Sensitive Electrochemical Detection of Horseradish Peroxidase at Disposable Screen‐Printed Carbon Electrode

A rapid, simple and sensitive electrochemical assay of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) performed on disposable screen‐printed carbon electrode was developed. HRP activities were monitored by square‐wave voltammetric (SWV) measuring the electroactive enzymatic product in the presence of o‐aminophenol and hydrogen peroxide substrate solution. SWV analysis demonstrated a greater sensitivity and shorter analysis time than the widely used amperometric and differential‐pulsed voltammetric methods. The voltammetric characteristics of substrate and enzymatic product as well as the parameters of SWV analysis were optimized. Under optimized conditions, a linear response for HRP from 0.003 to 0.1 U/mL and a detection limit of 0.002 U/mL (1.25×10^?15 mol in 25 μL) were obtained with a good precision (RSD=8%; n=6). This rapid and sensitive HRP assay with microliter‐assay volume could be readily integrated to portable devices and point‐of‐care (POC) diagnosis applications.     

High‐Performance Ru1/CeO2 Single‐Atom Catalyst for CO Oxidation: A Computational Exploration

By means of density functional theory computations, we examine the stability and CO oxidation activity of single Ru on CeO₂(111), TiO₂(110) and Al₂O₃(001) surfaces. The heterogeneous system Ru₁/CeO₂ has very high stability, as indicated by the strong binding energies and high diffusion barriers of a single Ru atom on the ceria support, while the Ru atom is rather mobile on TiO₂(110) and Al₂O₃(001) surfaces and tends to form clusters, excluding these systems from having a high efficiency per Ru atom. The Ru₁/CeO₂ exhibits good catalytic activity for CO oxidation via the Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism, thus is a promising single‐atom catalyst.     

Differential interactions of plasmid DNA, RNA and endotoxin with immobilised and free metal ions

Separation of negatively charged molecules, such as plasmid DNA (pDNA), RNA and endotoxin forms a bottleneck for the development of pDNA vaccine production process. The use of affinity interactions of transition metal ions with these molecules may provide an ideal separation methodology. In this study, the binding behaviour of pDNA, RNA and endotoxin to transition metal ions, either in immobilised or free form, was investigated. Transition metal ions: Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Co2+ and Fe3+, typically employed in the immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), showed very different binding behaviour depending on the type of metal ions and their existing state, i.e. immobilised or free. In the alkaline cell lysate, pDNA showed no binding to any of the IMAC chemistries tested whereas RNA interacted significantly with Cu2+-iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and Ni2+-IDA but showed no substantial binding to the rest of the IMAC chemistries. pDNA and RNA, however, interacted to varying degrees with free metal ions in the solution. The greatest selectivity in terms of pDNA and RNA separation was achieved with Zn2+ which enabled almost full precipitation of RNA while keeping pDNA soluble. For both immobilised and free metal ions, ionic strength of solution affected the metal ion-nucleic acid interaction significantly. Endotoxin, being more flexible, was able to interact better with the immobilised metal ions than the nucleic acids and showed binding to all the IMAC chemistries. The specific interactions of immobilised and/or free metal ions with pDNA, RNA and endotoxin showed a good potential, by selectively removing RNA and endotoxin at high efficiency, to develop a simplified pDNA purification process with improved process economics.     

Numerical flow visualization of stall suppression of a symmetrical aerofoil by leading-edge moving durface

This paper applies the numerical simulation techniques based on the generalized conservation of circulation (GCC) method to investigate the effects of momentum injection by a leading-edge moving surface on flow past a two-dimensional aerofoil at a Reynolds number of 1000. The stream function and vorticity contours obtained together with the animated flow visualization show that the stall flow region is highly unsteady and consist mainly of large vortices being shed alternately. They are confined to a narrow region near the upper surface of aerofoil asC _u (the ratio of the speed of the moving surface to the free stream velocity) is raised. The proximity of vortices to the upper surface of aerofoil at highC _u is caused by the ability of free stream to negotiate around the leading edge since the leading-edge moving surface suppresses the growth of boundary layer by reducing the relative between the inviscid flow and the wall. As well-formed large scale vortices are associated with low pressure regions, their proximity to the aerofoil leads to increase in lift as speed ratio increases     

Study of Antibacterial and Anticancer Properties of bioAgNPs Synthesized Using Streptomyces sp. PBD-311B and the Application of bioAgNP-CNC/Alg as an Antibacterial Hydrogel Film against P. aeruginosa USM-AR2 and MRSA

Here, we report the extracellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and determination of their antibacterial and anticancer properties. We also explore the efficacy of bioAgNPs incorporated in cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and alginate (Alg) for the formation of an antibacterial hydrogel film. Streptomyces sp. PBD-311B was used for the biosynthesis of AgNPs. The synthesized bioAgNPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, and FTIR analysis. Then, the bioAgNPs’ antibacterial and anticancer properties were determined using TEMA and cytotoxicity analysis. To form the antibacterial hydrogel film, bioAgNPs were mixed with a CNC and Alg solution and further characterized using FTIR analysis and a disc diffusion test. The average size of the synthesized bioAgNPs is around 69 ± 2 nm with a spherical shape. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of silver nanocrystals. FTIR analysis showed the presence of protein capping at the bioAgNP surface and could be attributed to the extracellular protein binding to bioAgNPs. The MIC value of bioAgNPs against P. aeruginosa USM-AR2 and MRSA was 6.25 mg/mL and 3.13 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, the bioAgNPs displayed cytotoxicity effects against cancer cells (DBTRG-0.5MG and MCF-7) and showed minimal effects against normal cells (SVG-p12 and MCF-10A), conferring selective toxicity. Interestingly, the bioAgNPs still exhibited inhibition activity when incorporated into CNC/Alg, which implies that the hydrogel film has antibacterial properties. It was also found that bioAgNP-CNC/Alg displayed a minimal or slow release of bioAgNPs owing to the intermolecular interaction and the hydrogel’s properties. Overall, bioAgNP-CNC/Alg is a promising antibacterial hydrogel film that showed inhibition against the pathogenic bacteria P. aeruginosa and MRSA and its application can be further evaluated for the inhibition of cancer cells. It showed benefits for surgical resection of a tumor to avoid post-operative wound infection and tumor recurrence at the surgical site.     

一步法和两步法毛细管等电聚焦测定蛋白质和多肽等电点的比较

利用一步法和两步法毛细管等电聚焦(cIEF)方法分离测定了蛋白质和多肽的等电点(pI)。讨论了两步法等电聚焦过程所需的溶液组成、样品进样体积、聚焦电压、聚焦时间和分离条件等因素对分离效果的影响。并对一步法和两步法进行了比较。对细胞色素C、血红蛋白、肌红蛋白、转铁蛋白和牛血清白蛋白以及6种多肽的分析结果表明:一步法步骤简单,分离速度快,可测定单一组分的pI,也能快速分离混合蛋白和多肽,但分离度较差,且不能同时准确测定各组分的pI;两步法步骤复杂,分析时间较长,但能够同时分离并准确测定混合样品中各组分的pI,所测的pI值与单一组分进行测定的结果基本一致。两种方法可相互结合、互为补充,可广泛应用于两性生物微粒等电点的快速和准确测定。     

2013年毛细管电泳技术年度回顾

本文为2013年毛细管电泳(CE)技术的年度回顾。介绍了2013年涉及CE技术的国际会议6个,国内会议2个,对各会议的研究报道进行了总结。归纳了在ISI Web of Science中检索的2013年度发表的与CE技术相关的论文,并对这些论文在生物医药研究和检测器使用以及重要分析化学杂志发表的情况进行了分类说明。     

A Novel Thermostable β-Galactosidase from Geobaciilus kaustophilus HTA42

A novel thermostable β-galactosidase gene, designated as GkGallA, from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 was cloned and heterologously overexpressed in Escherichia coli（E, coli）. Based on the sequence analysis, GkGallA belongs to the glycosyl hydrolase family 1 that was the first β-galactosidase of bacterial origins expressed by us in this family. The apparent molecular weight of GkGallA determined by sodium deodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is 52000. It exhibited the highest activity toward p-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside at pH 7.8 and 70℃ and displayed high thermal stability, Divalent cations are prerequisite for the activity of GKGallA, with the highest activity in the presence of Mn2＋. Moreover, the three-dimensional structure of GkGaI1A was modeled to speculate the structure of the catalytic residues and the reac- tion mechanism. The catalytic residues consisting of Glu166 and Glu355 were verified by site-directed mutagenesis.     

TiO2基光解水析氢非贵金属共催化剂的研究

利用太阳能光催化水解制氢是获得清洁、廉价、无污染的氢气最有前景的一种方式。这个过程主要包括三个步骤：太阳光的捕获,电荷分离与转移,催化质子还原产生氢气。其中,大量的研究工作主要集中在前两步,对于第三步的研究则相对较少。然而,共催化剂的引入可以有效促进光催化活性并提高氢气产生速率。共催化剂主要分为贵金属共催化剂和非贵金属共催化剂,其中,贵金属共催化剂有着较高的活性,但是其价格及来源限制了其实际应用,因此开发廉价高效的非贵金属共催化剂非常重要。本文对TiO₂基光解水析氢的非贵金属共催化剂（过渡金属单质及其复合物以及非金属碳基材料）进行了总结,详细讨论了不同共催化剂的作用机理,并对共催化剂的发展方向进行了合理展望。