Short-Term Stability of Whole Blood Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Content on Filter Paper During Storage at −28 °C

Finger or heel‐pricked blood sampling for fatty acid analysis is suitable especially in newborn infants where blood sampling is difficult and phlebotomy for research can be unethical. The aim of this study was to evaluate dried blood long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFA) stability during storage at ?28 °C. We collected 12 blood cord samples that were analyzed immediately after blood drawing, with and without drying the blood on filter paper. Dried samples were then analyzed 7 days and 1, 3, and 6 months after collection. Butylated hydroxytoluene was added to all samples. Fatty acid composition and ¹³C enrichment were measured by gas chromatography and by gas chromatography‐isotope ratio mass spectrometry, respectively. The fatty acid composition, expressed in mol%, of the major LC‐PUFA at day 7 was not statistically different from time 0, however lower values were found by the first month of storage. The ¹³C enrichment of 20:4n‐6 and 22:6n‐3 did not differ during the whole study period. LC‐PUFA analysis from dried umbilical cord blood in neonates should be performed within a week, major losses of LC‐PUFA occur afterwards. However, fatty acids obtained from dried blood maintain their ¹³C enrichment value for up to 6 months and thus these samples are suitable for natural abundance isotopic studies.     

Antiproliferative Effects of the Aptamer d(GGGT)4 and Its Analogues with an Abasic-Site Mimic Loop on Different Cancer Cells

In this paper, we study the {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"T30923","term_id":"613021","term_text":"T30923"}}T30923 antiproliferative potential and the contribution of its loop residues in six different human cancer cell lines by preparing five {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"T30923","term_id":"613021","term_text":"T30923"}}T30923 variants using the single residue replacement approach of loop thymidine with an abasic site mimic (S). G-rich oligonucleotides (GRO) show interesting anticancer properties because of their capability to adopt G-quadruplex structures (G4s), such as the G4 HIV-1 integrase inhibitor {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"T30923","term_id":"613021","term_text":"T30923"}}T30923. Considering the multi-targeted effects of G4-aptamers and the limited number of cancer cell lines tested, particularly for {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"T30923","term_id":"613021","term_text":"T30923"}}T30923, it should be important to find a suitable tumor line, in addition to considering that the effects also strictly depend on G4s. CD, NMR and non-denaturating polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis data clearly show that all modified ODNs closely resemble the dimeric structure of parallel G4s’ parent aptamer, keeping the resistance in biological environments substantially unchanged, as shown by nuclease stability assay. The antiproliferative effects of {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"T30923","term_id":"613021","term_text":"T30923"}}T30923 and its variants are tried in vitro by MTT assays, showing interesting cytotoxic activity, depending on time and dose, for all G4s, especially in MDA-MB-231 cells with a reduction in cell viability approximately up to 30%. Among all derivatives, QS12 results are the most promising, showing more pronounced cytotoxic effects both in MDA-MB-231 and Hela cells, with a decrease in cell viability from 70% to 60%. In summary, the single loop residue S substitution approach may be useful for designing antiproliferative G4s, considering that most of them, characterized by single residue loops, may be able to bind different targets in several cancer cell pathways. Generally, this approach could be of benefit by revealing some minimal functional structures, stimulating further studies aimed at the development of novel anticancer drugs.     

Physicochemical,thermal, and pasting properties of flours and starches of eight Brazilian maize landraces (Zea mays L.)

Both genetic and environmental factors create significant variation in the amount and quality of maize landrace constituents. Details on the flours and starch characteristics have not been fully investigated. The physicochemical, pasting and thermal properties of 8 promising cultivars were assessed in this study and those properties were correlated. Higher values of swelling and solubility (RJ – 13.14%; 14.39%), lipid content (MG – 5.53%), WBC (PR – 18.89%), and amylose content (PR – 27.43%) were found for those genotypes. Lower onset temperatures of gelatinization (To) were observed for RX-F1 (66.1 °C) as RX-F1 (68.7 °C) genotype showed the lower pasting temperatures. A wide range of viscosity values was found among the maize landraces (MG-F0, 343 mPa s and RJ-F1, 175 mPa s) as well as for the retrogradation (R8C-F1, 796 mPa s and RX-F1, 22 mPa s). ATR-FTIR spectroscopy revealed amylose, amylopectin, lipids, and proteins as major flours constituents and their differences were discriminated by PCA analysis.     

Production of detoxified sorghum straw hydrolysates for fermentative purposes

Sorghum straw can be hydrolysed to obtain monosaccharide solutions, mainly containing xylose. The usual biotechnological application of xylose is its bioconversion to xylitol. The global process from straw to xylitol can give an added value to the sorghum straw. The process has the following sequential steps: reduction of size, acid hydrolysis, neutralization, detoxification, fermentation, recovery and purification. This work deals with the optimization of the detoxification process of sorghum straw hydrolysates with activated charcoal. The variables evaluated were pH (1–5), contact time (20–60 min) and activated charcoal charge (20–33 g kg^?1). Mathematical models were obtained through a factorial experimental design. The models suggest that optimal conditions for detoxification are pH 1, contact time of 29 min and a charcoal charge of 33 g kg^?1. These conditions allowed hydrolysates with 54.2 g xylose L^?1, 13.5 g glucose L^?1, 12 g arabinose L^?1, 0.2 g furfural L^?1 and 0.0 g acetic acid L^?1 to be obtained. The results suggest that performing the detoxification step before the neutralization step gave the best outcome. Fermentations by Candida parapsilosis NRRL Y‐2315 were performed and it was confirmed that the treated hydrolysate is suitable for xylitol production, yielding up to 17 g L^?1 of this polyol. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Is brown adipose tissue a store of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids during postnatal developing brain?

Mammals along their early postnatal period develop a substantial amount of a very active brown adipose tissue (BAT). Through this work we explored the possibility that BAT may function as a long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids reservoir (LC-PUFA) during the rapid growth of brain structures. In new born rats 1, 6, 12 and 20 days old, we analyzed fatty acid percentage of triglycerides (TG) and phospholipid fractions, and the absolute amount of TG. In 6 day old rats we also evaluated the extend of further desaturation of 1-14C linoleic acid administered by intraperitoneal injection. Results demonstrated a drastic increase of TG concentration during experimental period (1,5; 40; 118; 120 mg/g wet weight) and LC-PUFA percentage was higher in "1 and 6" than "12 and 20" days old rats (16-17% vs 5%). Our results showed that BAT stored important amounts of LC-PUFA. On the other hand, 1-14C linoleic acid incorporation was higher in liver than BAT. In contrast, the desaturated products of 1-14C linoleic acid /1-14C linoleic acid ratio was greater in BAT than liver (>4). This could indicate that BAT synthesizes LC-PUFA in addition to store it. In summary we demonstrated than BAT is an important reservoir of LC-PUFA during postnatal brain growth.     

Expanding the Potential of G‐Quadruplex Structures: Formation of a Heterochiral TBA Analogue

In order to expand the potential applications of G‐quadruplex structures, we explored the ability of heterochiral oligodeoxynucleotides based on the thrombin‐binding aptamer (TBA) sequence to fold into similar complexes, with particular focus on their resistance in biological environments. A combination of CD and NMR techniques was used. Similarly to TBA, the ODN ggTTggtgtggTTgg (lower case letters indicate L residues) is able to fold into a chair‐like antiparallel G‐quadruplex structure, but has a slightly higher thermal stability. The discovery that heterochiral ODNs are able to form stable G‐quadruplex structures opens up new possibilities for their development in several fields, as aptamers, sensors and, as recently shown, as catalysts for enantioselective reactions.     

In‐process monitoring in industrial olive mill by means of FT‐NIR

A total of 287 olive lots and 161 olive oil samples were analyzed for fat content, moisture and free acidity, using a Fourier transform near‐infrared (FT‐NIR) instrument located in an industrial mill. Samples having a wide range of both reference values and olive lot sizes (from <0.5 to >4 t) were collected at three industrial mill plants, located in the same Italian region, which utilize different technological equipment for virgin olive oil production. Olive paste spectra were acquired in diffuse reflectance, while oil samples were measured in transmission. Calibration models for oil content and moisture of olives as well as free acidity of virgin olive oils were developed using partial least squares (PLS) regression, first derivative and straight line subtraction. Results of calibration and validation of the PLS models selected were good. The PLS results indicate good similarity between data obtained from FT‐NIR and reference laboratory methods, allowing a rapid and less expensive screening analysis. Unfortunately, the correlation between the oil yield values recorded for all olive lots at the industrial mills and the oil content predicted by FT‐NIR was not satisfactory (R² = 0.605).