Search results for " Differential Scanning"
showing 10 items of 77 documents
Communication versus waterproofing: the physics of insect cuticular hydrocarbons
2019
Understanding the evolution of complex traits is among the major challenges in biology. One such trait is the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) layer in insects. It protects against desiccation and provides communication signals, especially in social insects. CHC composition is highly diverse within and across species. To understand the adaptive value of this chemical diversity, we must understand how it affects biological functionality. So far, CHCs received ample research attention, but their physical properties were little studied. We argue that these properties determine their biological functionality, and are vital to understand how CHC composition affects their adaptive value. We investigat…
Protective Effects of L- and D-Carnosine on R-Crystallin Amyloid Fibril Formation: Implications for Cataract Disease
2009
Mildly denaturing conditions induce bovine ?-crystallin, the major structural lens protein, to self-assemble into fibrillar structures in vitro. The natural dipeptide L-carnosine has been shown to have potential protective and therapeutic significance in many diseases. Carnosine derivatives have been proposed as potent agents for ophthalmic therapies of senile cataracts and diabetic ocular complications. Here we report the inhibitory effect induced by the peptide (L- and D-enantiomeric form) on ?-crystallin fibrillation and the almost complete restoration of the chaperone activity lost after denaturant and/or heat stress. Scanning force microscopy (SFM), thioflavin T, and a turbidimetry ass…
Human nasoseptal chondrocytes maintain their differentiated phenotype on PLLA scaffolds produced by thermally induced phase separation and supplement…
2018
Damage of hyaline cartilage such as nasoseptal cartilage requires proper reconstruction, which remains challenging due to its low intrinsic repair capacity. Implantation of autologous chondrocytes in combination with a biomimetic biomaterial represents a promising strategy to support cartilage repair. Despite so far mostly tested for bone tissue engineering, bioactive glass (BG) could exert stimulatory effects on chondrogenesis. The aim of this work was to produce and characterize composite porous poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)/1393BG scaffolds via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) technique and assess their effects on chondrogenesis of nasoseptal chondrocytes. The PLLA scaffolds without or…
Modelling phase transition kinetics of chenodeoxycholic acid with the Runge–Kutta method
2009
Abstract The phase transition kinetics of two chenodeoxycholic acid polymorphic modifications— form I (stable at high temperature), form III (stable at low temperature) and the amorphous phase has been examined under various conditions of temperature and relative humidity. Form III conversion to form I was examined at high temperature conditions and was found to be non-spontaneous, requiring seed crystals for initiation. The formation kinetic model of form I was created incorporating the three-dimensional seed crystal growth, the phase transition rate proportion to the surface area of form I crystals, and the influence of the amorphous phase surface area changes with an empirical stage poin…
Thermal Denaturation of Pea Globulins (Pisum sativum L.)—Molecular Interactions Leading to Heat-Induced Protein Aggregation
2013
The heat-induced denaturation and aggregation of mixed pea globulins (8%, w/w) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), SDS-PAGE, and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC-HPLC). DSC data showed that the pea proteins denaturation temperature (T(d)) was heating-rate dependent. The T(d) value decreased by about 4 °C by lowering the heating rate from 10 to 5 °C/min. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that protein denaturation upon heating at 90 °C was mainly governed by noncovalent interaction. The SEC-HPLC measurements indicated that low-denatured legumin (≈350-410 kDa) and vicilin/convicilin (≈170 kDa) globulins were heat-denatured and most of their subunits reassociated int…
Interaction Between drug loaded Polyaspartamide-polylactide-polisorbate based micelles and cell membrane models: a calorimetric study
2011
Amphiphilic biodegradable copolymers, for their ability to self-assemble into micelle-like aggregates, with a suitable loading capacity, are of emerging interest for the delivery of water-insoluble drugs. α,β-Poly[(N-hydroxyethyl)-dl-aspartamide] (PHEA) is suitable to obtain amphiphilic graft copolymers. These copolymers can be obtained starting from PHEA-ethylenediamine (PHEA-EDA) which is functionalized with polysorbate 80 (PS₈₀, like targeting residues to the brain) and polylactide (PLA, like hydrophobic chains) in order to obtain polymeric micelles of PHEA-EDA-PS₈₀-PLA potentially useful to release drugs to the central nervous system. In this paper, the interaction and absorption of PHE…
Novel silver-based nanoclay as an antimicrobial in polylactic acid food packaging coatings.
2010
This paper presents a comprehensive performance study of polylactic acid (PLA) biocomposites, obtained by solvent casting, containing a novel silver-based antimicrobial layered silicate additive for use in active food packaging applications. The silver-based nanoclay showed strong antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative Salmonella spp. Despite the fact that no exfoliation of the silver-based nanoclay in PLA was observed, as suggested by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) experiments, the additive dispersed nicely throughout the PLA matrix to a nanoscale, yielding nanobiocomposites. The films were highly transparent with enhanced water barrier …
Design and construction of highly stable, protease-resistant chimeric avidins.
2005
The chicken avidin gene family consists of avidin and seven separate avidin-related genes (AVRs) 1-7. Avidin protein is a widely used biochemical tool, whereas the other family members have only recently been produced as recombinant proteins and characterized. In our previous study, AVR4 was found to be the most stable biotin binding protein thus far characterized (T(m) = 106.4 degrees C). In this study, we studied further the biotin-binding properties of AVR4. A decrease in the energy barrier between the biotin-bound and unbound state of AVR4 was observed when compared with that of avidin. The high resolution structure of AVR4 facilitated comparison of the structural details of avidin and …
Crystallization, spectral, crystallographical, and thermoanalytical studies of succinobucol polymorphism.
2011
Four different polymorphs, A, C, D, and E, of succinobucol were isolated and characterized by means of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, and attenuated total reflection–infrared spectroscopy. From a number of experiments, the same polymorphs (C, D, and E) and an equilibrium phase mixture B consisting of polymorphs C and D were repeatedly gained using different solvents or their mixtures. Although polymorph A was obtained directly from recrystallization only on few occasions, polymorphs C, D, and E proved to be metastable kinetic polymorphs, which slowly transform to a thermod…
Protein Thermal Denaturation and Matrix Glass Transition in Different Protein−Trehalose−Water Systems
2011
Biopreservation by saccharides is a widely studied issue due to its scientific and technological importance; in particular, ternary amorphous protein-saccharide-water systems are extensively exploited to model the characteristics of the in vivo biopreservation process. We present here a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study on amorphous trehalose-water systems with embedded different proteins (myoglobin, lysozyme, BSA, hemoglobin), which differ for charge, surface, and volume properties. In our study, the protein/trehalose molar ratio is kept constant at 1/40, while the water/sugar molar ratio is varied between 2 and 300; results are compared with those obtained for binary trehalose…