Lactose-Enhanced Cellulase Production by Microbacterium sp. Isolated from Fecal Matter of Zebra (Equus zebra)

A cellulase-producing bacterial strain designated Z5 was isolated from the fecal matter of Zebra (Equus zebra). The strain was identified as Microbacterium sp. on the basis of 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The effect of substrates like CMC, avicel, starch, maltose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, galactose, and lactose on cellulase production was also determined. Lactose as the sole carbon source induced cellulase production in this bacterial strain and a positive synergistic effect of lactose and CMC was also observed with enhancement of 3-4 times in cellulase activity. The optimum cellulase production was recorded with 3% CMC and 1% lactose when added individually in the Omeliansky's medium. The optimum temperature and time for cellulase production by this bacterial strain was 37°C and 10 days, respectively. To our knowledge this is the first report on enhancement of cellulase production by lactose in the Microbacterium sp.     

Evaluation of Publicly Financed and Privately Delivered Model of Emergency Referral Services for Maternal and Child Health Care in India

Background

Emergency referral services (ERS) are being strengthened in India to improve access for institutional delivery. We evaluated a publicly financed and privately delivered model of ERS in Punjab state, India, to assess its extent and pattern of utilization, impact on institutional delivery, quality and unit cost.

Methods

Data for almost 0.4 million calls received from April 2012 to March 2013 was analysed to assess the extent and pattern of utilization. Segmented linear regression was used to analyse month-wise data on number of institutional deliveries in public sector health facilities from 2008 to 2013. We inspected ambulances in 2 districts against the Basic Life Support (BLS) standards. Timeliness of ERS was assessed for determining quality. Finally, we computed economic cost of implementing ERS from a health system perspective.

Results

On an average, an ambulance transported 3–4 patients per day. Poor and those farther away from the health facility had a higher likelihood of using the ambulance. Although the ERS had an abrupt positive effect on increasing the institutional deliveries in the unadjusted model, there was no effect on institutional delivery after adjustment for autocorrelation. Cost of operating the ambulance service was INR 1361 (USD 22.7) per patient transported or INR 21 (USD 0.35) per km travelled.

Conclusion

Emergency referral services in Punjab did not result in a significant change in public sector institutional deliveries. This could be due to high baseline coverage of institutional delivery and low barriers to physical access. Choice of interventions for reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) should be context-specific to have high value for resources spent. The ERS in Punjab needs improvement in terms of quality and reduction of cost to health system.     

Surveillance of vibriophages reveals their role as biomonitoring agents in Kolkata

Cholera is a public health threat in all developing countries. Kolkata, a city in eastern India, is an endemic zone for cholera. During the course of a comprehensive investigation on the distribution of phages of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 in freshwater bodies in Kolkata, we were able to isolate the phages of V. cholerae O1 and O139. Vibrio cholerae O1 phages were found at all the sites and exhibited a distinct seasonal cycle, with a primary peak (13.6–17.2 PFU mL⁻¹) during monsoon (June to August) in both 2006 and 2007. Vibrio cholerae O139 phages were present in the environment and were predominant during monsoon in the year 2006, except for late winter and early summer from February to April. In contrast, in the year 2007, the O139 phages could be isolated only during July to December, with the highest counts of 12.0 PFU mL⁻¹ determined in August. The multiplex PCR results showed that 90 samples were positive for wbe of V. cholerae O1, 32 samples for O139 ( wbf ) and 18 samples for both. This study shows that surveillance of vibriophages indicates the presence of V. cholerae O1 and O139 in water bodies in and around Kolkata and could therefore serve as a powerful biomonitoring agent.     

Protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation and mitochondrial translocation of aldose reductase

Although aldose reductase (AR) is a critical participant in osmoregulation, and the metabolism of glucose and aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation, post-translational mechanisms regulating its activity have not been identified. In this paper, we report that stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) in several cell types induces phosphorylation of AR and translocation of the phosphorylated protein to the mitochondria. In vitro, recombinant AR was directly phosphorylated by activated PKC, suggesting that AR may be an in vivo PKC substrate. Together, these observations reveal a novel link between PKC activation and the regulation of glucose and aldehyde metabolism.     

A new strategy for the preparation of supramolecular neutral hydrogels

This paper demonstrates that miscible blends from water-insoluble polymers, such as poly(2,4,4-trimethylhexamethylene terephthalamide) (1), methylamine imidized poly(methyl methacrylate) (2), and aromatic poly(ether sulfone) (3) and water-soluble polymers, such as poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (4) and poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (5), respectively, represent a new class of supramolecular hydrogels. When the degree of polymerization (DP) of the water-soluble polymer is larger than that of water-insoluble polymer, the resulting hydrogels adsorb extremely high amounts of water (i.e., 229 wt % in the case of the hydrogel 1/4) and remain mechanically tough. The high water uptake capability of these blends is explained by a supramolecular network structure generated by H-bonding and/or other noncovalent interactions between the water-insoluble hydrophobic polymer and water-soluble hydrophilic segments as reversible cross-linking points interconnected by hydrophilic water soluble segments. The glass transition temperatures of these hydrogels are tailored via the ratio between the weight percent of the two polymers and by the glass transition temperature of the parent polymers. These supramolecular hydrogels can be processed from melt or solution and maintain excellent mechanical properties both in dry and in the water swollen state. This class of hydrogels is of interest for areas such as membranes, contact lenses, tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications.     

Importance of phosphate contacts for sequence recognition by EcoRI restriction enzyme

We have studied the importance of charge and hydrogen-bonding potential of the phosphodiester backbone for binding and cleavage by EcoRI restriction endonuclease. We used 12-mer oligodeoxynucleotide substrates with single substitutions of phosphates by chiral methylphosphonates at each position of the recognition sequence -pGpApApTpTpCp-. Binding was moderately reduced between 4- and 400-fold more or less equally for the R(P) and S(P)-analogues mainly caused by missing charge interaction. The range of cleavage effects was much wider. Four substrates were not cleaved at all. At both flanking positions and in the purine half of the sequence up to the central position, cleavage was more impaired than binding and differences between R(P) and S(P) diastereomeres were more pronounced. These effects are easily interpreted by direct phosphate contacts seen in the crystal structure. For the effects of substitutions in the pyrimidine half of the recognition sequence, more indirect effects have to be discussed.     

Decomposition of woody debris in Mediterranean ecosystems: the role of wood chemical and anatomical traits

Plant and Soil - Data about woody debris (WD) decomposition are very scarce for the Mediterranean basin. The specific aim of this work is to explore the relationships between WD traits with the...     

Serum-Induced Differentiation of Glioblastoma Neurospheres Leads to Enhanced Migration/Invasion Capacity That Is Associated with Increased MMP9

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly infiltrative brain tumor in which cells with properties of stem cells, called glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), have been identified. In general, the dominant view is that GSCs are responsible for the initiation, progression, invasion and recurrence of this tumor. In this study, we addressed the question whether the differentiation status of GBM cells is associated with their invasive capacity. For this, several primary GBM cell lines were used, cultured either as neurospheres known to enrich for GSCs or in medium supplemented with 10% FCS that promotes differentiation. The differentiation state of the cells was confirmed by determining the expression of stem cell and differentiation markers. The migration/invasion potential of these cells was tested using in vitro assays and intracranial mouse models. Interestingly, we found that serum-induced differentiation enhanced the invasive potential of GBM cells, which was associated with enhanced MMP9 expression. Chemical inhibition of MMP9 significantly reduced the invasive potential of differentiated cells in vitro. Furthermore, the serum-differentiated cells could revert back to an undifferentiated/stem cell state that were able to form neurospheres, although with a reduced efficiency as compared to non-differentiated counterparts. We propose a model in which activation of the differentiation program in GBM cells enhances their infiltrative potential and that depending on microenvironmental cues a significant portion of these cells are able to revert back to an undifferentiated state with enhanced tumorigenic potential. Thus, effective therapy should target both GSCs and differentiated offspring and targeting of differentiation-associated pathways may offer therapeutic opportunities to reduce invasive growth of GBM.     

Appraisal of Transdermal Water-in-Oil Nanoemulgel of Selegiline HCl for the Effective Management of Parkinson’s Disease: Pharmacodynamic,Pharmacokinetic, and Biochemical Investigations

In the present study, the potential of transdermal nanoemulsion gel of selegiline hydrochloride for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease was investigated. Water-in-oil nanoemulsions were developed by comparing low- and high-energy methods and were subjected to thermodynamic stability tests, in vitro permeation, and characterization studies. In vitro studies indicated that components of nanoemulsion acted as permeation enhancers with highest flux of 3.531 ± 1.94 μg/cm²/h from nanoemulsion SB6 containing 0.5 mg selegiline hydrochloride, 3% distilled water, 21% S _mix (Span 85, Tween 80, PEG 400), and 76% isopropyl myristate by weight. SB6 with the least droplet size of 183.4 ± 0.35 nm, polydispersity index of 0.42 ± 0.06 with pH of 5.9 ± 0.32 and viscosity of 22.42 ± 0.14 cps was converted to nanoemulsion gel NEGS4 (viscosity = 22,200 ± 400 cps) by addition of Viscup160® for ease of application and evaluated for permeation, safety, and pharmacokinetic profile in Wistar rats. It provided enhancement ratio 3.69 times greater than conventional gel. NEGS4 showed 6.56 and 5.53 times increase in bioavailability in comparison to tablet and conventional gel, respectively, along with sustained effect. Therefore, the developed water-in-oil nanoemulsion gel promises to be an effective vehicle for transdermal delivery of selegiline hydrochloride.