灵菌红素的研究进展

灵菌红素是一类含甲氧基吡咯骨架结构的天然色素,是一些放线菌、沙雷菌及其他细菌的次级代谢产物,具有免疫抑制、抗细菌、抗真菌和抗疟疾等多种生物活性。最近研究表明灵菌红素有很强的抗肿瘤及免疫抑制活性,因而成为研究热点。现对灵菌红素的结构、生物活性、生产现状及发展趋势作一综述。     

八角茴香及其提取物莽草酸的研究进展

由于中国传统香料八角茴香因含有抗禽流感病毒的重要成分,使其具有了重要的药用价值,综述了国内外关于八角茴香的化学成分、药理作用方面的研究进展,以及八角茴香的重要成分莽草酸的分离提取及药理方面的内容,为进一步开发和利用八角茴香提供了参考依据.     

Combination of cytomegalovirus enhancer with human cellular promoters for gene-induced chondrogenesis of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

High-expression plasmid vectors for human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were constructed by combination of cytomegalovirus immediate-early enhancer with cellular promoters. MSCs transfected with the vector showed higher transgene production of a cytokine, which increased the differentiation level to chondrocytes.     

Dietary fibre components,antioxidant activities and hydration properties of ripe persimmon (Diospyros kaki L. cv. Daebong) peel powders as affected by different washing treatments

Dietary fibre components, hydration properties and antioxidant activities such as 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, reducing power, metal chelating and 2,2′‐azino‐bis,3‐ethyl‐benzo‐thiazoline‐6‐sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activities of persimmon peel powders using different washing treatments (tap water at 20 °C and hot water) were investigated. Peel powder obtained from hot water‐washed peels (74.95 g per 100 g) had higher dietary fibre content than tap water‐washed (65.50 g per 100 g) and unwashed (60.99 g per 100 g) peels. The higher content of total phenolic and ascorbic acid were found in peel powder obtained from unwashed peels, whereas washed peels had more β‐carotene content. The EC₅₀ values of scavenging DPPH and ABTS radical for peel powders obtained from unwashed, tap water‐washed and hot water‐washed peels were 75.44, 142.18 and 110.17 μg mL^?1 respectively and 5.31, 5.34 and 5.39 μg mL^?1 respectively. Therefore, hot water washing is recommended to obtain better quality products from persimmon peel for use as a fibre supplement.     

Study on chemical composition and biological activities of essential oil and extract from Salvia pisidica

In this study, total contents of phenolic, flavanol and flavonol, antioxidant activities and antimicrobial activities of the Turkish endemic Salvia pisidica Boiss. & Heldr. ex Bentham (Lamiaceae) extract and essential oil were assessed in vitro. Total phenolic, flavanol and flavonol contents in the extract were 54.57 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g, 16.70 mg catechine equivalents (CE)/g and 18.19 mg rutin equivalents (RE)/g, respectively. Antioxidant activities (IC₅₀ value) of the extract and essential oil were determined as 4.88 and 6.41 mg/mL by DPPH assay, respectively. 31 compounds were determined in the essential oil using GC-MS and the major compounds (%) were camphor (23.76), sabinol (19.2), α-thujone (14.2) and eucalyptol (1.8-cineole) (5.8).The antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract and the essential oil against 13 bacterial and two yeast strains was determined. The extract (concentration 5 g/100 ml or 10 g/100 ml) was effective against most of the strains tested, yet not against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila and the two yeast strains tested. The essential oil (2 g/100 ml) showed an antimicrobial effect against all the gram (+) bacteria tested, against Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but was not effective against all gram (−) bacteria and Candida albicans. These results show that S.piscidica essential oil and extract could be considered as a natural alternative to traditional food preservatives and be used to enhance food safety and shelf life.     

低钾胁迫对大豆叶片膜脂过氧化及保护酶活性的影响

以在大田筛选的钾高效型大豆品种沈农6号和钾低效型品系铁95068-5为试材,研究了不同供钾水平对大豆膜脂过氧化作用及保护酶活性的影响。试验结果表明,随着钾浓度的降低,2个品种在各生育时期的相对电导率和MDA含量均有所增加,但沈农6号增加幅度不大,而铁95068-5则增幅较大。在每个生育时期,2个品种各保护酶活性均随着钾浓度的降低而增强,说明适度低钾胁迫会激发大豆的保护酶活性;不同钾浓度下,沈农6号和铁95068-5叶片SOD活性均随着大豆的生长发育逐渐下降;CAT和POD活性先逐渐增强,随后下降：2个品种CAT活性到开花盛期（R2）达到峰值,POD活性分别在鼓粒期（R6）和盛荚期（R4）达到峰值。沈农6号各生育时期SOD、CAT和POD活性均高于同期的铁95068-5,表明大豆钾效率的高低与其体内保护酶系统对活性氧的清除能力直接相关。     

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities of sardinelle (Sardinella aurita) by-products protein hydrolysates obtained by treatment with microbial and visceral fish serine proteases

The angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities of protein hydrolysates prepared from heads and viscera of sardinelle (Sardinella aurita) by treatment with various proteases were investigated. Protein hydrolysates were obtained by treatment with Alcalase^®, chymotrypsin, crude enzyme preparations from Bacillus licheniformis NH1 and Aspergillus clavatus ES1, and crude enzyme extract from sardine (Sardina pilchardus) viscera. All hydrolysates exhibited inhibitory activity towards ACE. The alkaline protease extract from the viscera of sardine produced hydrolysate with the highest ACE inhibitory activity (63.2 ± 1.5% at 2 mg/ml). Further, the degrees of hydrolysis and the inhibitory activities of ACE increased with increasing proteolysis time. The protein hydrolysate generated with alkaline proteases from the viscera of sardine was then fractionated by size exclusion chromatography on a Sephadex G-25 into eight major fractions (P₁–P₈). Biological functions of all fractions were assayed, and P₄ was found to display a high ACE inhibitory activity. The IC₅₀ values for ACE inhibitory activities of sardinelle by-products protein hydrolysates and fraction P₄ were 1.2 ± 0.09 and 0.81 ± 0.013 mg/ml, respectively. Further, P₄ showed resistance to in vitro digestion by gastrointestinal proteases. The amino acid analysis by GC/MS showed that P₄ was rich in phenylalanine, arginine, glycine, leucine, methionine, histidine and tyrosine. The added-value of sardinelle by-products may be improved by enzymatic treatment with visceral serine proteases from sardine.     

Characterising polysaccharides in cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) purée and their enzymatic liquefaction

Polysaccharides isolated in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIR) from cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) were characterised for contents of soluble pectin, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and the distribution of neutral sugars and uronides in water-soluble pectin (WSP) and water-insoluble AIR (WAIR) fractions. For WSP, the predominant neutral sugar was arabinose and, for WAIR, cellulosic glucose and xylose. Two enzyme preparations were tested for their capacity to release neutral sugars and uronides from WAIR. The optimal incubation temperature (45 °C) and the most effective preparation—rich in pectinase, cellulase and xylanase activities—were selected according to a central composite rotatable design (CCRD). Enzyme was also applied to native cherimoya purée according to another CCRD, varying the enzyme concentration and incubation time. Native purée exhibited strong shear-thinning behaviour with high, extrapolated, yield stress. During enzymatic treatment, behaviour was less shear thinning, and yield stress, consistency index and Bostwick consistency tended to decrease, giving rise to purées of different rheological properties.     

Controlled enzymatic hydrolysis on characteristic and antioxidant properties of soybean protein isolate-maltodextrin conjugates

This study aimed to investigate the effect of limited hydrolysis on conformational and antioxidant properties of soy protein isolate-maltodextrin (SPI-Md) conjugates. Extrinsic fluorescence analysis showed unfolding of the protein molecule and exposure of hydrophobic groups in SPI-Md conjugate hydrolysates. Free amino acid analysis showed that, the contents of hydrophobic amino acids in SPI-Md conjugates increased after hydrolysis. The contents of leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine increased from 0.32, 0.30 and 0.54 to 1.36, 1.86 and 2.60, respectively, when the hydrolysis degree (DH) gradually increased from 0% to 5.7%. The FT-IR spectrum showed that C = O absorption of the amide group formed by glycosylation continued unabated after limited hydrolysis (DH 2.9%). The glycated SPI products showed good reducing power and superior resistance to lipid oxidation (34%, 12 mg mL^?1), whereas the limit hydrolysates (DH 2.9%) of SPI-Md conjugates showed more ef?cient radical-scavenging capacity (89.5%, at 12 mg mL^?1) and iron-chelation activity (91.3%, at 12 mg mL^?1). Results of this study indicated that, slight enzymatic hydrolysis (DH 0–2.9%) could help partially unfolding the globular structure of SPI-Md conjugates without deteriorating amide bonds and had a positive effect on their antioxidant properties.     

Development of natural anti-tumor drugs by microorganisms

Discoveries of tumor-resistant pharmacological drugs have mainly resulted from screening of natural products and their analogs. Some are also discovered incidentally when studying organisms. The great biodiversity of microorganisms raises the possibility of producing secondary metabolites (e.g., mevastatin, lovastatin, epothilone, salinosporamide A) to cope with adverse environments. Recently, natural plant pigments with anti-tumor activities such as β-carotene, lycopene, curcumin and anthocyanins have been proposed. However, many plants have a long life cycle. Therefore, pigments from microorganisms represent another option for the development of novel anti-tumor drugs. Prodigiosin (PG) is a natural red pigment produced by microorganisms, i.e., Serratia marcescens and other gram-negative bacteria. The anti-tumor potential of PG has been widely demonstrated. The families of PG (PGs), which share a common pyrrolylpyrromethene (PPM) skeleton, are produced by various bacteria. PGs are bioactive pigments and are known to exert immunosuppressive properties, in vitro apoptotic effects, and in vivo anti-tumor activities. Currently the most common strain used for producing PGs is S. marcescens. However, few reports have discussed PGs production. This review therefore describes the development of an anti-tumor drug, PG, that can be naturally produced by microorganisms, and evaluates the microbial production system, fermentation strategies, purification and identification processes. The application potential of PGs is also discussed.