Biosorption of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn from aqueous solutions by the fruiting bodies of jelly fungi (Tremella fuciformis and Auricularia polytricha)

In this study, dried and humid fruiting bodies of Tremella fuciformis and Auricularia polytricha were examined as cost-effective biosorbents in treatment of heavy metals (Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Zn²⁺) in aqueous solution. The humid T. fuciformis showed the highest capacity to adsorb the four metals in the multi-metal solutions. The Pb²⁺ adsorption rates were 85.5%, 97.8%, 84.8%, and 91.0% by dried T. fuciformis, humid T. fuciformis, dried A. polytricha, and humid A. polytricha, respectively. The adsorption amount of Pb²⁺ by dried and humid T. fuciformis in Cd²⁺ + Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ + Pb²⁺, Pb²⁺ + Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ + Cu²⁺ + Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ + Zn²⁺ + Pb²⁺ solutions were not lower than that in Pb²⁺ solutions. The results suggested that in humid T. fuciformis, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ promoted the Pb²⁺ adsorption by the biomass. In the multi-metal solutions of Cd²⁺ + Cu²⁺ + Pb²⁺ + Zn²⁺, the adsorption amount and rates of the metals by all the test biosorbents were in the order of Pb²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Cd²⁺. Compared with the pseudo first-order model, the pseudo second-order model described the adsorption kinetics much better, indicating a two-step biosorption process. The present study confirmed that fruiting bodies of the jelly fungi should be useful for the treatment of wastewater containing Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Zn²⁺.     

Multiple induced mutagenesis for improvement of ethanol production by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kluyveromyces marxianus</Emphasis>

Kluyveromyces marxianus GX-15 was mutated multiple times by alternately treatment with UV irradiation and NTG for two cycles. Four mutant strains with improved ethanol yield were obtained. The maximum ethanol concentration, ethanol yield coefficient and theoretical ethanol yield of the best mutant strain, GX-UN120, was 69 g/l, 0.46 g/g and 91%, respectively, when fermenting 150 g glucose/l at 40°C. The corresponding values for GX-15 were 58 g/l, 0.39 g/g and 76%, respectively. GX-UN120 grew well in 11% (v/v) of ethanol, while GX-15 could not grow when ethanol was greater than 8% (v/v).     

Chemiluminescent immunoassay of thyroxine enhanced by microchip electrophoresis

A homogeneous chemiluminescent immunoassay of thyroxine (T4) enhanced by microchip electrophoresis separation has been developed. The method deployed the competitive immunoreaction of T4 and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled T4 (HRP-T4) with anti-T4 mouse monoclonal antibody (Ab). HRP-T4 and the HRP-T4-Ab complex were separated and quantified by using microchip electrophoresis (MCE) with chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Highly sensitive CL detection was achieved by means of HPR-catalyzed luminol-H₂O₂ reaction. Due to the effective MCE separation, the CL analytical signal was less prone to sample matrix interference. Under the selected assay conditions, the MCE separation was accomplished within 60 s. The linear range for T4 was 5-250 nM with a detection limit of 2.2 nM (signal/noise ratio = 3). The current method was successfully applied for the quantification of T4 in human serum samples. It was demonstrated that the current MCE-CL-enhanced competitive immunoassay was quick, sensitive, and highly selective. It may serve as a tool for clinical analysis of T4 to assist in the diagnosis of thyroid gland functions.     

Improved Cardiac Contractility of Human Recombinant Growth Hormone on the Congestive Heart Failure of Pig

1Introduction Congestiveheartfailureisamultipleaetiology,high prevalence,cardiovasculardisorderwithpoorprognosis. Medicaltreatmentofdilatedcardiomyopathyisaimedat alleviatingthesymptomsofheartfailure.Diuretics,ACE inhibitorsandbeta blockershavefavourableeffectson symptoms,exercisecapacityandmortality[1-3].Growth hormone(GH)andinsulin likegrowthfactor(IGF) 1 areinvolvedinseveralphysiologicalprocessessuchas thecontrolofmusclemassandfunction,bodycomposi tionandtheregulationofnutrientmetaboli…     

Piperazine sulfonamide BACE1 inhibitors: Design,synthesis, and in vivo characterization

With collaboration between chemistry, X-ray crystallography, and molecular modeling, we designed and synthesized a series of novel piperazine sulfonamide BACE1 inhibitors. Iterative exploration of the non-prime side and S2′ sub-pocket of the enzyme culminated in identification of an analog that potently lowers peripheral Aβ₄₀ in transgenic mice with a single subcutaneous dose.     

Prediction of tyrosine sulfation with mRMR feature selection and analysis

Protein tyrosine sulfation is a ubiquitous post-translational modification (PTM) of secreted and transmembrane proteins that pass through the Golgi apparatus. In this study, we developed a new method for protein tyrosine sulfation prediction based on a nearest neighbor algorithm with the maximum relevance minimum redundancy (mRMR) method followed by incremental feature selection (IFS). We incorporated features of sequence conservation, residual disorder, and amino acid factor, 229 features in total, to predict tyrosine sulfation sites. From these 229 features, 145 features were selected and deemed as the optimized features for the prediction. The prediction model achieved a prediction accuracy of 90.01% using the optimal 145-feature set. Feature analysis showed that conservation, disorder, and physicochemical/biochemical properties of amino acids all contributed to the sulfation process. Site-specific feature analysis showed that the features derived from its surrounding sites contributed profoundly to sulfation site determination in addition to features derived from the sulfation site itself. The detailed feature analysis in this paper might help understand more of the sulfation mechanism and guide the related experimental validation.     

Electron-Microscope Observation on the Pollen Development of Male Sterility Wheat Induced by Ethrel

The pollen development of male sterility wheat induced by Ethrel was studied in comparison with that of normal wheat by transmission and scanning electron-microscope. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The primary morphological changes of abortive wheat pollen after treatment with Ethrel took place in the vacuole stage. The materials of cytoplasm were rarefied. All kinds of the cell organelles and vacuoles became degenerated and disorganized. Inside a small number of cell nuclei, chromatin granules coagulated irregularly. The number and the activity of the Ubisch bodices became reduced evidently. 2. In the mature stage, the differences between the treated wheat and normal wheat became even more striking. The normal pollens were spherical in sharp, and full of starch granules. The treated pollen were monstrous. There was a large empty vacuole in every abortive pollen cell, in which the starch granules were smaller and fewer than these in the normal ones. The nuclei and cytoplasm in some of the abortive pollens were degenerated, leaving only the cell walls. 3. Under scanning electron microscope, it was discovered that the normal wheat pollen were spherical or oval. The germinated pores jutted. The round-openings of the pores could be clearly seen. The abortive pollen induced by Ethrel looked like some shrunken balls, and became deformed and were blocked up. 4. On discussion of the mechanism of the Ethrel-induced male sterility in wheat, the authors suggest that special attention should be paid to the changes of the Ubisch bodies and the vacuoles.