Effect of the lipid component of the medium on lipase biosynthesis by fungi

The lipolytic activity of the fungi Aspergillus and Rhizopus was studied on a medium with soybean flour. The lipolytic activity of the Aspergillus fungi was low or absent whereas many of the cultures belonging to the Rhizopus genus possessed the lipolytic activity. The effect of soybean flour components on lipase biosynthesis was studied with Geotrichum asteroides and Rhizopus cohnii AUCMF-597. The lipid component was shown to be necessary for lipase biosynthesis by G. asteroides and to stimulate lipase synthesis by Rh. cohnii AUCMF-597. Oleic acid is presumed to activate lipase biosynthesis by G. asteroides.     

Glutamate receptor antagonists from the spider Argiope lobata venom

Homologous low molecular weight compounds blocking postsynaptic glutamate receptors were isolated from the Argiope lobata spider venom by ion-exchange chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC. Structures of nine different blocking agents were determined by NMR and mass spectroscopy. They can be divided into three groups: argiopin, argiopinins and pseudoargiopinines. The major principles of the structural organization of the novel class of antagonists of glutamate receptors were considered.     

Clotrimazole as an amplifier of hemin-induced damage to human erythrocytes. Antioxidant-independent protective effects of flavonoids

This study is focused on the effect of the antifungal drug clotrimazole (CLT), also possessing anti-malarial and anticancer activities, on hemin-induced hemolysis and changes in ion permeability and filter-ability of human erythrocytes. In the presence of 10 μM clotrimazole, the hemolytic response of erythrocytes to exogenous hemin at concentrations as low as 2–8 μM was considerably potentiated and their filterability, as measured by passing them through a 5-μm nuclepore filter, dropped sharply. Flavonoids quercetin (Q) and taxifolin (DHQ), unlike the standard antioxidant Trolox, abolished the effects of clotrimazole, suggesting that protection of hemin-treated erythrocytes by flavonoids is not related to their antioxidant properties.