Advanced Materials Research Vols. 343-344

Abstract: Hot water extracts from Armillaria mellea and Hohenbuehelia serotina fruit bodies were prepared and investigated for their antioxidant capacity in three different assays, namely, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, reducing power and chelating ability on ferrous ions. Among the two mushrooms hot water extracts, extract from A. mellea was better than that from H. serotina in scavenging ability and chelating effect on ferrous ions. With regard to reducing power, EC50 value of extracts from H. serotina was 0.447 mg/mL, while that of extracts from A. mellea was 1.914. From EC50 values obtained, it can be concluded that hot water extracts from A. mellea and H. serotina were good in antioxidant properties.

Abstract: (+)-alpha-phenylglycine are significant contaminants at pharmaceutical intermediates production. To study processes for the destruction of contaminant L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine in acid aqueous solution we have investigated the transient species using both laser flash photolysis. The OH· reaction with L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine process was investigated and formed polymer. Furthermore, the results of steady-state analysis suggested that L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine removal was found to be more efficient with increasing applied dose. L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine, decreased by 44.50%, using a dose of 14kGy.

Abstract: Dynamic responses of A549 cells to epirubicin (EPI), daunorubicin (DNR), cisplatin (DDP) and carboplatin (CBP) were monitored by real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) system. A new defined parameter, the detachment duration, was defined to quantitatively characterize drug-cell action mechanism. For DNR, there were two different linear dependent regions of the detachment duration. The rate constant of DNR in lower concentration region (20.4±2.0 h/μM) is much larger than that in higher concentration region (3.2±0.1 h/μM). Moreover, the rate constant of DNR in lower concentration region is close to that of EPI in higher concentration region (17.5±0.5 h/μM). Similar observation occurred in the case of DDP and CBP treatment, and the rate constant is (2.8±0.4)×10 h/μM and (4.6±1.3)×10 h/μM respectively. Taken together, A549 cells are more sensitive to DNR than EPI and to DDP than CBP. This study provides new insight into cell-drug interaction. RT-CES system may play important role in future drug screening, mechanism exploration and clinical therapy.

Abstract: This paper researches on sewage discharge condition along Tonghui River in Beijing. According to stationing principle and field investigation, there are 18 sewage outlets along Tonghui River and select 7 main water quality pollution indicators and sewage flow to assess the sewage outlets’ pollution distribution. By means of SPSS soft applied in principal component analysis method, paper analysis on the main pollution indicators and the main pollution contribution sewage outlets. The result shows 3 extracted principal components reflect 88.92% information of primitive variables. Then solve the formula of the 3 extracted principal components as F1, F2, F3. According to the contribution percentage of variance in table Ⅲ, the function of comprehensive evaluation expression can be deduced as F= 0.727F1+0.187F2+0.086F3. The results show that among the 18 sewage outlets, the worst pollution contribution is No.16 outlet, the 18 sewage outlets’ pollution contribution to Tonghui River is in the order of NO.16> NO.11> NO.12> NO.3> NO.8> NO.9> NO.13> NO.14> NO.17> NO.10> NO.15> NO.6> NO.18> NO.5> NO.1> NO.7> NO.4> NO.2. The assessment result is tally with the actual situation. Administrative means, technical means and management means are the effective measures to improve water quality of Tonghui River.

Abstract: One novel amperometric immunosensor for α-fetop- rotein was fabricated which was modified by antibody immobilized on nano ZrO₂-Au-polyLysine composite membrane. Firstly, the deoxyribonucleic acid – phenoxyacetic acid isoniazid- Schiff base Co(II) complex (DNA-CoL) mixture film was casted on surface of multi carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) modified glassy carbon electrode(GCE/CNTs/DNA-CoL). Then the composite nanoparticles (ZrO2-Au-pLL) was employed to immobilize the antibody of α-fetoprotein(AFP) to produce the probes(ZrO2-Au-pLL-anti AFP) for AFP. Finally the probes were modified on GCE/CNTs/DNA-CoL through the specific connection between DNA and ZrO2 to form a novel nanocomposite membrane immunosensor for AFP(GCE/CNTs/ DNA-CoL/ZrO2-Au–pLL-anti AFP). The function of immunosensor was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry(CV), differential pulse voltammety (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiment (EIS). The results indicated that combining the advantages of the MWNTs-DNA material and ZrO2-Au-pLL-anti AFP nano probes, the immunosensor with excellent sensitivity and selectivity to AFP was prepared successfully. The modified electrode was sensitive to AFP with a linear relationship between 0.05 and 10 ng · mL−1 and a correl- ation coefficient of 0.9905. The detection limit at a signal to noise ratio of 3 was 0.01 ng·mL−1 under the optimal conditions. The described immunosensor preparation and immunoassay methods offer promise for simple and cost-effective analysis of AFP in serum samples.

Abstract: Temperature is known to affect both the structural and functional properties of proteins in ectothermic animals like fish. Habitat temperature can lead to oxidative stress and influence the metabolic rates of enzymes in fish. In the current study, juvenile Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), an anadromous and threatened species that lives only in the Yangtze River, were cultured under laboratory conditions for 66 days at 15, 20, 25, and 30 °C. We then studied the effects of temperature on the oxidative stress biomarkers in juvenile Chinese sturgeon. We found the activity of lysozyme (LSZ) reached its maximum at 25 °C (30.1 ± 1.2 μg/mL), while it reached its minimum at 15 °C (13.1 ± 3.3 μg/mL). In addition, the activity of xanthine oxidase (XOD) reached its maximum at 30 °C (15.20 ± 3.50), while it reached its minimum at 25 °C (12.01 ± 1.66 U/L). Furthermore, both the ability of inhibiting hydroxyl radicals (AIHR) and total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC) were increased at first and subsequently decreased with increasing temperatures, and both reached their maximum at 20 °C (1344.9 ± 349.2 U/mL and 9.54 ± 0.36 U/mL, respectively). Both AIHR and T-AOC were significantly higher at 20 °C than their corresponding levels at 25 °C and 30 °C. These results indicate that the temperature stress was higher at 15 °C and 30 °C for juvenile Chinese sturgeon. Based on the exhibited levels of LSZ, XOD, AIHR, and T-AOC in fish, we conclude the temperature range of 20−25 °C caused the least stress on the fish, and should be considered as the appropriate growth temperature for juvenile Chinese sturgeon.

Abstract: Collagen was extracted from jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) and hydrolyzed to prepare collagen peptides. Three fractions (JCP-1<1kDa, 1kDa3kDa) were collected by ultrafiltration from jellyfish collagen peptides and inhibitory abilities of melanogenesis were evaluated using cultured B16 melanoma cells. The results showed three fractions could inhibit intracellular tyrosinase activity, decrease melanin content and enhance glutathione synthesis. Furthermore, they decreased intracellular cAMP levels and suppressed tyrosinase mRNA expression. JCP-2 showed much higher anti-melanogeneic activities than JCP-1 and JCP-3 because of its amino acids composition and molecular weight distribution. Our results indicated JCP-2 could be used as a natural skin-lightening agent in the medicine and food industries.

Abstract: In this study, the microbial degradation characteristics of butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) were studied by using Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Results showed Phanerochaete chrysosporium can effectively degrade BBP and the degradation efficiency can reach 90% in 2 days. This strain can use BBP as sole carbon source. The biodegradation of BBP by Phanerochaete chrysosporium fits for first-order kinetics (lnc=-K_bt+a), which are lnc = -0.0445x + 4.4235、lnc = -0.0404x + 5.1221、lnc =-0.0389x + 5.6363, respectively, for the concentration of 100mg/L, 300mg/L, 500mg/L. The biodegradation rate constants are 0.0445 d^-1, 0.0404 d^-1, 0.0389 d^-1, respectively. The biodegradation rate constant reduces with the increase of the concentration of BBP, indicating BBP has inhibitory effect on Phanerochaete chrysosporium, especially under high concentration. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profile of the metabolites indicated the accumulation of two major products except for phthalic acid (PA). These two products were characterized by high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) as mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBuP) and monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP).

Abstract: Using whole cells as antigens, specific egg yolk antibodies (IgY) were generated respectively against Shewanella putrefaciens and Pseudomonas fluorescens, two important spoilage bacteria in aquatic products. The obtained IgY exhibited a high and specific affinity to corresponding antigen bacteria. A concentration-dependent antimicrobial activity of the specific IgY was observed in liquid medium. Compared to control groups, the cell number of S. putrefaciens and P. fluorescens was reduced approximately 84.7% and 88.1%, respectively, in the presence of specific IgY (contain salts) at a concentration of 200 mg/mL after 8 h of incubation. Similar growth inhibitory effects were also observed in solid medium, in which the inhibition ratio was calculated as 52.8% and 62.5% for S. putrefaciens and P. fluorescens, respectively, in the presence of specific IgY at a concentration of 100 mg/mL. These results indicated a great potential of specific IgY as a safe and natural antimicrobial agent for aquatic food preservations.

Abstract: To evaluate the anti-proliferative effect of kappa-selenocarrageenan (KSC) in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol) on human hepatoma cell line HepG2 and their synergistic effect. The cytotoxic effect of drugs on HepG2 cells was measured by MTT assay, and the King’s principle was used to evaluate the interaction of drug combination. Cell cycle and apoptotic rate were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). Expression of cyclin A, chk2, Cdc25A and cdk2 were detected by flow cytometry and western blotting. KSC and Taxol demonstrated growth inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner, with the IC₅₀ values of Taxol decreased dramatically from 1.684 nmol/L to 0.272 nmol/L while combining with 30 mg/L KSC (P<0.01). In addition, additive activity was observed when 30 mg/L KSC was combined with Taxol (0.5~5 nmol/L) (q=0.85~1.15). FCM results showed that KSC and Taxol both blocked cell cycle in S phase and their combination enhanced S phase arrest. Western blotting analysis revealed that Cyclin A and chk2 protein expression in HepG2 cells increased but Cdc25A and cdk2 expression decreased.