Screening and identification of extracellular lipase-producing thermophilic bacteria from a Malaysian hot spring

Seven lipase-producing thermophilic bacteria (ST 1, ST 4, ST 6, ST 7, ST 8, ST 9 and ST 10) were isolated from the Setapak hot spring in Malaysia. The crude extracellular lipases recovered by ultrafiltration of cell-free culture supernatant were reacted in an olive oil mixture and their lipolytic activities were compared. Identification of the bacteria was carried out using the Biolog system and biochemical tests. Strain ST 7 that exhibited the highest lipolytic activity of 4.58 U/ml was identified as belonging to the Bacillus genus. Strain ST 6 with an activity of 3.51 U/ml, was identified as Ralstonia paucula. The lipolytic activities of strains ST 1, ST 4, ST 8, ST 9 and ST 10 were 2.39, 1.84, 2.38, 1.80 and 2.62 U/ml respectively. Strains ST 1, ST 4, and ST 10 were identified as Ralstonia paucula while strains ST 8 and ST 9 were Bacillus spp. Strains ST 7 and ST 9 were tentatively identified as Bacillus thermoglucosidasius, Bacillus stearothermophilus or Bacillus coagulans, whereas strain ST 8 was tentatively identified as Bacillus subtilis.     

Aging of mesenchymal stem cell in vitro

Background  

A hot new topic in medical treatment is the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in therapy. The low frequency of this subpopulation of stem cells in bone marrow (BM) necessitates their in vitro expansion prior to clinical use. We evaluated the effect of long term culture on the senescence of these cells.     

Immobilized Peptide on the Surface of Poly l-DOPA/Silica for Targeted Delivery of 5-Fluorouracil to Breast Tumor

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Chemotherapy using drug delivery systems can target tumor cells selectively and do not affect normal cells. In this paper, a specific...     

Total Tocopherols,Carotenoids, and Fatty Acids Content Variation of Pistacia atlantica from Different Organs’ Crude Oils and Their Antioxidant Activity during Development Stages

The current study investigated the effect of developmental stages on the chemical composition and the antioxidant activity of fifteen crude oil samples obtained from Pistacia atlantica Desf. leaves, galls, and fruits. Twelve fatty acids were detected by GC/FID, linolenic acid (C18 : 3) was the major fatty acid detected in leaves crude oils that registered [41.73 % (P<0.05)] on the last stage. The best content of tocopherols and carotenoids was recorded at the last stage for leaves and galls oils, respectively, with values of [1.530±0.01, 0.52±0.01 (P<0.05) mg α‐tocopherol equivalent/g DW] and [86.60±0.95, 69.15±0.13 (P<0.05) μg β‐carotene equivalent/g DW]. For fruits oils, the content varied depending on the levels of fruits maturation. The results from DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS assays revealed that the antioxidant activity increased with the increasing content of tocopherols and carotenoids in leaves and galls oils during development stages, and varied for fruits oils depending on the ripening stages. Moreover, according to PCA analysis, the best phytoconstituent content and antioxidant activity were attributed to P. atlantica Desf. fruit's crude oils. Also, a strong relationship was found between the antioxidant activity and bioactive phytochemical components, such as tocopherols, carotenoids, and omega‐three fatty acid, which confirmed that P. atlantica Desf. crude oils present a valuable source of natural antioxidant that could be used for pharmaceutical and food industries purposes.     

Influence of Polymer Aggregation and Liquid Immiscibility on Morphology Tuning by Varying Composition in PffBT4T‐2DT/Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells

The temperature‐dependent aggregation behavior of PffBT4T polymers used in organic solar cells plays a critical role in the formation of a favorable morphology in fullerene‐based devices. However, there is little investigation into the impact of donor/acceptor ratio on morphology tuning, especially for nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs). Herein, the influence of composition on morphology is reported for blends of PffBT4T‐2DT with two NFAs, O‐IDTBR and O‐IDFBR. The monotectic phase behavior inferred from differential scanning calorimetry provides qualitative insight into the interplay between solid–liquid and liquid–liquid demixing. Transient absorption spectroscopy suggests that geminate recombination dominates charge decay and that the decay rate is insensitive to composition, corroborated by negligible changes in open‐circuit voltage. Exciton lifetimes are also insensitive to composition, which is attributed to the signal being dominated by acceptor excitons which are formed and decay in domains of similar size and purity irrespective of composition. A hierarchical morphology is observed, where the composition dependence of size scales and scattering intensity from resonant soft X‐ray scattering (R‐SoXS) is dominated by variations in volume fractions of polymer/polymer‐rich domains. Results suggest an optimal morphology where polymer crystallite size and connectivity are balanced, ensuring a high probability of hole extraction via such domains.     

Toxoplasma gondii profilin and tachyzoites RH strain may manipulate autophagy via downregulating Atg5 and Atg12 and upregulating Atg7

Molecular Biology Reports - Autophagy process is an important defense mechanism against intracellular infection. This process plays a critical role in limiting the development of Toxoplasma gondii....     

Silver-coated magnetic nanoparticles as an efficient delivery system for the antibiotics trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole against E. Coli and S. aureus: release kinetics and antimicrobial activity

BioMetals - Trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole are prescribed for a broad spectrum of bacteria. However, the use of these medicines is restricted due to the risk of microbial resistance in the body....     

Synthesis,anticancer activity,and β‐lactoglobulin binding interactions of multitargeted kinase inhibitor sorafenib tosylate (SORt) using spectroscopic and molecular modelling approaches

Sorafenib tosylate (SORt) is an oral multikinase inhibitor used for treatment of advanced renal cell, liver, and thyroid cancers. In this study, this drug was synthesized and its antiproliferative activities against HCT116 and CT26 cells were assessed. The interaction of SORt with β‐lactoglobulin (BLG) was studied using different fluorescence techniques, circular dichroism (CD), zeta potential measurements, and docking simulation. The results of infrared (IR), mass, ^HNMR, and ^CNMR spectra demonstrated that the drug was produced with high quality, purity, and efficiency. SORt showed potent cytotoxicity against HCT116 and CT26 cells with IC₅₀ of 8.12 and 5.42 μM, respectively. For BLG binding of SORt, the results showed that static quenching was the cause of the high affinity drug–protein interaction. Three‐dimensional fluorescence and synchronous spectra indicated that SORt conformation was changed at different levels. CD suggested that the α‐helix content remained almost constant in the BLG–SORt complex, whereas random coil content decreased. Zeta potential values of BLG were more positive after binding with SORt, due to electrostatic interactions between BLG and SORt. Thermodynamic parameters confirmed van der Waals and hydrogen bond interactions in the complex formation. Molecular modelling predicted the presence of hydrogen bonds and electrostatic forces in the BLG–SORt system, which was consistent with the experimental results.     

A Comparative Study of a Novel Anti-reflective Layer to Improve the Performance of a Thin-Film GaAs Solar Cell by Embedding Plasmonic Nanoparticles

In this research work, a systematic design of a novel anti-reflective layer using embedded plasmonic nanoparticles is investigated for a thin-film GaAs solar cell. First, an anti-reflective layer that is made from ITO or SiO₂ is assumed in which Al nanoparticles are embedded inside them to manipulate the absorption and hence the photocurrent of a 500-nm GaAs solar cell. It is investigated that the Al nanoparticles embedded inside the anti-reflective coating improve the photocurrent of a GaAs solar cell. For instance, the 15.37 mA photocurrent is obtained for 500-nm bare GaAs cell, and it reached to 17.25 mA/cm² and 20.18 mA/cm² when an ITO anti-reflection is used with Al nanoparticles on top and inside that, respectively. It increases to 21.94 mA/cm² and 24.98 mA/cm² in the case of the anti-reflective layer made from SiO₂ and Al nanoparticles at the top side or inside that, respectively. Finally, using a double anti-reflective layer that is made from SiO₂-TiO₂, the maximum photocurrents of 23.79 mA/cm² and 24.68 mA /cm² are obtained when Al nanoparticles are at the top side or inside that, respectively. The simulation results show that the embedding Al nanoparticles in the anti-reflective layer can improve the photocurrent of a thin-film GaAs solar cell.