Expression of recombinant human bifunctional peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase in CHO cells and its use for insulin analogue modification

The availability of catalytically active peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM) should provide the means to examine its potential use for the chemienzymatic synthesis of bioactive peptides for the purpose of pharmacological studies. Hypoglycemic activity is one of the most important features of insulin derivatives. Insulin glargine amide was found to show a time/effect profile which is distinctly more flat and thus more advantageous than insulin glargine itself. The aim of the study was to obtain recombinant PAM and use it for insulin analogue amidation. We stably expressed a recombinant PAM in CHO dhfr-cells in culture. Recombinant PAM was partially purified by fractional ammonium sulphate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The enzyme was used to modify glycine-extended A22(G)-B31(K)-B32(R) human insulin analogue (GKR). Alpha-amidated insulin was analyzed by HPLC and mass spectrometry. Hypoglycemic activity of amidated and non-amidated insulin was compared. The pharmacodynamic effect was based on glucose concentration measurement in Wistar rats with hyperglycemia induced by streptozotocin. The overall glycemic profile up to 36 h was evaluated after subcutaneous single dosing at a range of 2.5-7.5 U/kg b.w. The experiment on rats confirmed with a statistical significance (P < 0.05) hypoglycemic activity of GKR-NH2 in comparison to a control group receiving 0.9% NaCl. Characteristics for GKR-NH2 profile was a rather fast beginning of action (0.5-2.0 h) and quite prolonged return to initial values. GKR-NH2 is a candidate for a hypoglycemic drug product in diabetes care. In addition, this work also provides a valuable alternative method for preparing any other recombinant bioactive peptides with C-terminal amidation.

The effect of pressure and temperature pretreatment on the biogas output from algal biomass

This paper presents data on methane fermentation of algal biomass containing Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. The biomass was obtained from closed-culture photobioreactors. Before the process, the algae were subjected to low temperature and pressure pretreatment for 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 h. The prepared biomass was subjected to mesophilic methane fermentation. The amount and composition of the biogas formed in the process were determined. The amount of biogas produced was larger when the biomass was subjected to thermal preprocessing. The proportion of methane in the gas also increased. Extending the heating time beyond 1.0 h did not significantly improve the biogassing effects.

Determination of the η(')-proton scattering length in free space

Taking advantage of both the high mass resolution of the COSY-11 detector and the high energy resolution of the low-emittance proton beam of the cooler synchrotron COSY, we determine the excitation function for the pp→ppη(') reaction close to threshold. Combining these data with previous results, we extract the scattering length for the η(')-proton potential in free space to be Re(a(pη(')))=0±0.43  fm and Im(a(pη(')))=0.37(-0.16)(+0.40)  fm.

Effectiveness of dairy wastewater treatment in a bioreactor based on the integrated technology of activated sludge and hydrophyte system

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of dairy wastewater treatment in the integrated technology based on the simultaneous use of the activated sludge method (AS) and a hydrophyte system (HS) (AS-HS), in this case, common reed (Phragmites australis) or common cattail (Typha latifolia). Experiments were conducted in an innovative reactor exploited in the fractional-technical scale at the loads of 0.05 mg BOD5/mg.d.m. d (biochemical oxygen demand) and 0.10 mg BOD5/mg.d.m d. The AS--HS enabled improving the removal effectiveness ofbiogenes characterized by concentrations of Ntot., N-NH4 and Ptot. In contrast, the integrated system had no significant reducing effect either on concentrations of organic compounds characterized by BOD5 and chemical oxygen demand parameters or on the structure of AS in the sequencing batch-type reactors.

Spatial distribution and reduction of PCDD/PCDF toxic equivalents along three shallow lowland reservoirs

Reservoirs situated along a river continuum are ecosystems where rates of transfer of suspended matter and associated micropollutants are reduced due to sedimentation, accumulation, and biological and physical transformation processes. Among the micropollutants, PCDDs and PCDFs are substances that are highly toxic and carcinogenic for humans and animals. They are emitted and dispersed in the environment throughout the whole catchment area and may accumulate in aquatic and terrestrial food chains, creating a risk for human health. A wealth of data exists indicating the increase in the concentrations of pollutants along a river continuum. A comparative analysis of total, individual, and TEQ PCDD/PCDF concentrations in large lowland, shallow reservoirs located in different catchments ("I"-industrial/urban/agricultural, "U"-urban/agricultural, and "A"-agricultural/rural) showed decreases of the TEQ concentrations in bottom sediments along a gradient from the middle sections to the dam walls. Moreover, penta-, hexa-, and heptachlorinated CDD/CDF congeners were reduced from 28.8 up to 93.6 % in all three types of reservoirs. A further analysis of water samples from the inlets and outlets of the "A" reservoir confirmed this tendency.

Accurate and safe mediastinal restaging by combined endobronchial and endoscopic ultrasound-guided needle aspiration performed by single ultrasound bronchoscope

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this prospective trial was to assess the diagnostic utility of combined endobronchial (EBUS) and endoscopic (EUS) ultrasound-guided needle aspiration by use of a single ultrasound bronchoscope (CUSb-NA) in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) restaging in patients after induction therapy.

METHODS

In a consecutive group of NSCLC patients with pathologically confirmed N2 disease (clinical stage IIIa and IIIb) who underwent induction chemotherapy, CUSb-NA was performed. All of the patients with negative or suspected for metastases (uncertain) diagnosed by endoscopy underwent subsequently transcervical extended mediastinal lymphadenectomy (TEMLA) as a confirmatory test.

RESULTS

From January 2009 to December 2012, 106 patients met the inclusion criteria and underwent restaging CUSb-NA under mild sedation, in whom 286 (mean 2.7, range 2-5) lymph node stations were biopsied, 127 (mean 1.2, range 1-3) by EBUS-transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) and 159 (mean 1.5, range 1-4) by EUS-fine needle aspiration (FNA). The CUSb-NA revealed metastatic lymph node involvement in 37/106 patients (34.9%). In 69 (65.1%) patients with negative and uncertain CUSb-NA in 4 (3.8%) out of them, who underwent subsequent TEMLA metastatic nodes were found in 18 patients (17.0%) and there were single lymph nodes found only in one mediastinal station (minimal N2) in 10 (9.4%) out of them. False-positive results were found in 2 (1.9%) patients. In 9 (8.5%) patients CUSb-NA occurred to be false negative in Stations 2R and 4R (only accessible for EBUS), exclusively in small nodes and in 4 (3.8%) patients in Station 5-not accessible for CUSb-NA. The prevalence of mediastinal lymph node metastases in the present study was 51.9%. Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, total accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value (NPV) of the restaging CUSb-NA were 67.3% (95% CI [confidence interval]-53-79), 96.0% (95% CI-86-99), 81.0% (95% CI-73-87), 95.0% (95% CI-83-99) and 73.0% (95% CI-61-83), respectively. The sensitivity, accuracy and NPV of CUSb-NA were higher compared with EBUS-TBNA and EUS-FNA alone. No complications of CUSb-NA were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The CUSb-NA is a reasonable and safe technique in mediastinal restaging in NSCLC patients after induction therapy. Following our data, in patients with negative result of CUSb-NA, a surgical restaging of the mediastinum should be considered.