Protein expression of Myt272-3 recombinant clone and in silico prediction of a possible vaccine candidate against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Purpose: To investigate the expression of Myt272-3 recombinant protein and also to predict a possible protein vaccine candidate against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Methods: Myt272-3 protein was expressed in pET30a+-Myt272-3 clone. The purity of the protein was determined using Dynabeads® His-Tag Isolation & Pulldown. Protein sequence was analysed in silico using bioinformatics software for the prediction of allergenicity, antigenicity, MHC-I and MHC-II binding, and B-cell epitope binding.Results: The candidate protein was a non-allergen with 15.19 % positive predictive value. It was also predicted to be antigenic, with binding affinity to MHC-I and MHC-II, as well as B-cell epitope binding.Conclusion: The predicted results obtained in this study provide a guide for practical design of a new tuberculosis vaccine.Keywords: Vaccine, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Epitope prediction, Histocompatibility complexe

Vaccine research and development: tuberculosis as a global health threat

One of the aims of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is to reduce the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) infection by the year 2015. However, 9 million new cases were reported in 2013, with an estimated 480,000 new cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) globally. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most available and currently used candidate vaccine against tuberculosis; it prevents childhood TB, but its effectiveness against pulmonary TB in adults and adolescents is disputed. To achieve the goal of the WHO MDG, the need for a new improved vaccine is of primary importance. This review highlights several articles that have reported vaccine development. There are about 16 TB vaccines in different phases of clinical trials at the time of writing, which include recombinant peptide/protein, live-attenuated and recombinant live-attenuated, protein/adjuvant, viral-vectored, and immunotherapeutic vaccine. Further studies in reverse vaccinology and massive campaigns on vaccination are needed in order to achieve the target for TB eradication by 2050

Molecular modelling of oryza sativa starch-branching enzyme 1

Starch-branching enzymes (SBE) serves as the only enzyme generating glucan branches in green plants and consequently plays a significant role on the resulting starch final structure. Research on rice (Oryza sativa) SBE1 (OsSBE1) structural biology remain untapped. Therefore, there is a necessity for research on the enzyme molecular structure which could lead to the protein function annotation, starch production and energy booster drug design. Analysis of OsSBE1 secondary structure, domains and their interactions, enzyme 3D structure prediction and validation based on C-score were carried out. The OsSBE1 primary sequence was retrieved from GenBank and its secondary structure was predicted to be; α-helix (27.68%), extended strand (22.78%) and higher random coil (949.54%). Enzyme domains were found to be carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) 48 (isoamylase N-terminal domain), α-amylase catalytic domain and α-amylase C-terminal all-beta domain with active sites important amino acids asparagine and glutamic acid. From the five 3D models generated, model 3 displayed best prediction. The Ramachandran refinement has 97.3 amino acids residues in favoured region and 0.4 C-score. This bioinformatics study has elucidated on the OsSBE1 molecular model and first to report on its domain interaction

Production and Characterization of a Bioflocculant Produced by Bacillus salmalaya 139SI-7 and Its Applications in Wastewater Treatment

The production, optimization, and characterization of the bioflocculant QZ-7 synthesized by a novel Bacillus salmalaya strain 139SI isolated from a private farm soil in Selangor,Malaysia, are reported. The flocculating activity of bioflocculant QZ-7 present in the selected strain was found to be 83.3%. The optimal culture for flocculant production was achieved after cultivation at 35.5 °C for 72 h at pH 7 ± 0.2, with an inoculum size of 5% (v/v) and sucrose and yeast extract as carbon and nitrogen sources. The maximum flocculating activity was found to be 92.6%. Chemical analysis revealed that the pure bioflocculant consisted of 79.08% carbohydrates and 15.4% proteins. The average molecular weight of the bioflocculant was calculated to be 5.13 × 105 Da. Infrared spectrometric analysis showed the presence of carboxyl (COO-), hydroxyl (-OH), and amino (-NH2) groups, polysaccharides and proteins. The bioflocculant QZ-7 exhibited a wide pH stability range from 4 to 7, with a flocculation activity of 85% at pH 7 ± 0.2. In addition, QZ-7 was thermally stable and retained more than 80% of its flocculating activity after being heated at 80 °C for 30 min. SEM analysis revealed that QZ-7 exhibited a clear crystalline brick-shaped structure. After treating wastewater, the bioflocculant QZ-7 showed significant flocculation performance with a COD removal efficiency of 93%, whereas a BOD removal efficiency of 92.4% was observed in the B. salmalaya strain 139SI. These values indicate the promising applications of the bioflocculant QZ-7 in wastewater treatment

Application of biosurfactants in environmental biotechnology; remediation of oil and heavy metal

Many toxic substances have been introduced into environment through human activities. These compounds are danger to human health when they are ultimately or immediately in contact with soil particles. A conventional method to reduce, degrade and remove these substances is associated with some risk. In recent years, microorganisms have proved a unique role in the degradation and detoxification of polluted soil and water environments and, this process has been termed bio reclamation. The diversity of bioemulsifiers/biosurfactants makes them an attractive group and important key roles in various fields of industrial as well as biotechnological applications such as enhanced oil recovery, biodegradation of pollutants, and pharmaceutics. Environmental application of microbial surfactant has been shown as a promising due to solubilization of low solubility compounds, low toxicity observed and efficacy in improving biodegradation. However, it is important to note that full scale tests and more information is require to predict the behavior and model of surfactant function on the remediation process with biosurfactants. The purpose of this review is to describe the state of art in the potential applications of biosurfactants in remediation of environmental pollution caused by oil and heavy metal

The benefits of a guideline on safe termination of pregnancy for legal indications: an illustrative case report of a hydranencephaly

After years of the worsening burden of unsafe abortion and attendant morbidities and mortalities in Nigeria, a National Guideline on the Safe termination of pregnancy for legal indications was enunciated. This report presents and discusses an illustrative case of a hydranencephaly that benefited from it. A 43-year old multipara was informed during routine ultrasonography at booking for antenatal care, at 16 weeks of gestation, of a major defect in her baby and advised to meet her physician. Following a repeat highresolution ultrasonography and discussions between the Obstetricians, Neurosurgeon, and Ultrasonologist, the woman was counseled on the diagnosis. At her insistence and provision of written consent, medical abortion with Mifepristone and Misoprostol was successfully instituted.Keywords: Pregnancy termination, Hydranencephaly, misoprostol, abortio