Exploration of Hypoglycemic Activity of Saccharomyces pastorianus Extract and Evaluation of the Molecular Mechanisms

Although the hypoglycemic potential of brewer’s yeast extract has been reported, there is limited information pertaining to the hypoglycemic ingredients of Saccharomyces pastorianus extract and their mechanisms of action available. This study aimed to investigate the in vivo and in vitro hypoglycemic effect of S. pastorianus extract and to elucidate its molecular mechanisms. S. pastorianus extract was mainly composed of proteins followed by carbohydrates. In diabetic rats, oral administration of S. pastorianus extract significantly reduced the levels of plasma glucose and enhanced the activity of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase dehydrogenase. Treatment with S. pastorianus extract increased the localization of type 4 glucose transporter (GLUT4), PTP, and insulin receptor at 3T3-L1 cell membranes and raised the levels of P38 MAPK, PI3K, and AKT in the cytosol. In agreement with these results, pretreatment of 3T3-L1 cells with inhibitors of PTP, PI3K, Akt/PKB, and p38 MAPK inhibited glucose uptake induced by application of S. pastorianus extract. Most importantly, a 54 kDa protein with hypoglycemic activity was identified and suggested as the major ingredient contributing to the hypoglycemic activity of S. pastorianus extract. In summary, these results clearly confirm the hypoglycemic activity of S. pastorianus extract and provide critical insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms.     

EPR Study of the Kinetics of the Formation of Radicals from Dibenzoyl Peroxide on Porous Glass

The kinetics of the formation of radicals from dibenzoyl peroxide supported on porous glass have been determined with EPR techniques over the temperature range of 25-100°C. Values of the activation energy of 18.5 and 25 kcal/mole have been observed for two differently prepared porous glass support materials.     

Comparison of aroma-active volatiles and their sensory characteristics of mangosteen wines prepared by Saccharomyces cerevisiae with GC-olfactometry and principal component analysis

Mangosteen fruit is fermented with five different strains (i.e. GRE (Y1), Lalvin RC212 (Y2), Lalvin D254 (Y3), CGMCC2.23 (Y4) and CGMCC2.4 (Y5)) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to make mangosteen wines. A total of 36 volatile compounds of the mangosteen wines were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-pulsed flame photometric detection. A total of 35 odour-active compounds were identified by gas chromatography-olfactometry analysis and by the detection frequency (DF) method. The compounds with high DF values included ethyl octanoate, ethyl hexanoate and 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. Principal component analysis was used to characterise the differences of the flavour profiles of those mangosteen wines. The result demonstrated that the samples could be divided into three groups that were associated closely with aroma-active compounds.     

The YPR153W gene is essential for the pressure tolerance of tryptophan permease Tat2 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, hydrostatic pressure at 25?MPa is known to be nonlethal but significantly impairs the uptake of tryptophan by the permease Tat2, thereby inhibiting the growth of strains that require tryptophan from the medium. Here, we found that the lack of the YPR153W gene, so far poorly characterized for its role in yeast, caused a serious adverse effect on the growth at 10–25?MPa in the strain that required tryptophan. Deletion for YPR153W resulted in an increased rate of pressure-induced degradation of Tat2, suggesting that Tat2 is destabilized in the YPR153W deletion mutant at 25?MPa. Overexpression of the TAT2 gene enabled the deletion mutant to grow at 25?MPa. These results suggest that Ypr153w is essential for the stability and proper transport function of Tat2 under pressure at 10–25?MPa.

ABBREVIATIONS: Trp⁺: the phenotype of tryptophan prototrophic strains that synthesize tryptophan de novo; Trp^?: the phenotype of tryptophan auxotrophic strains that require tryptophan from the medium; YPR153W: an yeast poorly characterized gene; Ypr153w: a protein encoded by the YPR153W gene; ypr153wΔ: a deletion mutant for the YPR153W gene; Tat2: the high-affinity tryptophan permease; MCT10: a human aromatic amino acid transporter     

Application of bifunctional Saccharomyces cerevisiae to remove lead(II) and cadmium(II) in aqueous solution

A magnetic adsorbent, EDTAD-functionalized Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been synthesized to behave as an adsorbent for heavy metal ions by adjusting the pH value of the aqueous solution to make carboxyl and amino groups protonic or non-protonic. The bifunctional Saccharomyces cerevisiae (EMS) were used to remove lead(II) and cadmium(II) in solution in a batch system. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of the EMS for the heavy metal ions increased with increasing solution pH, and the maximum adsorption capacity (88.16 mg/g for Pb²⁺, 40.72 mg/g for Cd²⁺) at 10 °C was found to occur at pH 5.5 and 6.0, respectively. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir isotherm model. The regeneration experiments revealed that the EMS could be successfully reused.     

Bioconversion of vanillin to vanillyl alcohol in a two-phase reactor

One of the next challenges in the use of biocatalysts (enzyme or microbial cells) is the upgrading of biological reactions of oxidoreduction. The oxidoreductases need cofactors that must be regenerated. Practical experience shows that this is most readily achieved by using living cells of microorganisms. Living cells ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae are able to bioconvert vanillin to vanillyl alcohol (1). By working with a two-phase reactor (dodecanol—feeding medium) it has been possible to use higher vanillin concentrations without inhibiting the bioconversion (2).     

NLIP and HAD-like Domains of Pah1 and Lipin 1 Phosphatidate Phosphatases Are Essential for Their Catalytic Activities

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pah1 phosphatidate phosphatase (PAP) catalyzes the dephosphorylation of phosphatidate to yield diacylglycerol, controlling phospholipids and triacylglycerol metabolisms. Pah1 and human Lipin 1 are intrinsically disordered proteins with 56% and 43% unfolded regions, respectively. Truncation analysis of the conserved and non-conserved regions showed that N- and C-conserved regions are essential for the catalytic activity of Pah1. PAP activities can be detected in the conserved N-terminal Lipin (NLIP) domain and C-terminal Lipin (CLIP)/haloacid dehalogenase (HAD)-like domain of Pah1 and Lipin 1, suggesting that the evolutionarily conserved domains are essential for the catalytic activity. The removal of disordered hydrophilic regions drastically reduced the protein solubility of Pah1. Thioredoxin is an efficient fusion protein for production of soluble NLIP–HAD recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli.     

Substrate specificity of yeast invertase in transglycosylation reactions

The substrate specificity of purified yeast invertase isolated fromSaccharomyces cerevisiae in transglycosylation reactions was determined. The enzyme is specific for primary alcohols. The yeast activity is a function of the alkyl length and substrate hydrophobicity (n-butyl, isobutyl, isoamyl alcohols).Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 69–70, January–February, 2000.     

营养缺陷型酿酒酵母AY生长代谢的热动力学研究

用微量热法研究了尿嘧啶缺陷型酿酒酵母AY,和该菌株分别经穿梭质粒pYLZ-2、重组质粒pYLZ-2/f27、pYLZ-2/622转化的3种菌株的生长代谢热动力学.尿嘧啶缺陷型酿酒酵母AY在基本培养基中不生长,没有代谢热效应产生,而在葡萄糖蛋白胨培养基和丰富营养培养基(YPD)中生长,并且在YPD中生长最好;向基本培养基中加入尿嘧啶后,AY能够生长,而且随着尿嘧啶浓度的增加,其生长速率常数增大;经质粒转化的3个菌株均能在基本培养基中生长,代谢产热曲线各不相同,与转入质粒的结构、功能密切相关.研究结果表明了各菌株遗传特征的差异.     

Yeast flotation viewed as the result of the interplay of supernatant composition and cell-wall hydrophobicity

Flotation is a process of cell separation based on the affinity of cells to air bubbles. In the present work, flotability and hydrophobicity were determined using cells from different yeasts (Hansenulla polymorpha, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans), which were propagated in different media and at different temperatures. Alterations to the supernatant of the cells were also carried out before the flotation assays. The results described here indicate that supernatants of the yeast cells can play a more important role on flotation than cell-wall hydrophobicity. For example, wall-hydrophobicity of strain FLT-01 of S. cerevisiae was high but flotation did not occur when their washed cells were resuspended in water. Additions of neopeptone to cultures of S. cerevisiae and H. polymorpha repressed flotation and increased the volume of foam. An additional task of the present work was to show that the relationship between cell-wall hydrophobicity and flotation performance was dependent on the method used for the measurement of hydrophobicity. Based on the assay procedure, two types of hydrophobicity were distinguished: (a) the apparent hydrophobicity for cells suspended in the medium and expressed by the degree of cell affinity to the organic solvent in the two-phase system supernatant/hexane; (b) the standard hydrophobicity, which was determined for cells suspended in a standard solution (acetate buffer, in the present work) within the acetate buffer/hexane system. Flotation of cells of S. cerevisiae and C. albicans were best related to the degree of apparent hydrophobicity (varying with the supernatant composition at the cell/medium interface) rather than to the degree of standard hydrophobicity (varying with the alterations in the wall components, since the liquid phase was constant in the assay). However, depending on the yeast unpredictable results can be obtained. For example, cells of H. polymorpha exhibited good flotation associated to a high degree of standard hydrophobicity while having a lower degree of apparent hydrophobicity. Concerning growth temperature, flotation of cells of C. albicans was strongly repressed when the temperature was raised from 30 to 38 °C while a similar effect was not observed in cultures of S. cerevisiae and H. polymorpha. It is difficult to understand and predict flotation of yeast cells but simple modifications made to the supernatant of cultures can activate or repress flotation.