Mesoporous carbon-enriched palladium nanostructures with redox activity for enzyme-free electrochemical immunoassay of brevetoxin B

A new signal amplification strategy based on mesoporous carbon-enriched palladium nanostructure (MSC-PdNS) was designed for enzyme-free electrochemical immunoassay of brevetoxin B (BTB) in marine toxins. The assay was carried out on a BTB-bovine serum albumin-functionalized electrode by using monoclonal mouse anti-BTB-labeling MSC-PdNS as the signal-transduction tag. A competitive-type assay protocol was successfully introduced to develop a high-efficiency enzyme-free immunoassay accompanying the doped palladium nanostructure into MSC-PdNS toward reduction of H₂O₂. Under the optimal conditions, the catalytic current decreased with the increment of BTB concentration in the range from 0.01 to 10 ng mL⁻¹ with a detection limit (LOD) of 5.0 pg mL⁻¹ BTB at the 3s_blank criterion. The selectivity and precision were acceptable. In addition, the methodology was further validated for assaying spiked seafood samples, and consistent results between the electrochemical immunoassay and the referenced enzyme immunoassay were obtained. Importantly, the enzyme-free electrochemical immunoassay provides a promising approach for rapid screening of marine toxin because of its simplicity, low cost, sensitivity, specificity and without the need of sample pretreatment.     

一个带毒生化反应竞争模型正平衡解的全局稳定性

研究两个微生物竞争同一营养,而其中一个竞争者会产生毒素抑制另一竞争者且产物系数γi(S)(i=1,2)为一般的非减可导函数时的生化反应模型,指出两篇文献中存在的问题,分析系统平衡点的稳定性,三维系统经历Hopf分支的条件和由此产生的周期解的稳定性.证明系统中某一微生物物种处于竞争劣势而趋于灭绝时另一微生物物种和营养在二维稳定流形上极限环的存在性.并用具体的实例验证文中所得结论.     

Cholera toxin subunit B detection in microfluidic devices

Fluorescence and electrochemical microfluidic biosensors were developed for the detection of cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) as a model analyte. The microfluidic devices were made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using soft lithography from silicon templates. The polymer channels were sealed with a glass plate and packaged in a polymethylmethacrylate housing that provided leakproof sealing and a connection to a syringe pump. In the electrochemical format, an interdigitated ultramicroelectrode array (IDUA) was patterned onto the glass slide using photolithography, gold evaporation and lift-off processes. For CTB recognition, CTB-specific antibodies were immobilized onto superparamagnetic beads and ganglioside GM₁ was incorporated into liposomes. The fluorescence dye sulforhodamine B (SRB) and the electroactive compounds potassium hexacyanoferrate (II)/hexacyanoferrate (III) were used as detection markers that were encapsulated inside the liposomes for the fluorescence and electrochemical detection formats, respectively. Initial optimization experiments were carried out by applying the superparamagnetic beads in microtiter plate assays and SRB liposomes before they were transferred to the microfluidic systems. The limits of detection (LoD) of both assay formats for CTB were found to be 6.6 and 1.0 ng mL⁻¹ for the fluorescence and electrochemical formats, respectively. Changing the detection system was very easy, requiring only the synthesis of different marker-encapsulating liposomes, as well as the exchange of the detection unit. It was found that, in addition to a lower LoD, the electrochemical format assay showed advantages over the fluorescence format in terms of flexibility and reliability of signal recording.     

Intramolecular carbohydrate-aromatic interactions and intermolecular van der Waals interactions enhance the molecular recognition ability of GM1 glycomimetics for cholera toxin

The design and synthesis of two GM1 glycomimetics, 6 and 7, and analysis of their conformation in the free state and when complexed to cholera toxin is described. These compounds, which include an (R)-cyclohexyllactic acid and an (R)-phenyllactic acid fragment, respectively, display significant affinity for cholera toxin. A detailed NMR spectroscopy study of the toxin/glycomimetic complexes, assisted by molecular modeling techniques, has allowed their interactions with the toxin to be explained at the atomic level. It is shown that intramolecular van der Waals and CH-pi carbohydrate-aromatic interactions define the conformational properties of 7, which adopts a three-dimensional structure significantly preorganized for proper interaction with the toxin. The exploitation of this kind of sugar-aromatic interaction, which is very well described in the context of carbohydrate/protein complexes, may open new avenues for the rational design of sugar mimics.     

A note on competition in the bioreactor with toxin

In this paper, we investigate a model with yields: γ₁ = A ₁ + B ₁ S ^m and γ₂ = A ₂ + B ₂ S ⁿ , for the competition in the bioreactor of two competitors for a single nutrient, in which one of the competitors produces toxin against its opponent. The existence of limit cycles in the 3-D system is obtained by using a Hopf bifurcation.      

Purification, Characterization and 1H NMR Resonance Assignment of an a－Like Neurotoxin BmK 16 from the Venom of Chinese Scor－pion Buthus martensii Karsch

A natural scorpion toxin BmK 16 was purified for the first time from the venom of the Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK) by using combined gel-filtration, ion exchange and reversed phase chromatography. The sequence of the N-terminal 8 amino acid residues was determined by Edman degradation. Using the N-terminal sequence as a tag, the database searching revealed a hit in the scorpion cDNA Bank. The sequence for N-terminal 8 amino acid residues, molecular weight and amino acid compositions of BmK 16 were identical with the calculated values according to the first 64 residues‘ se-quence of the precursor peptide alpha-neurotoxin TX16 derived from the sequence of the cDNA AF156597 (EMBL). The se-quence-specific resonance assignment of BmK 16 was achieved and the intact sequence of BmK 16 was determined as follow-ings: VRDAY IAKPH NCVYE CARNE YCNDL CTKNG AKSGY CQWVG KYGNG CWCKE LPDNV PIRVP GKCH. Furthermore, the results from the sequence homology analysis and the toxicity assays indicated that BmK 16 was an α-likescorpion neurotoxin.     

中分子毒素在碳纳米管上的吸附

研究了两种不同形态的碳纳米管(随机生长多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)及定向生长多壁碳纳米管(ACNTs))对典型中分子毒素的吸附性能. 并与两种现有商用血液灌流吸附材料(活性炭(AC)及大孔吸附树脂(MR))进行了对比. 结果显示, 碳纳米管(CNTs)具有优异的中分子吸附能力, 其中MWCNTs对典型中分子毒素的吸附量可达47.18 mg·g-1, 为活性炭的10.8倍, 为大孔吸附树脂的5.5倍. 此外, 碳纳米管的吸附非常迅速, 中分子毒素在MWCNTs及ACNTs达到吸附平衡的时间仅为10 min和15 min, 而活性炭及大孔吸附树脂则分别需要60 min及120 min. 碳纳米管优异的吸附性能得益于其独特的微观结构所形成的发达的中孔. 因此, 碳纳米管可望成为高效的吸附材料, 应用于血液灌流中.     

Preparative Purification and Bioassay of Bt Toxin from Cry1Ab Transgenic Rice

IntroductionSince the first report of transgenic plants ap-peared in1 984[1] ,there has been a rapid progressdirecting toward using this new technique to im-prove crops. Protecting crops from insect pestsquickly became a major goal ofgenetic engineering.By far,the greatest research effort in developingpest- resistant transgenic crops has been devoted tothe expression of Bacillus thuringiensis( Bt) toxinin plants.The formulations based on bacterium Bacillusthuringiensis as a biopesticide for …