Binding ability of methylene blue with heparin dependent on its sulfate level rather than its sulfation location or basic saccharide structure

Glycoconjugate Journal - Methylene blue (MB) is one of the most common cationic dyes to detect heparin. As the sulfate residue presented in heparin was the main contributor to bind with MB, the UV...     

Correcting for the inner filter effect in measurements of fluorescent proteins in high-cell-density cultures

Fluorescent proteins (FPs), such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants, are well-developed visible markers for analyzing bioprocesses. Accurate measurement of fluorescence emitted from FPs in whole cells is complicated by the inner filter effect (IFE), which is caused by intracellular light absorption and scattering by cell particles. The IFE causes nonlinearity between fluorescence intensity and fluorophore concentrations in FP-harboring cells and can significantly influence the accuracy of FP-based analysis, especially at high cell densities. A mathematical model based on detection of fluorescence intensity using a fluorescence spectrophotometer was developed to provide a simple correction for the IFE in fluorescence intensity detection in high-density cultures. The parameters of this model were determined in three different FP-harboring bacterial strains to give the “real fluorescence” intensity without the IFE. Using these parameters, accurate analysis of FP-labeled Escherichia coli at high cell density in pure culture and in mixed cultures with fluorescent and nonfluorescent strains was easily and successfully achieved.     

Natural disesquiterpenoids: an overview of their chemical structures,pharmacological activities,and biosynthetic pathways

Phytochemistry Reviews - Disesquiterpenoids are constructed by two sesquiterpenoid molecules, containing at least 30 carbons with various connection patterns, and numerous new skeletons have been...     

Production of heparin oligosaccharides by fusion protein of MBP–heparinase I and the enzyme thermostability

Enzymatic depolymerization of heparin to produce LMWH, a useful anticoagulant, has attracted much attention due to its mild reaction conditions and high selectivity. In this paper, we examined the feasibility of heparin depolymerization by heparinase I fused with maltose-binding protein (MBP) (MBP–HepA), which was functionally expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli with high activity. Our results showed that MBP–HepA degraded heparin effectively and the LMWHs with the weight average molecular weight (M_w) less than 3000 Da and narrow polydispersity were formed by controlling the reaction time. Thermostability of the fused enzyme was studied and possible mechanism for heat inactivation was proposed. The results showed that the MBP–HepA was relatively unstable and the enzyme inactivation was dependent on a third-order kinetics at the high temperature below 45 °C.     

Electrophoretic and morphological comparisons in ten rain forest species of Shorea (Dipterocarpaceae)

Differences identified by electrophoretic separation of enzymes and other proteins are providing increasing informative for the study of evolutionary affinities within a genus. Zymogran compared with a scheme of putative affinities derived from a standard taxonomic classi based on consciously weighted morphological characters, as well as with indices of similarity on an array of morphological criteria relating to twigs, stipules, leaves, inflorescences and structure for 10 species of Shorea from southeast Malaysia. Shorea ovalis is placed in a separate of the genus from the other nine species; S. leprosula, S. parviflia and S. curtisii are related other on R^p data and a high degree of similarity is shown between these three spec S. dasyphylla .     

不同训练负荷太极拳运动对早中期帕金森病患者康复疗效

目的 通过对比对照组和太极拳运动组，评价太极拳运动在早中期帕金森病患者康复作用。方法 45例帕金森病患者随机分为：对照组（n=15），不接受干预；太极拳1组（n=15）采用24式简化太极拳练习，40 min/次，3次/周；太极拳2组（n=15）采用24式简化太极拳练习，60 min/次，3次/周。在基线、12周、24周运动后采用患者跌倒功效量表（FES）、起立-行走计时测试（TUGT）、Berg平衡量表评分（BBS）、统一帕金森病评定量表（UPDRS） Ⅲ评分、汉密尔顿焦虑抑郁量表评分（HAMD、HAMA）、匹兹堡睡眠质量指数评分（PSQI）进行评估。结果 太极拳1组，24周对比基线在TUGT、BBS评分的改善上有统计学意义（P<0.05）。太极拳2组，24周对比基线在TUGT、 BBS评分的改善上有统计学意义（P<0.05）,24周对比12周在TUGT的改善上有统计学意义（P<0.05）。结论 太极拳运动可以改善早中期帕金森病患者的平衡障碍，可降低跌倒风险。