_11 NO_4c, respectively. The comparison of chitin and chitosan obtained from each chemical and biological method revealed that replacing biological methods instead of chemical methods is possible in achieving these products at suitable condition and better quality. This can eliminate the use of chemicals damaging the environment such as sodium hydroxide and decrease environmental pollution

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Pichia pastoris is used for commercial production of human therapeutic proteins, and genome-scale models of P. pastoris metabolism have been generated in the past to study the metabolism and associated protein production by this yeast. A major challenge with clinical usage of recombinant proteins produced by P. pastoris is the difference in N-glycosylation of proteins produced by humans and this yeast. However, through metabolic engineering, a P. pastoris strain capable of producing humanized N-glycosylated proteins was constructed. The current genome-scale models of P. pastoris do not address native nor humanized N-glycosylation, and we therefore developed ihGlycopastoris, an extension to the iLC915 model with both native and humanized N-glycosylation for recombinant protein production, but also an estimation of N-glycosylation of P. pastoris native proteins. This new model gives a better prediction of protein yield, demonstrates the effect of the different types of N-glycosylation of protein yield, and can be used to predict potential targets for strain improvement. The model represents a step towards a more complete description of protein production in P. pastoris, which is required for using these models to understand and optimize protein production processes

Screening for efficient nitrogen sources for overproduction of the biomass of the functionally probiotic L. plantarum strain RPR42 in a cane molasses-based medium

Nitrogen source has a vital role for the efficient growth of lactobacilli. The effects of cheese whey, corn steep liquor, and wheat germ extract on the growth of L. plantarum strain RPR42 in cane molasses-based media was evaluated using various approaches of design of experiments. Our results showed that such protein-rich agricultural by-products significantly increase the biomass production of the strain RPR42 in cane molasses-based media. The most affecting nitrogenous material was cheese whey followed by CSL and the minor effect was reported for wheat germ extract as revealed in factorial and Box�Behnken design experiments. The replacement of costly beef extract and yeast extract with a defined mixtures of the above nitrogenous agricultural by-products in cane molasses-based medium led to production of up to 12.64 g/L/24 h of dry biomass of strain RPR42. A detectable cell density of strain RPR42 (~ 9.81 � 109 CFU/mL 24 h) which was observed in such an economic medium showed that the large-scale production of the strain RPR42 tend to be feasible at significantly low costs. © 2020, The Author(s)

Plant polyphenols inhibit functional amyloid and biofilm formation in <i>Pseudomonas</i> strains by directing monomers to off-pathway oligomers

Self-assembly of proteins to &beta;-sheet rich amyloid fibrils is commonly observed in various neurodegenerative diseases. However, amyloid also occurs in the extracellular matrix of bacterial biofilm, which protects bacteria from environmental stress and antibiotics. Many Pseudomonas strains produce functional amyloid where the main component is the highly fibrillation-prone protein FapC. FapC fibrillation may be inhibited by small molecules such as plant polyphenols, which are already known to inhibit formation of pathogenic amyloid, but the mechanism and biological impact of inhibition is unclear. Here, we elucidate how polyphenols modify the self-assembly of functional amyloid, with particular focus on epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), penta-O-galloyl-&beta;-d-glucose (PGG), baicalein, oleuropein, and procyanidin B2. We find EGCG and PGG to be the best inhibitors. These compounds inhibit amyloid formation by redirecting the aggregation of FapC monomers into oligomeric species, which according to small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements organize into core-shell complexes of short axis diameters 25&ndash;26 nm consisting of ~7 monomers. Using peptide arrays, we identify EGCG-binding sites in FapC&rsquo;s linker regions, C and N-terminal parts, and high amyloidogenic sequences located in the R2 and R3 repeats. We correlate our biophysical observations to biological impact by demonstrating that the extent of amyloid inhibition by the different inhibitors correlated with their ability to reduce biofilm, highlighting the potential of anti-amyloid polyphenols as therapeutic agents against biofilm infections