The Loss of Hydrophobic Polypeptides during Fermentation and Conditioning of High Gravity and Low Gravity Brewed Beer

The object of this study was to investigate the loss of hydrophobic polypeptides, which are important for foam quality and stability in finished beer. Loss of hydrophobic polypeptide due to fermenter foaming occurs during transfer of fermented wort since a gradient of hydrophobic polypeptides towards the surface is created during fermentation. Due to higher polyphenol levels in high gravity (20°Plato) wort, more hydrophobic polypeptides are lost due to cold break (cold trub) precipitation compared to low gravity (12°Plato) wort. Another important factor affecting the loss of hydrophobic polypeptides could be proteinase A activity during fermentation, especially in high gravity fermentation where the yeast is exposed the higher stress. During high gravity fermentation, where osmotic pressures are higher, ethanol levels become greater, and nitrogen‐carbohydrate ratios are lower, more proteinase A is released by the yeast. This release of proteinase A into fermenting wort could have implications for the foam stability of the finished product.     

A parallel Monte Carlo search algorithm for the conformational analysis of polypeptides

In recent years several approaches have been proposed to overcome the multiple-minima problem associated with nonlinear optimization techniques used in the analysis of molecular conformations. One such technique based on a parallel Monte Carlo search algorithm is analyzed. Experiments on the Intel iPSC/2 confirm that the attainable parallelism is limited by the underlying acceptance rate in the Monte Carlo search. It is proposed that optimal performance can be achieved in combination with vector processing. Tests on both the IBM 3090 and Intel iPSC/2-VX indicate that vector performance is related to molecule size and vector pipeline latency.     

两性离子表面活性剂在分析化学中的应用

综述了两性离子表面活性剂在分析检测尤其在色谱分离和毛细管电泳技术中的应用。在色谱分离中,两性表面活性剂首先被用作固定相,能很好地分离海水及雨水中的阴离子;后来随着色谱技术在生物领域的应用,两性表面活性剂又被用作流动相,即把其溶解于电解质溶液中,此流动相能很好地分离含蛋白质的生物样品。两性表面活性剂还被广泛地用于毛细管电泳中,即作毛细管壁上的动态或静态的涂层,此法既可控制电渗流,提高分离效果,又可避免蛋白质等一些样品粘在壁上,是一种较理想的生物分离技术。     

长脂肪链酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱的合成及性能

为了考察长脂肪链酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱的性能，以硬脂酸甲酯、油酸甲酯、11-(3,4-二甲基-苯基)-硬脂酸甲酯、3-二甲胺基丙胺、1,3-丙磺酸内酯为原料，通过两步反应合成了3种长脂肪链酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱，并采用1HNMR及MS进行结构确认。通过表面张力、耐盐性、泡沫性能、油水界面张力性能测试，发现3种长脂肪链酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱均具有良好的表/界面活性、泡沫稳定性、乳化能力及耐盐性；长脂肪链中引入芳烷基增强了11-(3,4-二甲基-苯基)-十八烷基酰胺丙基-N,N-二甲基磺基甜菜碱（C18DAMSB）的表面活性，临界胶束浓度及表面张力分别为1.57×10-5 mol/L、28.98 mN/m，低于油酸酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱（UC18AMP3SB）及硬脂酸酰胺丙基磺基甜菜碱（R18DMSA）；UC18AMP3SB疏水链中的双键使其耐盐性由于优于C18DAMSB和R18DMSA。     

A Multifunctional Pro‐Healing Zwitterionic Hydrogel for Simultaneous Optical Monitoring of pH and Glucose in Diabetic Wound Treatment

Diabetic ulcer is the most common kind of chronic wound worldwide. Though great efforts have been devoted, diabetic ulcer still remains as a challenge that requires constant monitoring and management. In this work, a multifunctional zwitterionic hydrogel is developed to simultaneously detect two fluctuant wound parameters, pH and glucose level, to monitor the diabetic wound status. A pH indicator dye (phenol red) and two glucose sensing enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), are encapsulated in the anti‐biofouling and biocompatible zwitterionic poly‐carboxybetaine (PCB) hydrogel matrix. The visible images are collected by a smartphone and transformed into RGB signals to quantify the wound parameters. Results show that the activity and stability of both two enzymes are improved within PCB hydrogel, and the K_cat/K_m value of PCB‐HRP is ≈5.5 fold of free HRP in artificial wound exudate. This novel wound dressing can successfully monitor the pH range of 4–8 and glucose level of 0.1–10 × 10^?3 m . Meanwhile, it also provides a moist healing environment that can promote diabetic wound healing. This multifunctional wound dressing may open vistas in chronic wound management and guide the diabetes treatment in clinical applications.     

Efficient Incorporation of Clickable Unnatural Amino Acids Enables Rapid and Biocompatible Labeling of Proteins in Vitro and in Bacteria

Site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids (uAAs) bearing a bioorthogonal group has enabled the attachment – typically at a single site or at a few sites per protein – of chemical groups at precise locations for protein and biomaterial labeling, conjugation, and functionalization. Herein, we report the evolution of chromosomal Methanocaldococcus jannaschii tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) for the alkyne-bearing uAA, 4-propargyloxy-l -phenylalanine (pPR), with ∼30-fold increased production of green fluorescent protein containing three instances of pPR compared with a previously described M. jannaschii-derived aaRS for pPR, when expressed from a single chromosomal copy. We show that when expressed from multicopy plasmids, the evolved aaRSs enable the production – using a genomically recoded Escherichia coli and the non-recoded BL21 E. coli strain – of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) containing multiple pPR residues in high yields. We further show that the multisite incorporation of pPR in ELPs facilitates the rapid, robust, and nontoxic fluorescent labeling of these proteins in bacteria. The evolved variants described in this work can be used to produce a variety of protein and biomaterial conjugates and to create efficient minimal tags for protein labeling.     

Zwitterionic‐Coated “Stealth” Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications: Recent Advances in Countering Biomolecular Corona Formation and Uptake by the Mononuclear Phagocyte System

Nanoparticles represent highly promising platforms for the development of imaging and therapeutic agents, including those that can either be detected via more than one imaging technique (multi‐modal imaging agents) or used for both diagnosis and therapy (theranostics). A major obstacle to their medical application and translation to the clinic, however, is the fact that many accumulate in the liver and spleen as a result of opsonization and scavenging by the mononuclear phagocyte system. This focused review summarizes recent efforts to develop zwitterionic‐coatings to counter this issue and render nanoparticles more biocompatible. Such coatings have been found to greatly reduce the rate and/or extent of non‐specific adsorption of proteins and lipids to the nanoparticle surface, thereby inhibiting production of the “biomolecular corona” that is proposed to be a universal feature of nanoparticles within a biological environment. Additionally, in vivo studies have demonstrated that larger‐sized nanoparticles with a zwitterionic coating have extended circulatory lifetimes, while those with hydrodynamic diameters of ≤5 nm exhibit small‐molecule‐like pharmacokinetics, remaining sufficiently small to pass through the fenestrae and slit pores during glomerular filtration within the kidneys, and enabling efficient excretion via the urine. The larger particles represent ideal candidates for use as blood pool imaging agents, whilst the small ones provide a highly promising platform for the future development of theranostics with reduced side effect profiles and superior dose delivery and image contrast capabilities.     

Interfacial activity and micellar morphology of an imidazolium ring containing zwitterionic surfactants

Zwitterionic surfactants based on 3-(1-alkyl-3-imidazolio) propane-sulfonate ([ImS3-R] where R is octyl or dodecyl) is an emerging and important class of amphiphile due to their relevance as nano reactors for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and accelerated acid hydrolysis. The physicochemical properties of such synthesized imidazolium ring-containing zwitterionic surfactants have been characterized by surface tension and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) techniques. Surface tension measurements were used to calculate several thermodynamic parameters over a range of concentrations and temperatures (298–313 K). The results obtained showed a weak signature representing the critical micelle concentration (CMC) for ImS3-8, however, by increasing the alkyl length of the hydrophobic group to dodecyl, that is, ImS3-8 to ImS3-12, the signature of the CMC was much more evident. As expected, the CMC for ImS3-12 shifted to a lower concentration. An increase in temperature increased the surface activity and decreased the CMC of both zwitterionic surfactants, although the changes were small. Compared to classical surfactants, that is, sodium dodecyl sulfate and dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide, the CMC of ImS3-12 is much lower. Modeling of SANS data demonstrated that the morphology of the micelles formed by these amphiphiles may be described by the “classical” model, a central hydrophobic core, with a shell of hydrated headgroups. Due to their widespread applications in colloidal and interfacial science, the present study adds new insight to the fundamental understanding of these interesting imidazolium-based surface-active ionic liquids (ImS3-R).