Screening Factors Influencing the Production of Astaxanthin from Freshwater and Marine Microalgae

Astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment found in several aquatic organisms, is responsible for the red colour of salmon, trout and crustaceans. In this study, astaxanthin production from freshwater microalga Chlorella sorokiniana and marine microalga Tetraselmis sp. was investigated. Cell growth and astaxanthin production were determined spectrophotometrically at 620 and 480 nm, respectively. Astaxanthin was extracted using acetone and measured subsequent to biomass removal. Aerated conditions favoured astaxanthin production in C. sorokiniana, whereas Tetraselmis sp. was best cultured under unaerated conditions. C. sorokiniana produced more astaxanthin with the highest yield reached at 7.83 mg/l in 6.0 mM in nitrate containing medium compared to Tetraselmis sp. which recorded the highest yield of only 1.96 mg/l in 1.5 mM nitrate containing medium. Production in C. sorokiniana started at the early exponential phase, indicating that astaxanthin may be a growth-associated product in this microalga. Further optimization of astaxanthin production was performed using C. sorokiniana through a 2³ full factorial experimental design, and a yield of 8.39 mg/l was achieved. Overall, the study has shown that both microalgae are capable of producing astaxanthin. Additionally, this research has highlighted C. sorokiniana as a potential astaxanthin producer that could serve as a natural astaxanthin source in the current market.     

Essential Oil Volatile Fingerprint Differentiates Croatian cv. Oblica from Other Olea europaea L. Cultivars

Olive leaves are a highly available by-product from table olive and olive oil production. They are nowadays strongly valuable for their major bioactive compounds and their beneficial effects. To determine the differences between two Croatian domestic (Lastovka, Oblica) and two introduced (Leccino, Frantoio) cultivars, physical and chemical analysis of olive leaves were performed: surface area, color variability, total phenolic amounts, and essential oil volatile profiles were analyzed at three harvest periods. All cultivars greatly differed in surface area, with cv. Lastovka being the smallest. Color variability resulted in an overall decrease in darkness and amounts of green and yellow that could be attributed to a decrease in photosynthetic demand and chlorophyll content. The highest amount of total phenolic content occurred in the summer months, followed by a reduction until October. Essential oils volatiles were determined by GC-MS and showed great diversity not only amongst cultivars but also between harvest periods, with overall 45 compounds identified. Principal component analysis distinguished domestic cultivar Oblica from the other observed cultivars, mainly due to its essential oil volatile fingerprint. Compounds that differentiated cv. Oblica were aldehydes ((E,Z)-2,4-heptadienal, (E,E)-2,4-heptadienal, decanal), ketones ((E)-β-damascone, dihydrodehydro-β-ionone), sesquiterpenes (cyclosativene, α-copaene, α-muurolene) and saturated hydrocarbons (tetradecane, hexadecane). Essential oil volatile fingerprint attributed the highest to the biodiversity of domestic cv. Oblica through all three harvest periods.     

New Series of Pyrazoles and Imidazo-Pyrazoles Targeting Different Cancer and Inflammation Pathways

(1) Background: different previously synthesized pyrazoles and imidazo-pyrazoles showed interesting anti-angiogenic action, being able to interfere with ERK1/2, AKT and p38MAPK phosphorylation in different manners and with different potency; (2) Methods: here, a new small compound library, endowed with the same differently decorated chemical scaffolds, has been synthetized to obtain new agents able to inhibit different pathways involved in inflammation, cancer and human platelet aggregation. (3) Results: most of the new synthesized derivatives resulted able to block ROS production, platelet aggregation and p38MAPK phosphorylation both in platelets and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial cells (HUVEC). This paves the way for the development of new agents with anti-angiogenic activity.     

Active Flavonoids from Colubrina greggii var. greggii S. Watson against Clinical Isolates of Candida spp.

Candida albicans is the most commonly implicated agent in invasive human fungal infections. The disease could be presented as minimal symptomatic candidemia or can be fulminant sepsis. Candidemia is associated with a high rate of mortality and high healthcare and hospitalization costs. The surveillance programs have reported the distribution of other Candida species reflecting the trends and antifungal susceptibilities. Previous studies have demonstrated that C. glabrata more frequently presents fluconazole-resistant strains. Extracts from Mexican plants have been reported with activity against pulmonary mycosis, among them Colubrina greggii. In the present study, extracts from the aerial parts (leaves, flowers, and fruits) of this plant were evaluated against clinical isolates of several species of Candida (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, and C. tropicalis) by the broth microdilution assay. Through bioassay-guided fractionation, three antifungal glycosylated flavonoids were isolated and characterized. The isolated compounds showed antifungal activity only against C. glabrata resistant to fluconazole, and were non-toxic toward brine shrimp lethality bioassay and in vitro Vero cell line assay. The ethyl acetate and butanol extracts, as well as the fractions containing the mixture of flavonoids, were more active against Candida spp.     

Full configuration interaction algorithm on a massively parallel architecture: Direct-list implementation

A parallel full configuration interaction (FCI) code, implemented on a distributed memory MPP computer, has been modified in order to use a direct algorithm to compute the lists of mono- and biexcitations each time they are needed. We were able to perform FCI calculations on the ground state of the acetylene molecule with two different basis sets, corresponding to more than 2.5 and 5 billion Slater determinants, respectively. The calculations were performed on a Cray-T3D and a Cray-T3E, both machines having 128 processors. Performance and comparison between the two computers are reported and discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 658–672, 1998     

Physical Models from Physical Templates Using Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Elastomers as Morphologically Programmable Inks For 3D Printing

Advanced manufacturing has received considerable attention as a tool for the fabrication of cell scaffolds however, finding ideal biocompatible and biodegradable materials that fit the correct parameters for 3D printing and guide cells to align remain a challenge. Herein, a photocrosslinkable smectic-A (Sm-A) liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) designed for 3D printing is presented, that promotes cell proliferation but most importantly induces cell anisotropy. The LCE-based bio-ink allows the 3D duplication of a highly complex brain structure generated from an animal model. Vascular tissue models are generated from fluorescently stained mouse tissue spatially imaged using confocal microscopy and subsequently processed to create a digital 3D model suitable for printing. The 3D structure is reproduced using a Digital Light Processing (DLP) stereolithography (SLA) desktop 3D printer. Synchrotron Small-Angle X-ray Diffraction (SAXD) data reveal a strong alignment of the LCE layering within the struts of the printed 3D scaffold. The resultant anisotropy of the LCE struts is then shown to direct cell growth. This study offers a simple approach to produce model tissues built within hours that promote cellular alignment.     

Extraction and Immobilization of SA-α-2,6-Gal Receptors on Magnetic Nanoparticles to Study Receptor Stability and Interaction with Sambucus nigra Lectin

The interaction between influenza virus hemagglutinins and host cell with terminal sialic acid linked receptors, SA-α-2,6-Gal for human strains is important to obtain insights into this infectious disease. Sambucus nigra lectin has high affinity for SA-α-2,6-Gal receptors. The goals of this work were: to extract the SA-α-2,6-Gal receptors from porcine airways; to perform receptors immobilization and study their storage stability; and to determine some parameters of interaction between the receptor and S. nigra lectin. The receptor isolation was monitored by means of bound sialic acid (BSAc) detection. A major band of protein at 66.7 kDa was clearly visible in SDS-PAGE assay. Eighty-one percent of isolated glycoproteins were immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles. The kinetics of BSAc storage stability at 4 °C was approximated as the first order reaction with kinetic constant and half-life estimated as 0.062 day^?1 and 11.2 days, respectively. The dissociation constant (K _d) calculated from Scatchard's plot was 2.47?×?10^?7 M, and the receptor concentration was equal to 7.92?×?10^?5 M. Procedure for N-SA-α-2,6-Gal -receptors extraction based on their affinity to S. nigra lectin with magnetic nanoparticles, and their immobilization in active form, was not described previously, and may have wide application in designing biosensors or virus removal from areas or contaminated samples.     

Biphenyl-based liquid crystals for elevated temperature processing with polymers

Due to the limited thermal stability of current commercially available liquid crystals (LCs), the incorporation into polymer composites through standard processing techniques, such as melt coextrusion, has been hindered. Motivated by this dilemma, a series of smectic B liquid crystalline structures based on the 4,4?-alkyl substituted biphenyl moiety were synthesised through conventional methodologies and probed for their thermal stability and LC properties. Degradation temperatures were found to increase with increasing aliphatic chain length – up to 295 °C for C16 substituted structures, which is well above the processing temperatures of commercial polymers. Additionally, all compounds were found to be liquid crystalline in nature with crystal-to-smectic B transition temperatures ranging from 49.8 °C to 91.4 °C. Thermal stability, phase separation, and compatibility of LC/polystyrene composites were also examined. Less than 10% of 15A15 LC by weight in polystyrene exhibited good polymer miscibility, while phase separation occurred at loads higher than 15% by weight. We foresee the use of these LCs in applications that require elevated processing conditions to produce materials with enhanced mechanical or gas barrier properties.     

Early Optimization Stages of Agave lechuguilla Bagasse Processing toward Biorefinement: Drying Procedure and Enzymatic Hydrolysis for Flavonoid Extraction

Agave lechuguilla agro-waste is a promising renewable material for biorefining purposes. The procurement of added-value co-products, such as bioactive phytochemicals, is required to improve bioprocesses and promote the bio-based economy of the productive areas of Mexico. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of post-harvest management and enzymatic pretreatment as the first stages of the A. lechuguilla valorization process. Four drying methods were compared, and enzymatic hydrolysis was optimized to obtain a flavonoid-enriched extract applying ultrasound-assisted extraction. In both experiments, the total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents, HPLC-UV flavonoid profiles, and radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) were considered as response variables. The results demonstrated that light exposure during the drying process particularly affected the flavonoid content, whereas oven-dehydration at 40 °C in the dark preserved the flavonoid diversity and antioxidant functionality of the extracts. Flavonoid glycoside recovery, particularly anthocyanidins, was 1.5–1.4-fold enhanced by enzymatic hydrolysis using the commercial mix Ultraflo© under optimized conditions (pH 4, 40 °C, 180 rpm, and 2.5 h) compared to the unpretreated biomass. The extraction of flavonoids from A. lechuguilla bagasse can be carried out using a scalable drying method and enzymatic pretreatment. This study confirmed the potential of this agro-waste as a source of marketable natural products.