Exudate gums: occurrence,production, and applications

This paper presents a review of the industrially most relevant exudate gums: gum arabic, gum karya, and gum tragacanth. Exudate gums are obtained as the natural exudates of different tree species and exhibit unique properties in a wide variety of applications. This review covers the chemical structure, occurrence and production of the different gums. It also deals with the size and relative importance of the various players on the world market. Furthermore, it gives an overview of the main application fields of the different gums, both food and non-food.     

Plant lectins: occurrence,biochemistry, functions and applications

Growing insights into the many roles of glycoconjugates in biorecognition as ligands for lectins indicates a need to compare plant and animal lectins. Furthermore, the popularity of plant lectins as laboratory tools for glycan detection and characterization is an incentive to start this review with a brief introduction to landmarks in the history of lectinology. Based on carbohydrate recognition by lectins, initially described for concanavalin A in 1936, the chemical nature of the ABH-blood group system was unraveled, which was a key factor in introducing the term lectin in 1954. How these versatile probes are produced in plants and how they are swiftly and efficiently purified are outlined, and insights into the diversity of plant lectin structures are also given. The current status of understanding their functions calls for dividing them into external activities, such as harmful effects on aggressors, and internal roles, for example in the transport and assembly of appropriate ligands, or in the targeting of enzymatic activities. As stated above, attention is given to intriguing parallels in structural/functional aspects of plant and animal lectins as well as to explaining caveats and concerns regarding their application in crop protection or in tumor therapy by immunomodulation. Integrating the research from these two lectin superfamilies, the concepts are discussed on the role of information-bearing glycan epitopes and functional consequences of lectin binding as translation of the sugar code (functional glycomics).     

Glucose oxidase: natural occurrence, function, properties and industrial applications

Glucose oxidase (GOX) from Aspergillus niger is a well-characterised glycoprotein consisting of two identical 80-kDa subunits with two FAD co-enzymes bound. Both the DNA sequence and protein structure at 1.9 Ǻ have been determined and reported previously. GOX catalyses the oxidation of d-glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) to d-gluconolactone (C₆H₁₀O₆) and hydrogen peroxide. GOX is produced naturally in some fungi and insects where its catalytic product, hydrogen peroxide, acts as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. GOX is Generally Regarded As Safe, and GOX from A. niger is the basis of many industrial applications. GOX-catalysed reaction removes oxygen and generates hydrogen peroxide, a trait utilised in food preservation. GOX has also been used in baking, dry egg powder production, wine production, gluconic acid production, etc. Its electrochemical activity makes it an important component in glucose sensors and potentially in fuel cell applications. This paper will give a brief background on the natural occurrence, functions as well as the properties of glucose oxidase. A good coverage on the diverse uses of glucose oxidase in the industry is presented with a brief outline on the working principles in the various settings. Furthermore, food grade GOX preparations are relatively affordable and widely available; the readers may be encouraged to explore other potential uses of GOX. One example is that GOX-catalysed reaction generates significant amount of heat (∼200 kJ/mol), and this property has been mostly neglected in the various applications described so far.     

Fungal pyranose oxidases: occurrence, properties and biotechnical applications in carbohydrate chemistry

Pyranose oxidases are widespread among lignin-degrading white rot fungi and are localized in the hyphal periplasmic space. They are relatively large flavoproteins which oxidize a number of common monosaccharides on carbon-2 in the presence of oxygen to yield the corresponding 2-keto sugars and hydrogen peroxide. The preferred substrate of pyranose oxidases is d-glucose which is converted to 2-keto-d-glucose. While hydrogen peroxide is a cosubstrate in ligninolytic reactions, 2-keto-d-glucose is the key intermediate of a secondary metabolic pathway leading to the antibiotic cortalcerone. The finding that 2-keto-d-glucose can serve as an intermediate in an industrial process for the conversion of d-glucose into d-fructose has stimulated research on the use of pyranose oxidases in biotechnical applications. Unique catalytic potentials of pyranose oxidases have been discovered which make these enzymes efficient tools in carbohydrate chemistry. Converting common sugars and sugar derivatives with pyranose oxidases provides a pool of sugar-derived intermediates for the synthesis of a variety of rare sugars, fine chemicals and drugs. Received: 26 April 2000 / Received revision: 8 June 2000 / Accepted: 9 June 2000     

Bacterial amino acid transport proteins: occurrence, functions, and significance for biotechnological applications

Transport processes play a pivotal role in cellular metabolism, e.g. for the uptake of nutrients or the excretion of metabolic waste products. Moreover, they are also important in biotechnological processes such as the production of various amino acids by the use of microorganisms. The focus of this review is on bacterial amino acid transport systems, in particular those of Corynebacterium glutamicum and Escherichia coli, with respect to their function and biotechnological significance.     

The glycosidic aroma precursors in wine: occurrence,characterization and potential biological applications

Wine aroma is defined as the cumulative effect of smell, taste and mouth-feel. Free and glycosidically bound aroma compounds (GBAC) were found in wine. The glycosidic aroma precursors are non-odorous. Most advances have been made in free aroma compounds from wine in recent decades. However, the glycosidically bound aroma compounds have received much less consideration than free aroma compounds. Acids and enzymes are responsible for transferring these glycosidic aroma precursors to aromatic compounds. This review provides an overview of recent developments in isolation, hydrolysis and characterization for glycosidic aroma precursors in wines, as well as their biological applications. It looks like that the GBAC had important biological applications, such as, genetic engineering, immobilization, aroma enhancement and biosynthesis. It will help to better understand the GBAC and free aroma compounds of wines.     

Immobilized carbonic anhydrase: preparation,characteristics and biotechnological applications

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is an essential metalloenzyme in living systems for accelerating the hydration and dehydration of carbon dioxide. CA-catalyzed reactions can be applied in vitro for capturing industrially emitted gaseous carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions. To facilitate this type of practical application, the immobilization of CA on or inside solid or soft support materials is of great importance because the immobilization of enzymes in general offers the opportunity for enzyme recycling or long-term use in bioreactors. Moreover, the thermal/storage stability and reactivity of immobilized CA can be modulated through the physicochemical nature and structural characteristics of the support material used. This review focuses on (i) immobilization methods which have been applied so far, (ii) some of the characteristic features of immobilized forms of CA, and (iii) biotechnological applications of immobilized CA. The applications described not only include the CA-assisted capturing and sequestration of carbon dioxide, but also the CA-supported bioelectrochemical conversion of CO₂ into organic molecules, and the detection of clinically important CA inhibitors. Furthermore, immobilized CA can be used in biomimetic materials synthesis involving cascade reactions, e.g. for bone regeneration based on calcium carbonate formation from urea with two consecutive reactions catalyzed by urease and CA.     

Thermophilic nucleoside phosphorylases: Their properties,characteristics and applications

Nucleoside phosphorylases catalyze the reversible phosphorolysis of pyrimidine and purine nucleosides in the presence of phosphate. They are valuable catalysts in the synthesis of nucleosides and their analogues, which are often used as pharmaceuticals or their precursors. Thermostable nucleoside phosphorylases are promising biocatalysts, as they withstand harsh reaction conditions such as high pH or the addition of organic solvents. In this review, the characteristics and properties of thermostable nucleoside phosphorylases are described. Differences in amino acid content and protein structure were compared to their mesophilic homologues to identify features involved in thermostability. Substrate spectra of thermostable nucleoside phosphorylases were analyzed, and it is shown that thermostable nucleoside phosphorylases have a wider substrate spectrum than their mesophilic counterparts. Thus, thermostable nucleoside phosphorylases are interesting biocatalysts for industrial applications.     

Tissue-type plasminogen activator: characteristics, applications and production technology

Plasminogen activators have immense clinical significance as thrombolytic agents for management of stroke and myocardial infarction. Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is generally preferred as being effective and safer than either urokinase or streptokinase type activators. Large-scale production of tPA became possible through groundbreaking developments in cell lines and bioprocess technology. Nevertheless, at thousands of dollars per treatment, tPA remains expensive. Enhancing cellular productivity and downstream product recovery through new approaches continue to be major challenges as discussed in this review. Recent clinical experience suggests the need for yet better fibrinolytic agents and attempts are underway to modify the tPA molecule to second generation products. Emerging trends in this field are outlined.     

Monoclonal versus polyclonal antibodies: distinguishing characteristics, applications, and information resources

Antibodies are host proteins that comprise one of the principal effectors of the adaptive immune system. Their utility has been harnessed as they have been and continue to be used extensively as a diagnostic and research reagent. They are also becoming an important therapeutic tool in the clinician's armamentarium to treat disease. Antibodies are utilized for analysis, purification, and enrichment, and to mediate or modulate physiological responses. This overview of the structure and function of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies describes features that distinguish one from the other. A limited review of their use as specific research, diagnostic, and therapeutic reagents and a list of printed and electronic resources that can be utilized to garner additional information on these topics are also included.     

Polyhydroxylated alkaloids -- natural occurrence and therapeutic applications

Over one hundred polyhydroxylated alkaloids have been isolated from plants and micro-organisms. These alkaloids can be potent and highly selective glycosidase inhibitors and are arousing great interest as tools to study cellular recognition and as potential therapeutic agents. However, only three of the natural products so far have been widely studied for therapeutic potential due largely to the limited commercial availability of the other compounds.     

核酸适配体及其在病原微生物学中的应用

核酸适配体指利用指数富集配体系统进化技术筛选出的寡聚核苷酸片段,它可以特异性地识别靶标并与之结合,已经广泛应用于基础研究、临床诊断、纳米技术等。以下综述了适配体在微生物学方面的应用。     

Polypeptide hormone receptors: characteristics and applications.

Major developments in the area of polypeptide hormone receptors have been reviewed. Receptors are high affinity, high specificity binding sites which appear to be located largely, if not entirely, on the plasma membrane of cells. Receptors are proteins intimately associated with and influenced by lipids. Receptor sites and degrading sites appear to be readily distinguishable entities. The binding of hormone to receptor is distinct and has been dissociated from subsequent steps leading to hormonal response. There is no direct relationship between receptor occupancy and the magnitude of target response to hormone. So called 'spare' receptors can be viewed thermodynamically as enhancing target tissue sensitivity to hormone. The binding of hormone to receptor appears to be a point at which regulation of tissue sensitivity can be influenced either through altering the affinity for hormone or the number of receptors. One factor apparently involved in the regulation of receptor levels is the hormone itself. Receptors have been used to develop assay procedures which have significantly complemented the bioassay and radioimmunoassay. Finally, the measurement of receptor levels in disease has provided new insights into pathophysiology.     

Carbamoylases: characteristics and applications in biotechnological processes

Enzymatic kinetic resolution is a widely used biotechnological tool for the production of enantiomerically pure/enriched compounds. This technique takes advantage of the enantioselectivity or enantiospecificity of an enzyme for one of the enantiomers of a racemic substrate to isolate the desired isomer. N-Carbamoyl-d- and l-amino acid amidohydrolases (d- and l-carbamoylases) are model enzymes for this procedure due to their strict enantiospecificity. Carbamoylase-based kinetic resolution of amino acids has been applied for the last three decades, allowing the production of optically pure d- or l-amino acids. Furthermore, this enzyme has become crucial in the industrially used multienzymatic system known as “Hydantoinase Process,” where the kinetic resolution produced by coupling an enantioselective hydantoinase and the enantiospecific carbamoylase is enhanced by the enzymatic/chemical dynamic kinetic resolution of the low-rate hydrolyzed substrate. This review outlines the properties of d- and l-carbamoylases, emphasizing their biochemical/structural characteristics and their biotechnological applications. It also pinpoints new applications for the exploitation of carbamoylases over the forthcoming years.     

Mesenchymal stem cells: characteristics and clinical applications

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are bone marrow populating cells, different from hematopoietic stem cells, which possess an extensive proliferative potential and ability to differentiate into various cell types, including: osteocytes, adipocytes, chondrocytes, myocytes, cardiomyocytes and neurons. MSCs play a key role in the maintenance of bone marrow homeostasis and regulate the maturation of both hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cells. The cells are characterized by the expression of numerous surface antigens, but none of them appears to be exclusively expressed on MSCs. Apart from bone marrow, MSCs are located in other tissues, like: adipose tissue, peripheral blood, cord blood, liver and fetal tissues. MSCs have been shown to be powerful tools in gene therapies, and can be effectively transduced with viral vectors containing a therapeutic gene, as well as with cDNA for specific proteins, expression of which is desired in a patient. Due to such characteristics, the number of clinical trials based on the use of MSCs increase. These cells have been successfully employed in graft versus host disease (GvHD) treatment, heart regeneration after infarct, cartilage and bone repair, skin wounds healing, neuronal regeneration and many others. Of special importance is their use in the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), which appeared to be the only reasonable therapeutic strategy. MSCs seem to represent a future powerful tool in regenerative medicine, therefore they are particularly important in medical research.     

Fungal tyrosinases: new prospects in molecular characteristics, bioengineering and biotechnological applications

Tyrosinases are type-3 copper proteins involved in the initial step of melanin synthesis. These enzymes catalyse both the o-hydroxylation of monophenols and the subsequent oxidation of the resulting o-diphenols into reactive o-quinones, which evolve spontaneously to produce intermediates, which associate in dark brown pigments. In fungi, tyrosinases are generally associated with the formation and stability of spores, in defence and virulence mechanisms, and in browning and pigmentation. First characterized from the edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus because of undesirable enzymatic browning problems during postharvest storage, tyrosinases were found, more recently, in several other fungi with relevant insights into molecular and genetic characteristics and into reaction mechanisms, highlighting their very promising properties for biotechnological applications. The limit of these applications remains in the fact that native fungal tyrosinases are generally intracellular and produced in low quantity. This review compiles the recent data on biochemical and molecular properties of fungal tyrosinases, underlining their importance in the biotechnological use of these enzymes. Next, their most promising applications in food, pharmaceutical and environmental fields are presented and the bioengineering approaches used for the development of tyrosinase-overproducing fungal strains are discussed.     

Mesenchymal stem cells: Molecular characteristics and clinical applications

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are non-hematopoietic stem cells with the capacity to differentiate into tissues of both mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal origin. MSCs can differentiate into osteoblastic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic lineages, although recent studies have demonstrated that MSCs are also able to differentiate into other lineages, including neuronal and cardiomyogenic lineages. Since their original isolation from the bone marrow, MSCs have been successfully harvested from many other tissues. Their ease of isolation and ex vivo expansion combined with their immunoprivileged nature has made these cells popular candidates for stem cell therapies. These cells have the potential to alter disease pathophysiology through many modalities including cytokine secretion, capacity to differentiate along various lineages, immune modulation and direct cell-cell interaction with diseased tissue. Here we first review basic features of MSC biology including MSC characteristics in culture, homing mechanisms, differentiation capabilities and immune modulation. We then highlight some in vivo and clinical evidence supporting the therapeutic roles of MSCs and their uses in orthopedic, autoimmune, and ischemic disorders.     

Dirigent proteins: molecular characteristics and potential biotechnological applications

Dirigent proteins (DIRs) are thought to play important roles in plant secondary metabolism. They lack catalytic activity but direct the outcome of bimolecular coupling reactions toward regio- and stereospecific product formation. Functionally described DIRs confer specificity to the oxidative coupling of coniferyl alcohol resulting in the preferred production of either (+)- or (?)-pinoresinol, which are the first intermediates in the enantiocomplementary pathways for lignan biosynthesis. DIRs are extracellular glycoproteins with high β-strand content and have been found in all land plants investigated so far. Their ability to capture and orientate radicals represents a unique naturally evolved concept for the control of radical dimerization reactions. Although oxidative coupling is commonly used in biological systems, its wider application in chemical synthesis is often limited by insufficient selectivity. This minireview gives an overview of functionally described DIRs and their molecular characteristics and wants to inspire further research for their use in biotechnological applications.     

Intraoperative gamma cameras for radioguided surgery: Technical characteristics,performance parameters,and clinical applications

Several small gamma cameras (SGCs) intended for surgical use are now in development or currently being marketed. In this review, we discuss the characteristics, performance, and clinical use of SGCs which are hand-held and small enough to be easily managed by surgeons during their procedures. We expect that SGCs have the potential to be used more widely in radioguided surgery. As advancing molecular imaging technologies will broaden clinical indications, SGCs will likely be used and integrated with other imaging modalities into numerous types of radioguided surgery in the near future.