Archive for March, 2008

The Acylation and Phosphorylation Pattern of Lipid A from Xanthomonas Campestris Strongly Influence

The Acylation and Phosphorylation Pattern of Lipid A from Xanthomonas Campestris Strongly Influence its Ability to Trigger the Innate Immune Response in Arabidopsis.
Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are major components of the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria. LPSs comprise a hydrophilic heteropolysaccharide (formed by the core oligosaccharide and the O-specific polysaccharide) that is covalently linked […]

Linear Analogues of Human beta-Defensin 3: Concepts for Design of Antimicrobial Peptides with Reduce

Linear Analogues of Human beta-Defensin 3: Concepts for Design of Antimicrobial Peptides with Reduced Cytotoxicity to Mammalian Cells.
A series of engineered linear analogues [coded as F6, W6, Y6, A6, S6 and C(Acm)6] were modeled, designed, synthesized and structurally characterized by mass spectra, circular dichroism, hydrophobicity analysis and molecular modeling. We have screened […]

Disruption of Pichia pastoris PMR1 gene decreases its folding capacity on human serum albumin and in

Disruption of Pichia pastoris PMR1 gene decreases its folding capacity on human serum albumin and interferon-alpha2b fusion protein.
In an attempt to increase the secretion capacity of Pichia pastoris (Pp), PpPMR1 gene was disrupted with GS115 as parent strain, and the resultant mutant was designated as Pppmr1. Pppmr1 displayed a Ca(2+)-dependent growth defect, […]

A vector system for efficient and economical switching of C-terminal epitope tags in Saccharomyces c

A vector system for efficient and economical switching of C-terminal epitope tags in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one-step PCR-mediated modification of chromosomal genes allows fast and efficient tagging of yeast proteins with various epitopes at the C- or N-terminus. For many purposes, C-terminal tagging is advantageous in that the expression pattern of […]

Ghrelin: a new peptide regulating the neurohormonal system, energy homeostasis and glucose metabolis

Ghrelin: a new peptide regulating the neurohormonal system, energy homeostasis and glucose metabolism.
Identification of ghrelin started with the discovery of growth hormone secretagogues, continued with the description of ghrelin receptors and ended with the elucidation of the chemical structure of ghrelin. However, several issues concerning the role of ghrelin in physiological and […]

Antimycobacterial polyacetylenes from Levisticum officinale.

Antimycobacterial polyacetylenes from Levisticum officinale.
No conflicts of interest concerning financial matters or personal relationships exist between the authors and those who might bias this work. The present work is in part included the PhD thesis of A. Schinkovitz (University of Graz) but has not been published elsewhere previously.The dichloromethane extract of the […]

In vitro inhibition of Helicobacter pylori growth and adherence to gastric mucosal cells by Pycnogen

In vitro inhibition of Helicobacter pylori growth and adherence to gastric mucosal cells by Pycnogenol((R)).
The emergence of antibiotic resistant H. pylori strains has necessitated the identification of alternative additive therapies for the treatment of this infection. The study tested whether a specific pine bark extract (Pycnogenol((R))) is effective in inhibiting the growth […]

A novel function of bamboo extract in relieving lipotoxicity.

A novel function of bamboo extract in relieving lipotoxicity.
Lipotoxicity is closely related to the etiology and complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study investigated the protective effect of an extract from bamboo Phyllostachys edulis against palmitic acid (PA)-induced lipoapoptosis. The lipo-detoxification function of the bamboo extract (BEX) was evaluated using cell […]

Antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants of the Cerrado, Brazil.

Antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants of the Cerrado, Brazil.
In order to determine the potential of Cerrado plants as sources of antimicrobial activity, the phytochemical screening of ethanol extracts from Virola surinamensis, Qualea grandiflora, Alchornea castaneifolia, Hancornia speciosa and Curatella americana traditionally used in folk medicine are reported. Copyright (c) 2008 John […]

Impact of a proprietary concentrate of Sambucus nigra L. on urinary pH.

Impact of a proprietary concentrate of Sambucus nigra L. on urinary pH.
A proprietary concentrate from Sambucus nigra L. - in its diluted preparation as part of a hypocaloric diet available in Switzerland - had no impact on urinary pH, urinary hydrogen ion concentrations or 24 h excretion and thus did not influence […]