Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Chitosan-Binding Protein from Non-Heading Chinese Cabbage Leaves

To know the mechanism of ammonia assimilation in non-heading Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis (L.) Makino) leaves regulated by chitosan (CTS), a CTS-binding protein was isolated from non-heading Chinese cabbage leaves using the chitosan affinity chromatography approach and this CTS-binding protein was partially characterized. The profile of the 53.1 kDa purified protein on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was compared with the native molecular weight of 106.5 kDa, which indicated that the purified protein was a dimer with identical subunits. After isoelectric focusing, a band was obtained at pH 8.25. The agglutination test and periodic acid-Schiff staining further revealed that the protein was a glycoprotein with lectin activity. Moreover, the purified protein contained 17.4% (w/w) neutral carbohydrate and 82.56% (w/w) protein. The comparison of this protein and the 67 kDa CTS-binding protein isolated previously from Rubus culture tissue exhibited some differences in characterization. According to results of peptide mass fingerprinting analysis, the protein purified in the present study does not show any similarity with any protein in the protein data bank. Thus, it was deduced that the protein purified in the present study is a novel CTS-binding protein.     

Swelling behaviour of alginate–chitosan microcapsules prepared by external gelation or internal gelation technology

Swelling behaviour is one of the important properties for microcapsules made by hydrogels, which always affects the diffusion and release of drugs when the microcapsules are applied in drug delivery systems. In this paper, alginate–chitosan microcapsules were prepared by different technologies called external or internal gelation process respectively. With the volume swelling degree (S_w) as an index, the effect of properties of chitosan on the swelling behaviour of both microcapsules was investigated. It was demonstrated that the microcapsules with low molecular weight and high concentration of chitosan gave rise to low S_w. Considering the need of maintaining drug activity and drug loading, neutral pH and short gelation time were favorable. It was also noticed that S_w of internal gelation microcapsules was lower than that of external gelation microcapsules, which was interpreted by the structure analysis of internal or external gelation Ca–alginate beads with the aid of confocal laser scanning microscope.     

成纤维细胞在壳聚糖/PHEA水凝胶膜上的粘附与生长行为

水凝胶是一类广泛溶涨于水 ,呈三维网状结构的聚合物具有很高的生物相容性 ,广泛地用于生物材料 ,如眼球的晶状体、人造脏器以及人造皮肤等。高含水量的水凝胶不利于细胞粘附 ,研究能使细胞粘附并生长的水凝胶是开发其在组织工程材料领域应用的关键 ,细胞易于粘附的水凝胶可用于细胞培养基材和组织工程移植支架材料。一般来说 ,由于细胞表面带有负电荷 ,带正电荷的基材表面 (如 ,多熔素 (Ｐｏｌｙｌ ｙｓｉｎｅ) )有利于细胞粘附 ,而带有酸性或中性基团的材料不利于细胞粘附[1 ] ,而且带高负电荷密度的基材会导致细胞新陈代谢的紊乱并抑制细…     

Some studies on characterization of three phase partitioned chitosan

Three phase partitioning (TPP) is generally carried out by adding ammonium sulfate and t-butanol to a solution of a macromolecule. Chitosan could be obtained as an interfacial precipitate with 88% yield by subjecting 0.2% (w/v) chitosan solution to TPP with 45% (w/v) ammonium sulfate, with an equal volume of t-butanol at 40 °C. TPP resulted in structural changes which could be seen in its UV spectra, FT-IR spectra and solubility characteristics. TPP-treated chitosan also showed decreased susceptibility towards hydrolysis by chitinase. Thus, TPP can be used as a useful way of altering the properties of chitosan.     

脱乙酰壳多糖处理增加人参细胞皂苷的累积和皂苷合成关键酶基因的转录

脱乙酰壳多糖处理可以诱导人参细胞产生H2 O2 ,增加人参皂苷的累积 ,提高鲨烯合酶 (squalenesynthase,GSS)与鲨烯环氧酶 (squaleneepoxidase,GSE)基因的转录水平。质膜NADPH氧化酶的抑制剂DPI,H2 O2 的淬灭剂DMTU与DHC可以抑制脱乙酰壳多糖的这些效应 ,暗示脱乙酰壳多糖可以活化质膜NADPH氧化酶而产生H2 O2 ,H2 O2 进而作为第二信使诱导gss与gse基因转录以及皂苷的合成。质膜钙通道抑制剂LaCl3与内质网钙通道抑制剂RR ,以及蛋白激酶抑制剂K2 5 2a都能削弱脱乙酰壳多糖促进皂苷积累和gss、gse转录的效应 ,说明胞内Ca2 浓度的升高与蛋白质磷酸化都参与了脱乙酰壳多糖诱导的gss、gse的转录以及皂苷的合成     

Elicitors of defence responses repress a gibberellin signalling pathway in barley embryos

Elicitors of defence response can modulate pathways other than those related to pathogen attacks. In this paper, we demonstrate that, as with sugars, chitosan and oligogalacturonides (OGs) can repress the gibberellin signalling pathway leading to the induction of -amylase in barley embryos. These results are suggestive of a complex cross-talk between the defence, hormonal and metabolic signalling pathways.     

Optimization of culture conditions and continuous production of chitosan by the fungi,Absidia coerulea

The production of chitosan from the mycelia ofAbsidia coerulea was studied to improve cell growth and chitosan productivity. Culture conditions were optimized in batch cultivation (pH 4.5 agitator speed of 250 rpm, and aeration rate of, 2 vvm) and the maximum chitosan concentration achieved was 2.3 g/L under optimized conditions. Continuous culture was carried out successfully by the formation of new growth spots under optimized conditions, with a chitosan productivity of 0.052 gL⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is the highest value to date, and was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.05 h⁻¹. Cell chitosan concentrations reached about 14% in the steady state, which is similar to that achieved in batch culture. This study shows that for the continuous culture ofAbsidia coerulea it is vital to control the medium composition.     

利用纳米材料制作多肽疫苗佐剂的思考

纳米粒子与生物体有着密切的关系,DNA/蛋白质复合体就在15～20 nm之间,多种病毒颗粒也是纳米级的超微粒子.多肽抗原需要与适当载体形成复合物才能诱导有效的免疫应答,但载体效应难以避免.纳米佐剂可以避免载体效应的发生,而且还是巨噬细胞(Mφ)、树突状细胞(DC)的首选吞噬目标.纳米化的有机药物可提高其生物利用度、制剂的均匀性、分散性和吸收性;脂质体可使药物更快地到达靶向部位,而且特异性更强.目前主要用理化的方法制作纳米材料,几乎所有的生化药品,特别是DNA药物的研究开发都可引入纳米材料,多肽疫苗的分子佐剂更是如此.     

Development and evaluation of different strategies for the clean synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Yarrowia lipolytica and their antibacterial activity

An environment-friendly, cheap method, biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is interesting as compared to physical and chemical synthesis methods. The aim of the present study was to utilize the inherent capability of Yarrowia lipolytica as a novel biocatalyst for green production of AgNPs using different strategies, including growing cells, resting cells, and cell-free extracts (CFE) under optimized reaction conditions. The produced AgNPs were evaluated with UV–vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. In the growing cells strategy, Y. lipolytica produced spherical AgNPs under the optimized conditions, 2.5 mM of silver ions, 7.5 g/l of yeast biomass, a temperature of 30 °C, a pH of 6, and a shaking rate of 50 rpm after 48 h. The sizes and monodispersity of the AgNPs in the resting cells strategy were better than those in the other two. However, the AgNPs were produced faster in the CFE strategy. The antibacterial activity and minimal inhibitory concentration of the AgNPs against certain Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were determined by the agar well diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The AgNPs had a considerable antibacterial effect compared to chloramphenicol as a broad-spectrum antibiotic.     

Nanovaccine: A novel approach in immunization

Despite great advances in the field of vaccination, there are still needs for novel and effective vaccines because still no effective vaccines have been produced for some diseases such as malaria, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and tuberculosis. Furthermore, many of the existing vaccines have disadvantages such as failure to stimulate completely the immune system, in vivo instability, high toxicity, the need for cold chain, and multiple administrations. Nanotechnology has been raised as a powerful tool for solving these problems in this regard. Generally, nanovaccines are a new generation of vaccines using nanoparticles (NPs) as carriers and/or adjuvants. Due to the similar scale (size) between the NPs and pathogens, the immune system can be stimulated well, resulting in triggered cellular and humoral immunity responses. Other benefits of the nanovaccines include their better stability in blood flow to increase the shelf life in blood, enhanced immune system stimulation, no need for booster doses, no need to maintain the cold chain, and ability to create active targeting. In addition, nanovaccines have raised the hope to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, AIDS, malaria, and chronic autoimmune, and so forth.