protein hydration

This study aimed to repurpose the antifungal drug flucytosine (FCN) for anticancer activity together with cocrystals of nutraceutical coformers sinapic acid (SNP) and syringic acid (SYA). The cocrystal screening experiments with SNP resulted in three cocrystal hydrate forms in which two are polymorphs, namely, FCN-SNP F-I and FCN-SNP F-II, and the third one with different stoichiometry in the asymmetric unit (1:2:1 ratio of FCN:SNP:H2 O, FCN-SNP F-III). Cocrystallization with SYA resulted in two hydrated cocrystal polymorphs, namely, FCN-SYA F-I and FCN-SYA F-II...

OBJECTIVES: Currently, the most important treatment approach for hemophilia type A is recombinant Factor VIII. However, due to its low retention time in the blood, the patients usually need successive injections. In addition, neutralization of injected proteins by antibodies complicates treatment. We examined the prolongation of the persistence time of injectable FVIII in the blood and the potential effects on survival using promising PEGylated liposomes (PEGLip) utilizing hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine (HSPC, Tm= 54...

Whole wheat bread has high nutritional value, but it has inferior baking quality and high glycemic index, which needs to be improved by methods such as adding protein and β-glucan. This study investigated the effects of β-glucan and highland barley protein of different molecular weights (2 × 104 , 1 × 105 , and 3 × 105  Da) and different hydrate methods (pre-hydrate and not pre-hydrate) on the characteristics of whole wheat dough and bread...

ReAV, the inducible Class-3 L-asparaginase from the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Rhizobium etli , is an interesting candidate for optimizing its enzymatic potential for antileukemic applications. Since it has no structural similarity to known enzymes with this activity, it may offer completely new ways of approach. Also, as an unrelated protein, it would evade the immunological response elicited by other asparaginases. The crystal structure of ReAV revealed a uniquely assembled protein homodimer with a highly specific C135/K138/C189 zinc binding site in each subunit...

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) is considered one of the most dreaded forms of cancer metastases for both patients and physicians. Aggressive cytoreductive surgery (CRS) is the primary treatment for peritoneal metastasis. Unfortunately, this intensive treatment frequently causes clinical complications, such as postoperative recurrence, metastasis, and adhesion formation. Emerging evidence suggest that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) released by inflammatory neutrophils contribute to these complications. Effective NET-targeting strategies thus show considerable potential in counteracting these complications but remain challenging...

Faced with desiccation stress, many organisms deploy strategies to maintain the integrity of their cellular components. Amorphous glassy media composed of small molecular solutes or protein gels present general strategies for protecting against drying. We review these strategies and the proposed molecular mechanisms to explain protein protection in a vitreous matrix under conditions of low hydration. We also describe efforts to exploit similar strategies in technological applications for protecting proteins in dry or highly desiccated states...

Amorphous silica particles (ASPs) have low biotoxicity and are used in foodstuffs; however, the adsorption states of proteins on their surfaces have not yet been clarified. If the adsorption states can be clarified and controlled, then a wide range of biological and medical applications can be expected. The conventional amorphous silica particles have the problem of protein adsorption due to the strong interaction with their dense silanol groups and denaturation. In this study, the surfaces of amorphous silica particles with a lower silanol group density were modified with a small amount of chlorine during the synthesis process to form a specific surface layer by adsorbing water molecules and ions in the biological fluid, thereby controlling the protein adsorption state...

The surface hydration diffusivity of Bacillus subtilis Lipase A (BSLA) has been characterized by low-field Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization (ODNP) relaxometry using a series of spin-labeled constructs. Sites for spin-label incorporation were previously designed via an atomistic computational approach that screened for surface exposure, reflective of the surface hydration comparable to other proteins studied by this method, as well as minimal impact on protein function, dynamics, and structure of BSLA by excluding any surface site that participated in greater than 30% occupancy of a hydrogen bonding network within BSLA...

Trimethylamine N -oxide (TMAO) as a representative natural osmolyte has received much attention because of its unique properties, including enhancement of hydrogen bonding networks in liquid water and stabilization of three-dimensional structures of proteins in living organisms. As a hydrogen bond maker and/or a protein stabilizer, its hydrated structures and orientation dynamics in aqueous solutions have been investigated by various spectroscopic methods. Particularly, distinct from other natural osmolytes, it has been found that TMAO molecules form complexes with water molecules even at low concentrations, showing extraordinarily long lifetimes and much larger effective dipole moments...

Viruses are the most numerous biological form living in any ecosystem. Viral diseases affect not only people but also representatives of fauna and flora. The latest pandemic has shown how important it is for the scientific community to respond quickly to the challenge, including critically assessing the viral threat and developing appropriate measures to counter this threat. Scientists around the world are making enormous efforts to solve these problems. In silico methods, which allow quite rapid obtention of, in many cases, accurate information in this field, are effective tools for the description of various aspects of virus activity, including virus-host cell interactions, and, thus, can provide a molecular insight into the mechanism of virus functioning...

Characterization of biopolymers in both dry and weakly hydrated amorphous states has implications for the pharmaceutical industry since it provides understanding of the effect of lyophilisation on stability and biological activity. Atomistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations probe structural and dynamical features related to system functionality. However, while simulations in homogenous aqueous environments are routine, dehydrated model assemblies are a challenge with systems investigated in-silico needing careful consideration; simulated systems potentially differing markedly despite seemingly negligible changes in procedure...

Rice is an important staple food in the world. Drying is an important step in the post-harvest handling of rice and can influence rice qualities and thus play a key role in determining rice commercial and nutritional value. In rice processing, traditional drying methods may lead to longer drying times, greater energy consumption, and unintended quality losses. Thus, it is imperative to improve the physical, chemical, and milling properties of rice while preserving its nutritional value, flavor, and appearance as much as possible...

The lacrimal gland is crucial for maintaining ocular health by producing the aqueous component of the tear film, which hydrates and nourishes the ocular surface. Decreased production of this component results in dry eye disease, a condition affecting over 250 million people worldwide. However, the scarcity of primary human material for studying its underlying mechanisms and the absence of a cell model for human lacrimal gland epithelial cells present significant challenges. Here, we describe the generation of immortalized human lacrimal gland cell lines through the introduction of an SV40 antigen...

There has been a long-standing debate as to how many hydrogen bonds a peptide backbone amide can form in aqueous solution. Hydrogen-bonding structural dynamics of N-ethylpropionamide (a β-peptide model) in water was examined using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Two amide-I sub bands arise mainly from amide C=O group that forms strong H-bonds with solvent water molecules (SHB state), and minorly from that involving one weak H-bond with water (WHB state). This picture is supported by molecular dynamics simulations and ab-initio calculations...

Black rice anthocyanins (BRA) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using hyaluronic acid (HA), oxidized hyaluronic acid (OHA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to enhance the absorption and bioactivity of anthocyanins (ACNs). Results showed that HA/OHA-BSA-BRA NPs had a spherical morphology and excellent dispensability, with hydrated radius ~ 500 nm, zeta potential ~ - 30 mV, and encapsulation efficiency ~21 %. Moreover, using in vitro gastrointestinal release assay, we demonstrated that both BRA-loaded NPs exhibited effective controlled release properties of ACNs, significantly enhancing the accessibility of ACNs to the intestine...

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is an age-related disease and is responsible for low back pain. Oxidative stress-induced cell death plays a fundamental role in IDD pathogenesis. Cuproptosis is a recently discovered form of programmed cell death dependent on copper availability. Whether cuproptosis is involved in IDD progression remains unknown. Herein, we established in vitro and in vivo models to investigate cuproptosis in IDD and the mechanisms by which oxidative stress interacts with copper sensitivity in nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs)...

Novel vapor-permeable materials are sought after for applications in protective wear, energy generation, and water treatment. Current impermeable protective materials effectively block harmful agents but trap heat due to poor water vapor transfer. Here we present a new class of materials, vapor permeable dehydrated nanoporous biomimetic membranes (DBMs), based on channel proteins. This application for biomimetic membranes is unexpected as channel proteins and biomimetic membranes were assumed to be unstable under dry conditions...

AIM: Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation can compromise the functionality of the skin barrier through various mechanisms. We hypothesize that UVB induce photochemical alterations in the components of the outermost layer of the skin, known as the stratum corneum (SC), and modulate its antioxidative defense mechanisms. Catalase is a well-known antioxidative enzyme found in the SC where it acts to scavenge reactive oxygen species. However, a detailed characterization of acute UVB exposure on the activity of native catalase in the SC is lacking...

A novel monoacylglycerol, 7.10 MAG, has been produced for use in the in meso (lipid cubic phase) crystallization of membrane proteins and complexes. 7.10 MAG differs from monoolein, the most extensively used lipid for in meso crystallization, in that it is shorter in chain length by one methylene and its cis olefinic bond is two carbons closer to the glycerol headgroup. These changes in structure alter the phase behavior of the hydrated lipid and the microstructure of the corresponding mesophases formed. Temperature-composition phase diagrams for 7...

Proteinoids, or thermal proteins, are amino acid polymers formed at high temperatures by nonbiological processes. The objective of this study is to examine the memfractance characteristics of proteinoids within a supersaturated hydroxyapatite solution. The ionic solution utilized for the current-voltage ( I - V ) measurements possessed an ionic strength of 0.15 mol/L, a temperature of 37 °C, and a pH value of 7.4. The I - V curves exhibited distinct spikes, which are hypothesized to arise from the capacitive charging and discharging of the proteinoid-hydroxyapatite media...