Characterization of zinc oxide nanocrystals with different morphology for application in ultraviolet‐light photocatalytic performances on rhodamine B

ZnO nanostructures of different morphology (nanorods, nano‐leaf, nanotubes) were favourably grown using a chemical precipitation process. The prepared ZnO nanostructures were characterized systematically using absorption spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared studies. XRD results showed the hexagonal wurtzite phase of the synthesized ZnO nanostructures. Structural properties such as average crystallite size, lattice constants, volume of the unit cell, atomic fraction, and structural bonds were also studied. The optical band gap of the synthesized ZnO nanocrystals varied from 3.52 eV to 3.69 eV with high quantum yield of the blue emission (~420 nm). Urbach energy for ZnO nanocrystals was calculated to be 0.702 eV, 0.901 eV, and 0.993 eV for nanorods, nano‐leaf, and tube like ZnO crystals, respectively. Morphology of the fabricated nanostructures was investigated using SEM. Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (Rh B) in solution under UV irradiation was explored with different ZnO morphology. Photocatalytic experiments showed that ZnO nano‐leaf had a higher degradation rate of photocatalytic activity of photodegrading Rh B compared with the other tube shape and rods shape nanostructures. The Rh B dye degraded considerably by ～79.05%, 74.41%, and 69.8% within 120 min in the presence of the as‐fabricated fern nano‐leaf, nanotubes, and nanorods of the ZnO nanocrystals at room temperature.     

A Systematic Review on Phytochemistry,Ethnobotany and Biological Activities of the Genus Bunium L.

The aim of this review article is to present, for the first time, an appraisal of the phytochemical, ethnobotanical and pharmacological data on Bunium species. The literature search was conducted using the Scopus, Google Scholar and PubMed databases. The genus Bunium has been found to produce both essential oil (EO), mainly comprising monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, and non-volatile components mainly coumarins and flavonoids. There are several pharmacological activities associated with the Bunium species, especially antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal properties. The chemotaxonomic appraisal of the phytochemical pattern of the genus is in sink with the current classification of the family. Moreover, this review confirms the significant ethnobotanical and pharmacological potential of different Bunium species.     

Timing and abundance of sporangia production and zoospore release influences the recovery of different Phytophthora species by baiting

Analysis of soil samples using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) frequently detects more Phytophthora species compared with traditional soil baiting methods. This study investigated whether differences between species in the timing and abundance of sporangial production and zoospore release could be a reason for the lower number of species isolated by baiting. Stems of Eucalyptus marginata were inoculated with ten Phytophthora species (P. nicotianae, P. multivora, P. pseudocryptogea, P. cinnamomi, P. thermophila, P. arenaria, P. heveae, P. constricta, P. gondwanensis and P. versiformis), and lesioned sections for each species were baited separately in water. There were significant differences between species in timing of sporangia production and zoospore release. P. nicotianae, P. pseudocryptogea, P. multivora and P. thermophila released zoospores within 8–12 h and could be isolated from lesioned baits within 1–2 days. In contrast, P. constricta did not produce zoospores for over 48 h and was only isolated 5–7 days after baiting. P. heveae and P. versiformis did not produce zoospores and were not recovered from the baits. When species were paired in the same baiting tub, those that produced zoospores in the shortest time were isolated most frequently, while species slow to produce zoospores, or which produced them in lower numbers, were isolated from few baits or not at all. Thus, species differences in the timing of sporangia production and zoospore release may contribute to the ease of isolation of some Phytophthora species when they are present together with other Phytophthora species in an environmental sample.     

Characterizing the normal proteome of human ciliary body

Background

The ciliary body is the circumferential muscular tissue located just behind the iris in the anterior chamber of the eye. It plays a pivotal role in the production of aqueous humor, maintenance of the lens zonules and accommodation by changing the shape of the crystalline lens. The ciliary body is the major target of drugs against glaucoma as its inhibition leads to a drop in intraocular pressure. A molecular study of the ciliary body could provide a better understanding about the pathophysiological processes that occur in glaucoma. Thus far, no large-scale proteomic investigation has been reported for the human ciliary body.

Results

In this study, we have carried out an in-depth LC-MS/MS-based proteomic analysis of normal human ciliary body and have identified 2,815 proteins. We identified a number of proteins that were previously not described in the ciliary body including importin 5 (IPO5), atlastin-2 (ATL2), B-cell receptor associated protein 29 (BCAP29), basigin (BSG), calpain-1 (CAPN1), copine 6 (CPNE6), fibulin 1 (FBLN1) and galectin 1 (LGALS1). We compared the plasma proteome with the ciliary body proteome and found that the large majority of proteins in the ciliary body were also detectable in the plasma while 896 proteins were unique to the ciliary body. We also classified proteins using pathway enrichment analysis and found most of proteins associated with ubiquitin pathway, EIF2 signaling, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis.

Conclusions

More than 95% of the identified proteins have not been previously described in the ciliary body proteome. This is the largest catalogue of proteins reported thus far in the ciliary body that should provide new insights into our understanding of the factors involved in maintaining the secretion of aqueous humor. The identification of these proteins will aid in understanding various eye diseases of the anterior segment such as glaucoma and presbyopia.     

Stabilizing Exposure of Conserved Epitopes by Structure Guided Insertion of Disulfide Bond in HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein

Entry of HIV-1 into target cells requires binding of the viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) to cellular receptors and subsequent conformational changes that culminates in fusion of viral and target cell membranes. Recent structural information has revealed that these conformational transitions are regulated by three conserved but potentially flexible layers stacked between the receptor-binding domain (gp120) and the fusion arm (gp41) of Env. We hypothesized that artificial insertion of a covalent bond will ‘snap’ Env into a conformation that is less mobile and stably expose conserved sites. Therefore, we analyzed the interface between these gp120 layers (layers 1, 2 and 3) and identified residues that may form disulfide bonds when substituted with cysteines. We subsequently probed the structures of the resultant mutant gp120 proteins by assaying their binding to a variety of ligands using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) assay. We found that a single disulfide bond strategically inserted between the highly conserved layers 1 and 2 (C65-C115) is able to ‘lock’ gp120 in a CD4 receptor bound conformation (in the absence of CD4), as indicated by the lower dissociation constant (Kd) for the CD4-induced (CD4i) epitope binding 17b antibody. When disulfide-stabilized monomeric (gp120) and trimeric (gp140) Envs were used to immunize rabbits, they were found to elicit a higher proportion of antibodies directed against both CD4i and CD4 binding site epitopes than the wild-type proteins. These results demonstrate that structure-guided stabilization of inter-layer interactions within HIV-1 Env can be used to expose conserved epitopes and potentially overcome the sequence diversity of these molecules.     

Continuous production of high-purity fructooligosaccharides and ethanol by immobilized Aspergillus japonicus and Pichia heimii

High-purity fructooligosaccharides (FOS) were produced from sucrose by an innovative process incorporating immobilized Aspergillus japonicus and Pichia heimii cells. Intracellular FTase of A. japonicus converted sucrose into FOS and glucose, and P. heimii fermented glucose mainly into ethanol. The continuous production of FOS was carried out using a tanks-in-series bioreactor consisting of three stirred tanks. When a solution composed of 1 g L^?1 yeast extract and 300 g L^?1 sucrose was fed continuously to the bioreactor at a dilution rate of 0.1 h^?1, FOS at a purity of up to 98.2 % could be achieved and the value-added byproduct ethanol at 79.6 g L^?1 was also obtained. One gram of sucrose yielded 0.62 g FOS and 0.27 g ethanol. This immobilized dual-cell system was effective for continuous production of high-purity FOS and ethanol for as long as 10 days.     

Fundamental differences in promoter CpG island DNA hypermethylation between human cancer and genetically engineered mouse models of cancer

Genetic and epigenetic alterations are essential for the initiation and progression of human cancer. We previously reported that primary human medulloblastomas showed extensive cancer-specific CpG island DNA hypermethylation in critical developmental pathways. To determine whether genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) of medulloblastoma have comparable epigenetic changes, we assessed genome-wide DNA methylation in three mouse models of medulloblastoma. In contrast to human samples, very few loci with cancer-specific DNA hypermethylation were detected, and in almost all cases the degree of methylation was relatively modest compared with the dense hypermethylation in the human cancers. To determine if this finding was common to other GEMMs, we examined a Burkitt lymphoma and breast cancer model and did not detect promoter CpG island DNA hypermethylation, suggesting that human cancers and at least some GEMMs are fundamentally different with respect to this epigenetic modification. These findings provide an opportunity to both better understand the mechanism of aberrant DNA methylation in human cancer and construct better GEMMs to serve as preclinical platforms for therapy development.     

Three low molecular weight cysteine proteinase inhibitors of human seminal fluid: Purification and enzyme kinetic properties

The cystatins form a superfamily of structurally related proteins with highly conserved structural folds. They are all potent, reversible, competitive inhibitors of cysteine proteinases (CPs). Proteins from this group present differences in proteinase inhibition despite their high level of structural similarities. In this study, three cysteine proteinase inhibitors (CPIs) of low molecular weight were isolated from human seminal fluid (HSF) by affinity chromatography on carboxymethyl (CM)-papain–Sepharose column, purified using various chromatographic procedures and checked for purity on sodium-dodecyl PAGE (SDS-PAGE). Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization-time-of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) identified these proteins as cystatin 9, cystatin SN, and SAP-1 (an N-terminal truncated form of cystatin S). All three CPIs suppressed the activity of papain potentially and showed remarkable heat stability. Interestingly SAP-1 also inhibits the activity of trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin, and PSA (prostate specific antigen) and acts as a cross-class protease inhibitor in in vitro studies. Using Surface Plasmon Resonance, we have also observed that SAP-1 shows a significant binding with all these proteases. These studies suggest that SAP-1 is a cross-class inhibitor that may regulate activity of various classes of proteases within the reproductive systems. To our knowledge, this is the first report about purification of CPIs from HSF; the identification of such proteins could provide better insights into the physiological processes and offer intimation for further research.