Adsorption Study of Immunoglobulin G Subclasses from Different Species by Pseudobioaffinity Separation on Histidyl–Bisoxirane–Sepharose

Adsorption chromatography is increasingly used for protein separations and biomedical applications. Therapeutic molecules such as antibodies, cytokines, therapeutic DNA, and plasma proteins must be purified before characterization and utilization. Use of immunoglobulins as immunodiagnostic and therapeutic tools has initiated many attempts to develop new adsorbents for their separation. Protein A and protein G are the affinity ligands most widely used for separation of immunoglobulins. These proteins are reliable, and have good selectivity and specificity, but are very expensive. Much attention has therefore been devoted to developing alternative methods for separation of immunoglobulins. Pseudobiospecific ligands, for example metal ions and amino acids, can be used for separation of a wide range of biological molecules. In this study, IgG₁, IgG₂, and IgG₃, three subclasses of human IgG, were separated from human serum using the amino acid histidine grafted on to bisoxirane-activated Sepharose, as pseudobiospecific adsorbent. Adsorption of IgG from different animal species on the same chromatographic adsorbent was also tested. The high recovery and purification on histidyl–bisoxirane–Sepharose gel of IgG from all the sources tested compared well with results obtained by use of protein A–Sepharose gel.

     

Synergistic Effects of Drought Stress and Photoperiods on Phenology and Secondary Metabolism of Silybum marianum

Silybum marianum is an important medicinal plant of the family Asteraceae, well known for its set of bioactive isomeric mixture of secondary metabolites “silymarin”, primarily acting as a hepato-protective agent. Abiotic stress augments plant secondary metabolism in different plant tissues to withstand harsh environmental fluctuations. In the current study, our aim was to induce drought stress in vitro on S. marianum under the influence of different photoperiod treatments to study the effects, with respect to variations in secondary metabolic profile and plant growth and development. S. marianum was extremely vulnerable to different levels of mannitol-induced drought stress. Water deficiency inhibited root induction completely and retarded plant growth was observed; however, phytochemical analysis revealed enhanced accumulation of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total protein content along with several antioxidative enzymes. Secondary metabolic content was positively regulated with increasing degree of drought stress. A dependent correlation of seed germination frequency at mild drought stress and antioxidative activities was established with 2 weeks dark?+?2 weeks 16/8 h photoperiod treatment, respectively, whereas a positive correlation existed for TPC and TFC when 4 weeks 16/8 h photoperiod treatment was applied. The effects of drought stress are discussed in relation to phenology, seed germination frequency, biomass build up, antioxidative potential, and secondary metabolites accumulation.     

Cation exchange/hydrophobic interaction monolithic chromatography of small molecules and proteins by nano liquid chromatography†

In this study, vinyl phenyl boronic acid modified lauryl methacrylate‐based monolithic column was successfully prepared for cation exchange/hydrophobic interaction monolithic chromatography of small molecules and proteins in nano LC. The polymeric mixture consisted of lauryl methacrylate, vinyl phenyl boronic acid as cation exchanger, ethylene dimethacrylate as cross‐linker, polyethylene glycol and methanol as binary porogenic solvent, and azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator. The resulting monolith showed good permeability and mechanical stability. Different ratios of monomer and porogens were used for optimizing the properties of the column. The monolithic column performance with respect to hydrophobic and cation exchange interactions was assessed by the separation a series of alkyl benzenes and anilines, respectively. cis‐Diol‐containing compounds such as phenols were also utilized to evaluate the retention behaviors of the vinyl phenyl boronic acid modified monolithic column. The monolithic column showed cation exchange interactions in the separation of aniline compounds. Theoretical plate number up to 52 000 plates/m was successfully achieved. The prepared monolith was further applied to the proteins with different acetonitrile content.     

Effect of Vitamin B Complex Treatment on Macrophages to Schwann Cells Association during Neuroinflammation after Peripheral Nerve Injury

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) triggers a complex multi-cellular response involving the injured neurons, Schwann cells (SCs), and immune cells, often resulting in poor functional recovery. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the treatment with vitamin B (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B12) complex on the interaction between macrophages and SCs during the recovery period after PNI. Transection of the motor branch of the femoral nerve followed by reconstruction by termino-terminal anastomosis was used as an experimental model. Isolated nerves from the sham (S), operated (O), and operated groups treated with the B vitamins (OT group) were used for immunofluorescence analysis. The obtained data indicated that PNI modulates interactions between macrophages and SCs in a time-dependent manner. The treatment with B vitamins complex promoted the M1-to M2-macrophage polarization and accelerated the transition from the non-myelin to myelin-forming SCs, an indicative of SCs maturation. The effect of B vitamins complex on both cell types was accompanied with an increase in macrophage/SC interactions, all of which correlated with the regeneration of the injured nerve. Clearly, the capacity of B vitamins to modulate macrophages-SCs interaction may be promising for the treatment of PNI.     

Molecular structure, vibrational and chemical shift assignments of 8-hydroxy-1-methylquinolinium iodide hydrate by density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) calculations

The molecular geometry, the normal mode frequencies and corresponding vibrational assignments, (1)H and (13)C NMR chemical shift values of 8-hydroxy-1-methylquinolinium iodide monohydrate [(C(10)H(10)NO)(+)I(-)H(2)O] in the ground state were performed by HF and B3LYP levels of theory using the LanL2DZ basis set. The optimized bond lengths and bond angles are in good agreement with the X-ray data. The vibrational spectra of the title compound which is calculated by HF and DFT methods, reproduces vibrational wave numbers and intensities with an accuracy which allows reliable vibrational assignments. The title compound [(C(10)H(10)NO)(+)I(-)H(2)O] have been studied theoretically in the 4, 000-200 cm(-1) region and the assignment of all the observed bands were made. The analysis of the infrared spectra indicates that there are some structure-spectra correlations. These methods are proposed as a tool to be applied in the structural characterization of 8-hydroxy-1-methylquinolinium iodide monohydrate [(C(10)H(10)NO)(+)I(-)H(2)O], and thus providing useful support in the interpretation of experimental NMR data.     

Exotic Hadrons and Underlying Z2,3 Symmetries

The recent observation of higher quark combinations, tetraquarks and pentaquarks, is a strong indication of more exotic hadrons. Using Z₂ and Z₃ symmetries and standard model data, a general quark combination producing new hadronic states is proposed in terms of polygon geometries according to the Dynkin diagrams of  _n affine Lie algebras. It has been shown that Z_2,3 invariance is crucial in the determination of the mesonic or the baryonic nature of these states. The hexagonal geometry is considered in some details producing both mesonic and baryonic states. A general class of this family is also presented.     

A new organic-inorganic hybrid oxyfluorotitanate [Hgua]2·(Ti5O5F12) as a transparent UV filter

A new generation UV absorber is obtained by microwave-heating-assisted hydrothermal synthesis: [Hgua](2)·(Ti(5)O(5)F(12)). The structure of this hybrid titanium(IV) oxyfluoride is ab initio determined from powder X-ray data by combining a direct space method, Rietveld refinement [orthorhombic, Cmm2, a = 22.410(1) ?, b = 11.191(1) ?, c = 3.802(1) ?], and density functional theory geometry optimization. The three-dimensional network is built up from infinite inorganic layers (∞)(Ti(5)O(5)F(12)) separated by guanidinium cations. The theoretical optical gap (3.2 eV) estimated from density of state calculations is in good agreement with the experimental gap (3.3 eV) obtained by UV-vis diffuse reflectivity. The optical absorption is mainly due to O(2p) → Ti(3d) and F(2p) → Ti(3d) transitions at higher energies. The refraction index is low in the visible range (n ≈ 1.9) compared to that of TiO(2) and, consequently, [Hgua](2)·(Ti(5)O(5)F(12)) shows a good transparency adapted to UV shielding. Under UV irradiation at 254 nm for 40 h, the white microcrystalline powder turns to light purple-gray. This color change is caused by the reduction of Ti(IV) to Ti(III), confirmed by magnetic measurements.     

Existence of a spectral measure for second-order delta dynamic equations on semi-infinite time scale intervals

In this study, we prove existence of a spectral measure (or orthogonality measure) for second-order delta dynamic equations on semi-infinite time scale intervals. A Parseval equality and an expansion in eigenfunctions formula are established in terms of the spectral measure. The result obtained unifies the well-known results on existence of a spectral measure for Sturm-Liouville operators on the real semi-axis and for semi-infinite Jacobi matrices, and extends them to variety of numerous time scales which may, in particular, be fractals.     

Conservation Laws For the (1+2)-Dimensional Wave Equation in Biological Environment

The derivation of conservation laws for the wave equation on sphere, cone and flat space is considered. The partial Noether approach is applied for wave equation on curved surfaces in terms of the coefficients of the first fundamental form (FFF) and the partial Noether operator's determining equations are derived. These determining equations are then used to construct the partial Noether operators and conserved vectors for the wave equation on different surfaces. The conserved vectors for the wave equation on the sphere, cone and flat space are simplified using the Lie point symmetry generators of the equation and conserved vectors with the help of the symmetry conservation laws relation.