Most common industrial xylanases are produced from filamentous fungi. In this study, the codon-optimized xynA gene encoding xylanase A from the fungus Penicilium citrinum was successfully synthesized and expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris. The levels of secreted enzyme activity under the control of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (PGAP) and alcohol oxidase 1 (PAOX1) promoters were compared. The Pc Xyn11A was produced as a soluble protein and the total xylanase activity under the con...
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer enclosed particles which present in almost all types of biofluids and contain specific proteins, lipids, and RNA. Increasing evidence has demonstrated the tremendous clinical potential of EVs as diagnostic and therapeutic tools, especially in biofluids, since they can be detected without invasive surgery. With the advanced mass spectrometry (MS), it is possible to decipher the protein content of EVs under different physiological and pathological con...
Chronic inflammation is closely associated with cancer development. One possible mechanism for inflammation-induced carcinogenesis is DNA damage caused by reactive halogen species, such as hypochlorous acid, which is released by myeloperoxidase to kill pathogens. Hypochlorous acid can attack genomic DNA to produce 8-chloro-2′-deoxyguanosine (ClG) as a major lesion. It has been postulated that ClG promotes mutagenic replication using its syn conformer; yet, the structural basis for ClG-induced mu...
Cancer vaccine is a promising immunotherapeutic approach to train the immune system with vaccines to recognize and eliminate tumors. Adjuvants are compounds that are necessary in cancer vaccines to mimic an infection process and amplify immune responses. The Toll-like receptor 2 and 6 (TLR2/TLR6) agonist dipalmitoyl-S-glyceryl cysteine (Pam2Cys) was demonstrated as an ideal candidate for synthetic vaccine adjuvants. However, the synthesis of Pam2Cys requires expensive N-protected cysteine as a k...
Herbal medicine, including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is widely used worldwide. Herbs and TCM formulas contain numerous active molecules. Basically, they are a kind of cocktail therapy. Herb-drug, herb-food, herb-herb, herb-microbiome, and herb-disease interactions are complex. There is potential for both benefit and harm, so only after understanding more of their mechanisms and clinical effects can herbal medicine and TCM be helpful to users. Many pharmacologic studies have been perfor...
Currently, paclobutrazol is excessively used in the planting process of Ophiopogon japonicus (O. japonicus) due to its important role in regulating the growth of tuber roots, ultimately increasing the yield and shortening the growth cycle of Ophiopogonis Radix. For insight into this process and the potential risks of paclobutrazol and its mediated consequences on the secondary metabolites in Ophiopogonis Radix, corresponding high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method...
Hericium erinaceus is a medicinal mushroom that contains many molecules promising a plethora of therapeutic properties. In this study, the strain H.e.2 (MicUNIPV, University of Pavia, Italy) was isolated from a sporophore collected in Tuscany (Italy). Mycelium, primordium, and wild type and cultivated sporophores were analyzed by HPLC-UV-ESI/MS. Erinacine A in the mycelium and hericenones C and D in the sporophores were quantified by comparison with their standard molecules. For the first time, ...
The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of a previously un-studied wild mushroom, Echinodontium tinctorium, collected from the forests of north-central British Columbia. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophage model was used to study the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The crude alkaline extract demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory activity, and was further purified using a “bio-activity-guided-purification” approach. The size-exclusion and ...
In the current study, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and photon energy biosynthetically converted Ag+ to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The reaction mechanism began with the non-photon-dependent adsorption of Ag+ to EPS biomolecules. An electron from the EPS biomolecules was then donated to reduce Ag+ to Ag0, while a simultaneous release of H+ acidified the reaction mixture. The acidification of the media and production rate of AgNPs increased with increasin...
The preparation and characterization of innovative organic-inorganic hybrid geopolymers, obtained by valorizing coal fly ash generated from thermoelectric power plants, is reported for the first time. These hybrid materials are prepared by simultaneously reacting fly ash and dimethylsiloxane oligomers at 25 °C in a strongly alkaline environment. Despite their lower density, the obtained materials are characterized by highly improved mechanical properties when compared to the unmodified geopolyme...