Search results for "Carbohydrate"
showing 10 items of 882 documents
The Mucus of Actinia equina (Anthozoa, Cnidaria): An Unexplored Resource for Potential Applicative Purposes
2015
The mucus produced by many marine organisms is a complex mixture of proteins and polysaccharides forming a weak watery gel. It is essential for vital processes including locomotion, navigation, structural support, heterotrophic feeding and defence against a multitude of environmental stresses, predators, parasites, and pathogens. In the present study we focused on mucus produced by a benthic cnidarian, the sea anemone Actinia equina (Linnaeus, 1758) for preventing burial by excess sedimentation and for protection. We investigated some of the physico-chemical properties of this matrix such as viscosity, osmolarity, electrical conductivity, protein, carbohydrate, and total lipid contents. Som…
MetNet: A two-level approach to reconstructing and comparing metabolic networks
2021
Metabolic pathway comparison and interaction between different species can detect important information for drug engineering and medical science. In the literature, proposals for reconstructing and comparing metabolic networks present two main problems: network reconstruction requires usually human intervention to integrate information from different sources and, in metabolic comparison, the size of the networks leads to a challenging computational problem. We propose to automatically reconstruct a metabolic network on the basis of KEGG database information. Our proposal relies on a two-level representation of the huge metabolic network: the first level is graph-based and depicts pathways a…
Further Evidence that Papillomavirus Capsids Exist inTwo DistinctConformations
2003
ABSTRACT Cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) serve as primary attachment receptors for human papillomaviruses (HPVs). To demonstrate that a biologically functional HPV-receptor interaction is restricted to a specific subset of HSPGs, we first explored the role of HSPG glucosaminoglycan side chain modifications. We demonstrate that HSPG O sulfation is essential for HPV binding and infection, whereas de-N-sulfated heparin interfered with VLP binding but not with HPV pseudoinfection. This points to differences in VLP-HSPG and pseudovirion-HSPG interactions. Interestingly, internalization kinetics of VLPs and pseudovirions, as measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analy…
Evidence for Conformational Mechanism on the Binding of TgMIC4 with β-Galactose-Containing Carbohydrate Ligand
2015
A deeper understanding of the role of sialic/desialylated groups during TgMIC4-glycoproteins interactions has importance to better clarify the odd process of host cell invasion by members of the apicomplexan phylum. Within this context, we evaluated the interaction established by recombinant TgMIC4 (the whole molecule) with sialylated (bovine fetuin) and desialylated (asialofetuin) glycoproteins by using functionalized quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). A suitable receptive surface containing recombinant TgMIC4 for monitoring β-galactose-containing carbohydrate ligand (limit of quantification ∼ 40 μM) was designed and used as biomolecular recognition platform t…
Strategies to reduce lipid consumption
2020
Abstract Lipids are macronutrients that have important functions in the body like storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components in cell membranes. However, the daily consumption of a high-lipid diet has been involved in the development and maintenance of obesity, a disease which its prevalence is increasing globally. Because of that, the food industry is working in strategies to develop new food products with the aim of reducing the lipid intake. Among these strategies are (1) changes in the structural design of food, (2) the use of carbohydrate and/or fat substitutes, and (3) the inhibition of enzymes responsible for the digestion of sugars and/or lipids. These strategies …
Variation in assessing the need for change of snacking habits in schoolchildren's oral health counselling
2008
Objectives. This study examined counselling communication activities that were used for assessing schoolchildren's need for change of snacking habits. In addition, the schoolchildren's assessment of their need for change was explored after a follow-up year (2002–2003). Material and methods. The follow-up research data included 66 counselling sessions in 2002 and 31 counselling sessions in 2003, with 31 schoolchildren. The sessions were conducted by four dental hygienists. The audio-taped data were analysed qualitatively by using content analysis. Results. In 2002, the needs assessment was realized in three ways. Infrequently, the schoolchildren either disclosed their need for change or t…
Carbohydrate availability affects growth and metabolism in peach fruit
2008
Along with sucrose, sorbitol represents the main photosynthetic product and form of translocated carbon in peach. This study aimed at determining whether peach fruit carbohydrate metabolism is affected by changes in source-sink balance, and specifically whether sorbitol or sucrose availability regulates fruit enzyme activities and growth. In various trials, different levels of assimilate availability to growing fruits were induced in vivo, by varying crop load of entire trees, leaf:fruit ratio (L:F) of fruiting shoots, or by interrupting the phloem stream (girdling) to individual fruits. In vitro, fruit tissue was incubated in presence/absence of sorbitol and sucrose. Relative growth rate (…
Cytochrome c is released in a single step during apoptosis
2005
Release of cytochrome c from mitochondria is a central event in apoptotic signaling. In this study, we utilized a cytochrome c fusion that binds fluorescent biarsenical ligands (cytochrome c-4CYS (cyt. c-4CYS)) as well as cytochrome c-green fluorescent protein (cyt. c-GFP) to measure its release from mitochondria in different cell types during apoptosis. In single cells, the kinetics of cyt. c-4CYS release was indistinguishable from that of cyt. c-GFP in apoptotic cells expressing both molecules. Lowering the temperature by 7 degrees C did not affect this corelease, but further separated cytochrome c release from the subsequent decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)). Cyt…
Interaction of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases with the Kinase Interaction Motif of the Tyrosine Phosphatase PTP-SL Provides Substrate Specificity …
1999
ERK1 and ERK2 associate with the tyrosine phosphatase PTP-SL through a kinase interaction motif (KIM) located in the juxtamembrane region of PTP-SL. A glutathione S-transferase (GST)-PTP-SL fusion protein containing the KIM associated with ERK1 and ERK2 as well as with p38/HOG, but not with the related JNK1 kinase or with protein kinase A or C. Accordingly, ERK2 showed in vitro substrate specificity to phosphorylate GST-PTP-SL in comparison with GST-c-Jun. Furthermore, tyrosine dephosphorylation of ERK2 by the PTP-SLDeltaKIM mutant was impaired. The in vitro association of ERK1/2 with GST-PTP-SL was highly stable; however, low concentrations of nucleotides partially dissociated the ERK1/2.P…
A novel regulatory mechanism of MAP kinases activation and nuclear translocation mediated by PKA and the PTP-SL tyrosine phosphatase
1999
Protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-SL retains mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases in the cytoplasm in an inactive form by association through a kinase interaction motif (KIM) and tyrosine dephosphorylation. The related tyrosine phosphatases PTP-SL and STEP were phosphorylated by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA). The PKA phosphorylation site on PTP-SL was identified as the Ser231 residue, located within the KIM. Upon phosphorylation of Ser231, PTP-SL binding and tyrosine dephosphorylation of the MAP kinases extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and p38α were impaired. Furthermore, treatment of COS-7 cells with PKA activators, or overexpression of the Cα catalytic subunit …