Refolding of Laccase in Dilution Additive Mode with Copper-Based Ionic Liquid

Ionic liquids (ILs) are molten salts which do not crystallize at room temperature. Tunable physicochemical properties of ILs including hydrophobicity and polarity facilitate their applications in many biological processes. In this study, a copper-based IL was employed in order to enhance the refolding efficiency of laccase from Trametes versicolor which requires copper as a cofactor. When 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trichlorocuprate ([EMIM][CuCl₃]) was added to refolding buffer instead of urea, the laccase refolding yield was improved more than 2.7 times compared to the conventional refolding buffer which contains urea. When the refolding of laccase was carried out at different temperatures (4, 25, and 37 °C), the highest refolding yield was obtained at 25 °C. At low temperature, two conflicting effects, i.e., suppression of the aggregate formation and decrease of folding rate, influence the protein refolding. In contrast, a copper-based IL did not enhance the refolding of lysozyme, a non-copper-containing protein. From these results, we can conclude that this copper-based IL, [EMIM][CuCl₃], was exclusively effective on the refolding process of a copper-containing protein.     

Novel regulation of aflatoxin B1 biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus by piperonal

The present study investigated its inhibitory role in aflatoxin (AF) biosynthesis. Treating only AFB1- and B2-producing Aspergillus flavus with piperonal completely inhibited AFB1 production with high sclerotial formation, resulting in 20-fold higher AFG2 production. On the other hand, benzodioxole and eugenol suppressed AFB1 production without AFG formation, while methyleugenol showed potent inhibition of AFB1 production with slight production of AFG1. These results indicate that natural products may change aflatoxin biosynthesis, and highlight a novel regulation of AFG2 production by piperonal. It is the first report for chemical regulation on AFG2 production in non-AFG producing-aspergilli.     

Relationship between liquid crystalline phase stability and ingredient composition in liquid crystal oil–water emulsion

In this study, we postulated that the optical retardation magnitude could be used to evaluate the stability of the LC phase through the Mueller matrix polarimeter method in LC emulsion. In addition, we found that the increase of cetearyl alcohol concentration induced the more periodic dense lattice structure in crystalline phase of LC lamellae and the sorbitan olivate was relatively more responsible for higher ordering in LC phase compared to C12–20 alkyl glucoside in terms of molecular parallel packing on the basis of the optical retardation magnitude. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the LC emulsion had higher skin barrier function owing to lower TEWL and higher reflectance than ordinary emulsion on human skin and maintained a uniform phase without phase separation for 8 weeks.     

Electroreduction of oxygen on Pd catalysts supported on Ti-modified carbon

Carbon supports modified with well dispersed anatase TiO₂ (C–Ti-X; X (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0) represents mass ratio of Ti precursor to carbon) were synthesized with various Ti loadings and used to support Pd catalysts for oxygen reduction. The anatase nanoparticles increased in size with increasing Ti loading. Pd dispersion improved with increasing Ti loading up to the C–Ti-0.75, which resulted in the best catalytic activity. Although the Pd dispersion was lowest on the C–Ti-1.0, it showed better catalytic performance than the catalysts supported on C–Ti-0.25 and C–Ti-0.5. At 0.8 V (vs. RHE), the best catalytic activity achieved was respectively 2.7 and 2.7 times the mass and specific activities of Pd supported on un-modified carbon. The interaction between Pd and highly dispersed TiO₂ is believed to improve the catalytic activity of Pd supported on TiO₂-modified carbons.     

The immune-stimulating peptide WKYMVm has therapeutic effects against ulcerative colitis

In this study, we examined the therapeutic effects of an immune-stimulating peptide, WKYMVm, in ulcerative colitis. The administration of WKYMVm to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-treated mice reversed decreases in body weight, bleeding score and stool score in addition to reversing DSS-induced mucosa destruction and shortened colon. The WKYMVm-induced therapeutic effect against ulcerative colitis was strongly inhibited by a formyl peptide receptor (FPR) 2 antagonist, WRWWWW, indicating the crucial role of FPR2 in this effect. Mechanistically, WKYMVm effectively decreases intestinal permeability by stimulating colon epithelial cell proliferation. WKYMVm also strongly decreases interleukin-23 and transforming growth factor-β production in the colon of DSS-treated mice. We suggest that the potent immune-modulating peptide WKYMVm and its receptor FPR2 may be useful in the development of efficient therapeutic agents against chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases.