Scleraldehyde as a stabilizing agent for collagen scaffold preparation

Schizophyllan is a natural polysaccharide, produced by fungi of the genus Schizophyllum. Periodate oxidation specifically cleaves the vicinal glycols in schizophyllan to form their dialdehyde derivatives. The present study investigates the interaction of scleraldehyde with Type I collagen membrane. The formation of the inter and intra interaction between scleraldehyde and the collagen fibres results in significant increase in viscosity of collagen. Crosslinking efficiency of scleraldehyde was found to increase with concentration of scleraldehyde. Scleraldehyde interacted collagen membrane exhibited an increase in thermal stability by 29 °C at pH 8. The gelling time of collagen fibrils was found to decrease with increase in concentration of scleraldehyde due to shift in nucleation centre. Swelling degree of collagen membrane was also found to decrease with increase in concentration of scleraldehyde. Scleraldehyde treated collagen membrane exhibited 93% resistance to collagenase. The modified collagen membrane exhibited non-toxicity towards the fibroblasts cells. The modified collagen membrane by scleraldehyde finds application as a stabilizing agent in scaffold preparation.     

The Maloti minnow Pseudobarbus quathlambae (Barnard, 1938) is not extinct in South Africa

Despite concerted surveys, the Maloti minnow Pseudobarbus quathlambae (Barnard 1938) had not been recorded in South African waters for almost eighty years since the original collections were made at the type locality in the upper uMkhomazana River in 1938. The species was therefore declared extinct in South Africa, whereas extant populations were considered confined to various rivers in the Lesotho highlands. In April 2017, however, this species was rediscovered in the Mzimkhulu River system in KwaZulu-Natal. The rediscovery of a species that was considered locally extinct supports the need for extensive surveys to determine its distribution range, estimate population sizes, assess conservation status and implement effective strategies to ensure its continued existence in KwaZulu-Natal.     

Steering Efficacy of Nano Molybdenum Towards Cancer: Mechanism of Action

Biological Trace Element Research - Conventional cancer therapies possess a plethora of limitations which led to the awakening of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. However, technological success is...     

Prediction of GTP interacting residues,dipeptides and tripeptides in a protein from its evolutionary information

Background  

Guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins play an important role in regulation of G-protein. Thus prediction of GTP interacting residues in a protein is one of the major challenges in the field of the computational biology. In this study, an attempt has been made to develop a computational method for predicting GTP interacting residues in a protein with high accuracy (Acc), precision (Prec) and recall (Rc).