High Yield Preparation of Functionally Active Catalytic-Translocation Domain Module of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A That Exhibits Uniquely Different Enzyme Kinetics

Immobilization of the Bacillus licheniformis α-Amylase on Azole Functionalized Nanoparticle: More Active, Stable, and Usability

Enzymes are a powerful tool employed in industrial applications due to their high specificity and efficiency. Amylase enzymes play an important role in detergent, textile, analytical chemistry, and paper industries. Here we present the design, synthesis, and characterization of azole functionalized nanoparticles for the immobilization of α-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (BlA). A modest binding efficiency (47%) was determined by the BCA assay. Enzymatic activity was measured using DNS method and illustrated the immobilization of amylase with the designed nanoparticles enhanced the thermal stability and long-term storage of amylases at a wide range of temperatures and pHs. With the required scale-up study, these implications amplify novel ways to implement this Fe₃O₄-PGMA-5A immobilized BlA enzyme in particular industrial applications.

Clostridial Neurotoxins: Structure, Function and Implications to Other Bacterial Toxins

Gram-positive bacteria are ancient organisms. Many bacteria, including Gram-positive bacteria, produce toxins to manipulate the host, leading to various diseases. While the targets of Gram-positive bacterial toxins are diverse, many of those toxins use a similar mechanism to invade host cells and exert their functions. Clostridial neurotoxins produced by Clostridial tetani and Clostridial botulinum provide a classical example to illustrate the structure-function relationship of bacterial toxins. Here, we critically review the recent progress of the structure-function relationship of clostridial neurotoxins, including the diversity of the clostridial neurotoxins, the mode of actions, and the flexible structures required for the activation of toxins. The mechanism clostridial neurotoxins use for triggering their activity is shared with many other Gram-positive bacterial toxins, especially molten globule-type structures. This review also summarizes the implications of the molten globule-type flexible structures to other Gram-positive bacterial toxins. Understanding these highly dynamic flexible structures in solution and their role in the function of bacterial toxins not only fills in the missing link of the high-resolution structures from X-ray crystallography but also provides vital information for better designing antidotes against those toxins.