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"Lactose intolerance" is a medical problem for almost 70% of the world population. Milk and dairy products contain 5-10%w/v lactose. Hydrolysis of lactose by immobilized lactase is an industrial solution. In this work, we succeeded to increase the lactase loading capacity to more than 3-fold to 36.3 U/g gel using epoxy activated hydrogels compared to 11 U/g gel using aldehyde activated carrageenan. The hydrogel's mode of interaction was proven by FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The high activity of the epoxy group was regarded to its ability to attach to the enzyme's -SH, -NH, and -OH groups, whereas the aldehyde group could only bind to the enzyme's -NH2 group. The optimum conditions for immobilization such as epoxy chain length and enzyme concentration have been studied. Furthermore, the optimum enzyme conditions were also deliberated and showed better stability for the immobilized enzyme and the Michaelis constants, Km and vmax, were doubled. Results revealed also that both free and immobilized enzymes reached their maximum rate of lactose conversion after 2 h, albeit, the aldehyde activated hydrogel could only reach 63% of the free enzyme. In brief, the epoxy activated hydrogels are more efficient in immobilizing more enzymes than the aldehyde activated hydrogel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to investigate the protective role of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids against lead acetateinduced toxicity in liver and kidney of female rats. Animals were divided into four equal groups; group 1 served as control while groups 2 and 3 were treated orally with Omega-3 fatty acids at doses of 125 and 260mg/kg body weight, respectively, for 10 days. These groups were also injected with lead acetate (25mg/kg body weight) during the last 5 days. Group 4 was treated only with lead acetate for 5 days and served as positive control group. Lead acetate increased oxidative stress through an elevation in MDA associated with depletion in antioxidant enzymes activities in the tissues. Moreover, the elevation of serum enzymes activities (ALT, AST, ALP, and LDH) and the levels of urea and creatinine were estimated but total proteins were decreased. Also, lead acetate-treatment induced hyperlipidemia via increasing of lipid profiles associated with decline inHDL-c level. Significant changes of Hb, PCV, RBCs, PLT, and WBCs in group 4 were recorded. The biochemical alterations of lead acetate were confirmed by histopathological changes and DNA damage. The administration of Omega-3 provided significant protection against lead acetate toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apoptosis is the programmed cell death which maintains the healthy survival/death balance in metazoan cells. Defect in apoptosis can cause cancer or autoimmunity, while enhanced apoptosis may cause degenerative diseases. The apoptotic signals contribute into safeguarding the genomic integrity while defective apoptosis may promote carcinogenesis. The apoptotic signals are complicated and they are regulated at several levels. The signals of carcinogenesis modulate the central control points of the apoptotic pathways, including inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins and FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP).The tumor cells may use some of several molecular mechanisms to suppress apoptosis and acquire resistance to apoptotic agents, for example, by the expression of antiapoptotic proteins such as Bcl-2 or by the down regulation or mutation of proapoptotic proteins such as BAX. In this review, we provide the main regulatory molecules that govern the main basic mechanisms, extrinsic and intrinsic, of apoptosis in normal cells. We discuss how carcinogenesis could be developed via defective apoptotic pathways or their convergence. We listed some molecules which could be targeted to stimulate apoptosis in different cancers. Together, we briefly discuss the development of some promising cancer treatment strategies which target apoptotic inhibitors including Bcl-2 family proteins, IAPs, and c-FLIP for apoptosis induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel keratin-degrading bacteria were isolated from sand soil samples collected from Minia Governorate, Egypt. In this study, the isolates were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MA20 and Bacillus subtilis MA21 based on morphological and biochemical characteristics as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 produced alkaline keratinolytic serine protease when cultivated in mineral medium containing 1% of wool straight off sheep as sole carbon and nitrogen source. The two strains were observed to degrade wool completely to powder at pH 7 and 37°C within 5 days. Under these conditions the maximum activity of proteases produced by B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 was 922 and 814 U/ml, respectively. The proteases exhibited optimum temperature and pH at 60°C and 9, respectively. However, the keratinolytic proteases were stable in broad range of temperature and pH values towards casein Hammerstein. Furthermore the protease inhibitor studies indicated that the produced proteases belong to serine protease because of their sensitivity to PMSF while they were inhibited partially in presence of EDTA. The two proteases are stable in most of the used organic solvents and enhanced by metals suggesting their potential use in biotechnological applications such as wool industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of diabetes mellitus has increased in Saudi Arabia, which has raised the risk of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). This study highlights the prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of Candida species among postmenopausal women with diabetes with symptoms of VVC in Taif, a city in Saudi Arabia. Several diagnostic tools were used to differentiate the yeast isolates, including microscopic examination, culture morphology on CHROM agar, further confirmation with the VITEK 2 system, and ITS1 and ITS4 region sequencing. Antifungal susceptibility of the selected Candida species was determined using the VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux Inc., USA). Out of the 550 high vaginal swabs investigated, 86 specimens were Candida species positive (15.6%) with a significant difference according to age; the positivity in the 45–50 years' age group (12%) was higher than that in the 51–55 years' age group (3.6%). Candida albicans was the most common causative agent in 51 samples (59.3%), followed by C. glabrata in 21 samples (24.41%) and C. krusei in 14 samples (16.27%), with no significant differences between the age groups. Three isolates, including two C. albicans and one C. krusei, exhibited resistance against all the tested antifungal agents. CHROM agar and VITEK 2 were accurate phenotypic tools to identify Candida species with 100% sensitivity and specificity and were consistent with the phylogenetic characterization. The data emphasized the importance of identifying Candida species and their antifungal susceptibility among postmenopausal women with diabetes, highlighting the potential risk posed by diabetes in this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel keratin-degrading bacteria were isolated from sand soil samples collected from Minia Governorate, Egypt. In this study, the isolates were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens MA20 and Bacillus subtilis MA21 based on morphological and biochemical characteristics as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 produced alkaline keratinolytic serine protease when cultivated in mineral medium containing 1% of wool straight off sheep as sole carbon and nitrogen source. The two strains were observed to degrade wool completely to powder at pH 7 and 37°C within 5 days. Under these conditions the maximum activity of proteases produced by B. amyloliquefaciens MA20 and B. subtilis MA21 was 922 and 814 U/ml, respectively. The proteases exhibited optimum temperature and pH at 60°C and 9, respectively. However, the keratinolytic proteases were stable in broad range of temperature and pH values towards casein Hammerstein. Furthermore the protease inhibitor studies indicated that the produced proteases belong to serine protease because of their sensitivity to PMSF while they were inhibited partially in presence of EDTA. The two proteases are stable in most of the used organic solvents and enhanced by metals suggesting their potential use in biotechnological applications such as wool industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]