Rapid measurement of fish freshness indices by an amperometric flow-injection system with a 16-way switching valve and immobilized enzyme reactors

A novel flow-injection system is proposed for the rapid measurement of the fish freshness indices K₁ and K₂: K₁=[([HxR+[Hx])×100/([IMP]+[HxR]+[Hx])] and K₂=[[Hx]×100/([HxR]+[Hx])], where [IMP], [HxR] and [Hx] are inosine-5′-monophosphate, inosine and hypoxanthine concentrations, respectively. For the estimation of index K₁, 5′-nucleotidase immobilized reactor and nucleoside phosphorylase (NP)/xanthine oxidase (XO) coimmobilized reactor were incorporated in series in the flow-injection line made up by a 16-way switching valve with two sample loops. For the estimation of index K₂, NP and XO immobilized reactors were also incorporated in the similar flow-line. Two sample portions passed through the flow-line with different residence times so that two peaks were obtained. The first and second peaks obtained in the K₁-determining system corresponded to the total of HxR and Hx and the total of Hx, HxR and IMP, respectively. Similarly, the first and second peaks obtained in the K₂-determining system corresponded to Hx and the total of Hx and HxR, respectively. Therefore, the indices K₁ and K₂ can be estimated by

where i₁ and i₂ present the peak current of the first and second peaks, respectively, and f the ratio of the peak currents of the first and second peaks for a Hx standard solution. A sea bream was selected as a model fish and it was stored at 4 °C after death. A good correlation was found between the index K₁ and the storage time over a period of 400 h, with a correlation coefficient of 0.992, but no correlation between the index K₂ and the storage time. The measurements could be performed at a rate of 22 samples per hour with satisfactory precision (0.6–1.2% R.S.D.), without calibration for each species, accurate weighing of fish meat and any interferences in fish meat.     

Improvement in enzyme activity and stability by addition of low molecular weight polyethylene glycol to sodium bis(2-ethyl-L-hexyl)sulfosuccinate/isooctane reverse micellar system

The activity and stability of Chromobacterium viscosum lipase (glycerolester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3)-catalyzed olive oil hydrolysis in sodium bis (2-ethyl-1-hexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT)/isooctane reverse micelles is increased appreciably when low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) is added to the reverse micelles. To understand the effect of PEG 400 on the phase behavior of the reverse micellar system, the phase diagram of AOT/PEG 400/water/isooctane system was studied. The influences of relevant parameters on the catalytic activity in AOT/PEG 400 reverse micelles were investigated and compared with the results in the simple AOT reverse micelles. In the presence of PEG 400, the linear decreasing trend of the lipase activity with AOT concentration, which is observed in the simple AOT reverse micelles, disappeared. Enzyme entrapped in AOT/PEG reverse micelles was very stable, retaining>75% of its initial activity after 60 d, whereas the half-life in simple AOT reverse micelles was 38 d. The kinetics parameter maximum velocity (V _max)exhibiting the temperature dependence and the activation energy obtained by Arrhenius plot was suppressed significantly by the addition of PEG 400.     

Kinetic studies of the urease-catalyzed hydrolysis of urea in a buffer-free system

The kinetics of urea hydrolysis catalyzed by urease, mainly in the absence of buffers by use of the self-buffer effect of the products, was investigated. The effect of pH, temperature, and concentration of enzyme, substrate, product, salt ions, and buffers on the kinetic behavior of urease was examined. A kinetic model of a modified Michaelis-Menten form, incorporating substrate and product inhibition, pH dependence, and temperature effect, was developed to describe the reaction rate. Experimental data indicated that urease in a buffer-free solution was less susceptible to the inhibition of substrate product. The Michaelis constant keeps almost constant with the variation of pH and temperature, and increases with the addition of buffers and salts. The data also suggested that the noncompetitive pattern of the product inhibition, which is not significantly affected by temperature, increases gently with increasing pH. A Monod form rate expression was proposed to analyze the pH effect on the maximum rate. The proposed kinetic model was also examined by the long-time experiments in which pH, substrate, and product concentration varied obviously during the reaction course.     

2-Benzoylamino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one: Synthesis and investigation of serine protease inactivation

Summary 2-Benzoylamino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one was prepared by thermal treatment of 2-(3-benzoylthioureido)-4,5-dimethoxybenzoic acid and by benzoylation of 2-amino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one. The inactivation of chymotrypsin and human leukozyte elastase by the title compound and 2-benzoylamino-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one is reported.

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2-Benzoylamino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-on: Synthese und Untersuchung der Inaktivierung von Serin-Proteasen

Zusammenfassung 2-Benzoylamino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-on wurde durch thermische Behandlung von 2-(3-Benzoylthioureido)-4,5-dimethoxybenzoesäure und durch Benzoylierung von 2-Amino-6,7-dimethoxy-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-on hergestellt. Über die Inaktivierung von Chymotrypsin und humaner Leukozyten-Elastase durch die Titelverbindung und 2-Benzoylamino-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-on wird berichtet.

     

Synthesis of N-Fmoc 3-(4-(di-(tert-butyl)phosphonomethyl)phenyl)pipecolic acid as a conformationally constrained phosphotyrosyl mimetic suitably protected for peptide synthesis

Phosphonomethylphenylalanine (Pmp, 2) has shown wide utility as a hydrolytically stable phosphtyrosyl (pTyr, 1) mimetic, particularly in Src homology 2 (SH2) domain-binding peptides. (2S,3R)-3-(4-(phosphonomethyl)phenyl)pipecolic acid (3) represents a variant of Pmp having φ and χ₁ torsion angles constrained through incorporation into the piperidinyl ring structure contained within pipecolic acid. Reported herein is the enantioselective preparation of 3, in an orthogonally protected form (4) suitable for use in peptide synthesis. Stereochemistries at both the 2- and 3-positions are derived inductively from a single chiral center provided by the commercially available Evans chiral auxiliary, (4S)-4-benzyl-1,3-oxazolidin-2-one. Incorporation of 4 into a Grb2 SH2 domain-directed tripeptide (18) showed that Grb2 SH2 domain-binding affinity was reduced relative to the parent Pmp-containing tripeptide (19). Although conformational constraint did not enhance affinity in this case, novel amino acid analogue 4 may serve as a useful tool for the induction of defined phosphotyrosyl geometry in peptides directed at other signal transduction targets.     

Chemical analysis for small amounts of horseradish peroxidase using “porphyrinogen” as a chromogenic reagent

The properties of porphyrinogen as a new chromogenic reagent were examined. 5,10,15,20-Tetrahydro-tetraphenylporphyrinogen (TPPN) is changed to 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphine (TPP) by the oxidative reaction involving six electrons, and its formation of the porphine ring significantly increased the absorbance in the Soret band.The horseradish peroxidase (HRP) accelerated the oxidative reaction as a catalyst and the increment of absorbance depended upon the increase in the concentration of HRP. The reaction proceeded in the presence of dissolved oxygen and in the neighborhood of pH 7. Based on these findings, a chemical analysis by catalytic action using HRP was developed.In the procedure for this determination, the difference in absorbance at 419 nm (ΔA₄₁₉=A_s−A_b, where A_s and A_b are the absorbances of the sample solution containing HRP and the blank solution without HRP after 30 min, respectively), was measured. The determination range of HRP, which was obtained from the ΔA₄₁₉—HRP concentration curve, was 0.05-1.0 mg/l. The relative standard deviation in the median of the calibration curve was 3.19% (seven determinations), and the detection limit (S/N=3) was 29 ng/l. Furthermore, when the proposed method was applied to the enzyme immunoassay, bisphenol A (BPA) was selectively and sensitivity determined.     

High performance liquid chromatography assay for alanine amino transferase

Summary An improved method of alanine-amino transferase determination is proposed. The reaction is carried out with alanine and 2-oxoglutarate as substrates and analysis is by HPLC on a reversed-phase chromatographic system using a C₁₈ column and tetrabutylammonium phosphate in phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)-acetonitrile as mobile phase. The enzyme activity was determined by directly following the formation of pyruvic acid without employing any secondary reaction, which is necessary in the spectrophotometric method. The detection limit of pyruvic acid is 10 pmole l^–1 and the standard deviation for the enzymatic activity of standard solutions is 5.4%. Furthermore under the chromatographic conditions selected it is possible to detect the presence of some intermediate species.Work supported by National Research Council of Italy. Presented in part at the First International Symposium on Applications of HPLC in Enzyme Chemistry, Verona, September 1990.     

Enzyme stabilization strategies based on electrolytes and polyelectrolytes for biosensor applications

The achievements in the area of enzyme stabilization based on electrolytes, polyelectrolytes and polyols is reviewed, in the context of biosensor applications. Both the storage and operational stabilities of the biosensors can be improved using these stabilizers. The deactivation of the enzymes used for the development of biosensors from thermal shock, proteolytic degradation, and non-specific metal-catalyzed oxidation can be drastically reduced with the use of one or more of these stabilizers. It is attempted to deconvolute the effect of these additives on (a) the storage stability or shelf life, and (b) the operational stabilities of the biosensors. Even though there are a large number of techniques and reports dealing with enzyme stabilization, their application to biosensor technology is still very limited. It is thus concluded that the use of the existing enzyme stabilization techniques will have a drastic effect on the storage and operational stabilities of biosensors in the near future.     

Comparison Between the Effects of 2-Selenium Bridged β-Cyclodextrin and Ebselen on Treating SHRsp Stroke

A glutathione peroxidase（GPX） mimic, 2-selenium bridged β-cyclodextrin（2-SeCD）, was synthesized. In order to examine its role and mechanism in treating stroke we chose stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats（SHRsp） as animal model. 56 SHRsps of 8-week olds were randomly divided into several groups： test groups （low, moderate, high dose of 2-SeCD） and control groups（positive and negative）. After onset of the stroke, the rats in test groups were orally administrated with different amounts of 2-SeCD, the positive control group with ebselen, and the negative control group with drinking water. The treatment lasted two weeks, followed by observation of the rats for 10 days, meanwhile blood pressure, biochemical parameters of plasma, and the contents of nitric oxide（NO） and malondialdehyde（MDA） in plasma and brain were determined. The results show that there were significant differences in contents of NO and MDA in plasma and brain between the test groups（high, moderate dose of 2-SeCD） and negative control group. The NO contents of the test groups were obviously higher than that of the negative control group （P〈0.01）. The MDA contents of the test groups（high, moderate dose of 2-SeCD） were obviously lower than that of the negative control group（P〈0.01）. The mechanism of 2-SeCD in treating stroke was discussed, which maybe related to the increase of NO and the decrease of MDA in plasma and brain tissue, but the exact mechanism should be further studied. Moreover, the tendencies of changes in systolic blood pressure, contents of NO and MDA, and other physiological parameters for the test groups were shown to be much better than the corresponding parameters for the positive group（the group with ebselen）（P〈0.05）, indicating that the treatment effect of 2-SeCD is better than that of ebselen.     

过渡金属-联咪唑-Dawson型钨磷酸盐杂化化合物的酶固定化性能

利用水热法和直接沉淀法, 设计合成了5例由过渡金属(TM)-联咪唑配阳离子与Dawson型钨磷酸阴离子构成的多金属氧酸盐(POM)基有机-无机杂化化合物[Ni(H₂biim)₃]₄[Ni(H₂biim)₂(P₂W₁₈O₆₂)₂]·2H₂O(1), [Co^III(H₂biim)₃]₂[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·8H₂O(2), [Cu(H₂biim)₂]₃[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·4H₂O(3), [Co^II(H₂biim)₃]₂H₂[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·9H₂O(4)和 [Ni(H₂biim)₃]₃[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·2H₂O(5); 并利用X射线单晶衍射分析(SC-XRD)、 红外光谱(IR)和热重-差热分析 (TG-DTA)等对其进行了表征. 化合物1~5作为载体用于固定辣根过氧化物酶(HRP)时, 显示出了较高的酶固定化能力. 另外, 利用圆二色光谱(CD)和激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)等方法评价了固定化酶HRP/1~HRP/5的重复使用性、 储存稳定性和检测过氧化氢(H₂O₂)的性能. 由于该类POMs与HRP间存在强的相互作用, 利用简单的物理吸附法即可实现POMs对HRP的固载. POMs对酶的固定不但提高了HRP对使用及储存环境的耐受性, 同时也拓展了POMs在酶固定化领域的应用.