The extraction,antioxidant and against β-amyloid induced toxicity of polyphenols from Alsophila spinulosa leaves

Alsophila spinulosa is a tree-like fern, and many evidences suggested that plant polyphenols had the potential therapeutic for Alzheimer s disease (AD). Herein, polyphenols (ASP) was isolated from A. spinulosa leaves and its major constituent were isoorientin and vitexin. ASP displayed excellent antioxidant activity and obvious anti-lipid peroxidation capacity in vitro. ASP improved the survival rate of C. elegans under high temperature by enhancing the antioxidant enzymes activities and decreasing the lipid peroxidation level. Moreover, ASP alleviated β-amyloid (Aβ) induced paralysis and reduced Aβ deposition, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and improved the level of skn-1 mRNA. In addition, ASP decreased the levels of pdk-1 and akt-1 mRNA in P13K/AKT signaling pathway. In conclusion, ASP may be a potential ingredient for the alleviation of AD.     

Oxygen chemisorption on divalent chromium ions in chromosilicate systems

A study has been made of the chemisorption of O₂ from various gaseous media on divalent chromium ions in chromosilicate systems under dynamic conditions. After passing through the chemisorbent layer the residual O₂ content of the gaseous mixtures is 10^–6–10^–7 vol. %. The adsorption capacity of the chemisorbents increases in proportion to their Cr(II) content and decreases as the moisture content increases in the gas mixture from which the oxygen is absorbed. The chemisorbents can be repeatedly regenerated by treating them with hydrogen.N. D. Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117913 Moscow. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2500–2505, November, 1992.     

Fractionation and purification of antioxidant peptides from Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) protein hydrolysates prepared using papain and alcalase 2.4L

Protein hydrolysates have the potential to be natural and safer sources of bioactive peptides. In this study, two proteases were used to hydrolyze Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) protein, and the hydrolysates were then purified to yield antioxidant peptides. The degree of hydrolysis of 23.56 % and 18.14 % was obtained using papain and alcalase 2.4L, respectivly, and hydrolysates had 96.80 % and 87.24 % total amino acid content, respectivly. The papain hydrolysate (PH) and alcalase 2.4L hydrolysate (AH) showed good antioxidant activity against DPPH^? (IC₅₀ of 3.64 and 3.15 mg/mL) and ABTS^?+ (IC₅₀ of 1.92 and 1.58 mg/mL), respectively. The low-molecular-weight (<1000 Da) fraction of both hydrolysates demonstrated the highest antiradical activity (IC₅₀ of 2.59 and 2.31 mg/mL, DPPH) and (IC₅₀ of 1.54 and 1.36 mg/mL, ABTS), respectively. Nine peptides were separated from both hydrolysates using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The IC₅₀ for ABTS^?+ scavenging activity of peptide P5 with valine, glycine and asparagine (MW of 282.13 Da) from PH, and peptide P3 with histidine, glycine and alanine (MW of 302.74 Da) from AH was 0.89 and 0.72 mg/mL, respectively. The fractions and purified peptides obtained from Chinese sturgeon hydrolysates could be utilized as natural antioxidant substitutes in pharmaceuticals and food products.     

蛋白质组学在人乳蛋白质研究中的应用

人乳是新生儿最理想的天然食物，蛋白质是人乳中最主要的营养成分之一。随着蛋白质组学技术的发展，利用蛋白质组学的方法研究人乳蛋白质也取得了一些研究成果。本文综述了近年来蛋白质组学技术在人乳蛋白质研究中的应用，分别从人乳蛋白质的组成研究、动态变化、人乳与其他来源乳汁的蛋白质差异比较、人乳磷酸化蛋白和糖基化蛋白研究、人乳内源肽的研究及人乳蛋白与疾病等几个方面进行了阐述。蛋白质组学技术使人乳蛋白质的研究进入了微量营养研究的时代，人乳蛋白质组学的研究成果将为母婴健康提供更好的保障。     

Cross-Talk between Overlap Interactions in Biomolecules: A Case Study of the β-Turn Motif

Noncovalent interactions play a pivotal role in regulating protein conformation, stability and dynamics. Among the quantum mechanical (QM) overlap-based noncovalent interactions, n→π* is the best understood with studies ranging from small molecules to β-turns of model proteins such as GB1. However, these investigations do not explore the interplay between multiple overlap interactions in contributing to local structure and stability. In this work, we identify and characterize all noncovalent overlap interactions in the β-turn, an important secondary structural element that facilitates the folding of a polypeptide chain. Invoking a QM framework of natural bond orbitals, we demonstrate the role of several additional interactions such as n→σ* and π→π* that are energetically comparable to or larger than n→π*. We find that these interactions are sensitive to changes in the side chain of the residues in the β-turn of GB1, suggesting that the n→π* may not be the only component in dictating β-turn conformation and stability. Furthermore, a database search of n→σ* and π→π* in the PDB reveals that they are prevalent in most proteins and have significant interaction energies (∼1 kcal/mol). This indicates that all overlap interactions must be taken into account to obtain a comprehensive picture of their contributions to protein structure and energetics. Lastly, based on the extent of QM overlaps and interaction energies, we propose geometric criteria using which these additional interactions can be efficiently tracked in broad database searches.     

Protein posttranslational modifications: the chemistry of proteome diversifications

The diversity of distinct covalent forms of proteins (the proteome) greatly exceeds the number of proteins predicted by DNA coding capacities owing to directed posttranslational modifications. Enzymes dedicated to such protein modifications include 500 human protein kinases, 150 protein phosphatases, and 500 proteases. The major types of protein covalent modifications, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, glycosylation, methylation, and ubiquitylation, can be classified according to the type of amino acid side chain modified, the category of the modifying enzyme, and the extent of reversibility. Chemical events such as protein splicing, green fluorescent protein maturation, and proteasome autoactivations also represent posttranslational modifications. An understanding of the scope and pattern of the many posttranslational modifications in eukaryotic cells provides insight into the function and dynamics of proteome compositions.     

Inhomogeneity in Distribution and Conformation of Bovine Serum Albumin in Sol–Gel: A Closer Look with a Near-Infrared Multispectral Imaging Technique

Concentration distributions and conformations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) entrapped in sol–gels were successfully determined for the first time by use of the recently developed NIR multispectral imaging instrument. It was found that BSA molecules were inhomogeneously distributed within the sol–gel matrix, independent of its concentration. At relatively high concentration (366 mg/mL) the encapsulation process does not seem to produce any observable changes in the conformation of BSA. However, when the concentration of BSA was decreased to 220 mg/mL, pronounced changes in the spectra of the protein were observed as a function of (sol–gel reaction) time. The observed inhomogenity might be traced to both a non-uniform concentration distribution of BSA and changes in protein native conformation resulting from interactions between the charged protein and the silicate anions. Results obtained seem to suggest that the protein molecules might adapt themselves to accommodate evolving geometry and sites of the silica network.     

Elucidation of stabilizing pickering emulsion with jackfruit filum pectin-soy protein nanoparticles obtained by photocatalysis

There is still the dearth of reports of jackfruit filum pectin-based nanoparticles as the Pickering emulsifiers with respect to the applications in foods, cosmetics and medicines. So we fabricated soy protein-jackfruit filum pectin nanoparticles (SPP) by photocatalysis as Pickering emulsifier. Jackfruit filum pectin exhibited lower yield (17.31%), degree of methoxylation (15.53%), but higher galacuronic acid content (74.22%). A strong linkage between pectin and soy protein was formed by photocatalysis. The conjugated polymer could self-assemble into compact near globular nanoparticle. The mean size of SPP was larger than that of soy protein nanoparticles but smaller than that of soy protein-pectin complex without photocatalysis. Besides, the zeta potential of SPP was ?33.8?mV, significantly lower than that of soy protein nanoparticles but higher than that of control sample, further confirming that SPP surfaces were completely covered with pectin molecules. Compared with control sample, the three-phase contact angle increased from 42.7 to 90.6°, indicated that SPP could be developed as effective Pickering emulsifiers. The emulsions stabilized by SPP exhibited high thermal stability and excellent salt tolerance as well as good freeze-thaw stability in comparison with emulsions covered with control sample. These findings would provide a potential way of producing effective Pickering emulsifier.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT     

Preparation,purification, and analysis of alkylated cyclodextrins

Methods of alkylation of α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrins have been optimized with regard to the parameters of reaction, degree of alkylation and yields. The analysis of the reaction mixtures and of the isolated single species has been performed by high temperature GC and HPLC. The phase systems of the preferably applied HPLC have been carefully adjusted by variation of both the stationary and mobile phases to the very different hydrophobicities of the various alkylated CD species which have been synthesized. Several partially or fully alkylated CD species were isolated from preparative scale HPLC separations in high purity.     

SARS冠状病毒N蛋白的表达及二级结构预测分析

通过RT-PCR获得SARS冠状病毒N蛋白基因，分别克隆到原核表达载体pET21a，pET32a和pGEX-4T-1中，将3种重组质粒pET2la-N，pET32a-N和pGEX-4T-1-N分别转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)，经IPTG诱导，细菌中分别表达出约46kD的重组N蛋白、约60kD的6xHis-N融合蛋白和约70kD的GST-N融合蛋白，表达量分别达总蛋白的45％、40％和30％．进一步的分析表明：6xHis-N融合蛋白在大肠杆菌中为可溶性表达，该可溶性组分占细菌裂解液的70％左右，且能被6xHis抗体所识别．用蛋白分析软件对N蛋白进行了序列分析和二级结构预测．SARS冠状病毒N蛋白在大肠杆菌中的高效可溶性表达，有助于进一步结晶后进行X射线晶体衍射分析其结构与功能．