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Abstract: B cell activating factor (BAFF) and its receptors were regarded as elements of the immune system, regulating the fate of B cell. In recent years, these molecules were identified in a number of normal and pathological tissues, expanding their potential functions beyond the immune system. In this study, on the basis of molecular clone and prokaryotic expression of equine BAFF, we reported that equine adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) expressed BAFF and its receptors, which exhibited the increased expression during ASC adipogenic differentiation in vitro. Moreover, with the addition of recombinant protein His6-sBAFF, an increased differentiation of equine ASC towards adipocyte was detected. These results suggested that BAFF and its receptors might be associated with the differentiation process of ASC towards adipocyte in horse. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to satisfy fatigue requirements in designing a cost effective wind turbine, the wind turbine blade, which is an expensive key component of the wind turbine system, must achieve very long operating life of 20–30 years. In this study, the fatigue life of a medium scale (750kW) horizontal axis wind turbine system (HAWIS), which has been developed by the present study, was estimated by using the well-known S–N damage equation, the load spectrum and Spera’s empirical formulae in order to confirm more than 20 years operating life. A specific fatigue procedure was proposed with the following three steps. Firstly, from the sample load spectrum data during short period operation, the spectrum data were rearranged as layer numbers, wind speeds, cycles per layer, normalized maximum, minimum, cyclic and average loads, and stress ratios in time order, and then the rearranged data were recorded as cyclic loads per median cyclic load, cycles per layer, cumulative cycles, probability of exceeding, and types of cycles, such as Type I, II and III. Secondly, fatigue loads, such as flapwise and chordwise bending moments were calculated by Spera’s empirical equations with various engineering data of the studying blade for probability of exceeding. Finally, the allowable fatigue strengths were determined from laboratory fatigue property data for the S–N curve of E-glass/epoxy obtained by Mandell, empirical coefficients derived by Goodman diagram with the modified stress ratio and the required design life. In prediction of the fatigue life, it was confirmed that the composite wind turbine blade satisfies the design criteria for the 20 years fatigue life because of sufficient safety margins from the fatigue requirement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is a destructive bacterial disease of rice, and the development of an environmentally safe bactericide is urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides, as antibacterial sources, may play important roles in bactericide development. In the present study, we found that the antimicrobial peptide melittin had the desired antibacterial activity against X. oryzae pv. oryzae. The antibacterial mechanism was investigated by examining its effects on cell membranes, energy metabolism, and nucleic acid, and protein synthesis. The antibacterial effects arose from its ability to interact with the bacterial cell wall and disrupt the cytoplasmic membrane by making holes and channels, resulting in the leakage of the cytoplasmic content. Additionally, melittin is able to permeabilize bacterial membranes and reach the cytoplasm, indicating that there are multiple mechanisms of antimicrobial action. DNA/RNA binding assay suggests that melittin may inhibit macromolecular biosynthesis by binding intracellular targets, such as DNA or RNA, and that those two modes eventually lead to bacterial cell death. Melittin can inhibit X. oryzae pv. oryzae from spreading, alleviating the disease symptoms, which indicated that melittin may have potential applications in plant protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antagonists of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) have revolutionized the treatment of selected inflammatory diseases. Recombination Camelidae variable heavy-chain domain-only TNFa antibodies (anti-TNF-VH) have been developed to antagonize the action of human and murine TNFa. Here, we describe a strategy to obtain functional covalent dimer anti-TNF-VH molecules with the C-terminal fusion of human IgG1 Fc domain named anti-TNF-VH-Fc. The resulting fusion proteins were separately expressed by use of the pET28a vector in Escherichia coli strain BL21 and the pPICZaA vector in Pichia pastoris strain GS115, then purified by protein A affinity resin. Fc-engineered anti-TNF-VH-Fc was about 40 kDa and anti-TNF-VH-Fc was about 43 kDa. Monomeric VH was also cloned and expressed in E. coli strain BL21, with the molecular weight of about 18 kDa. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and L929 cell cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that the fusion protein anti-TNF-VH-Fc blocked TNFa activity more effectively than either anti-TNF-VH-Fc or monomeric anti-TNF-VH protein. We suggest that efficient disulfide bond formation using the P. pastoris expression system improves the covalent dimer anti-TNF-VH-Fc neutralizing activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]